What’s in Your Closet? How ITAD Brings Your Device Ecosystem Under Control

Figuring out what to do with devices that are later in their lifecycles is a challenge for many IT teams. As they age, laptops, desktop PCs and tablets reach a point where they’re no longer useful to their users, or no longer supported, so organizations replace them. But where do the older devices go? Often, organizations take the path of least resistance, which is to do nothing, and these devices end up in a closet gathering dust.

Some organizations may not realize it, but doing nothing comes with a cost. While the devices in the closet may no longer be useful for whoever was working with them, they still may be useful to someone — either elsewhere within the organization or maybe with some other users. Apple products are built to last and hold value over time, making them a smart investment. Apple builds in and guarantees future value to help organizations save money.

To solve this challenge, organizations need a plan for what they’re going to do with devices as they reach the middle and the end of their hardware lifecycles. At CDW, we’ve established our IT asset disposition practice to help organizations deal with this situation. Working with original equipment manufacturer partners such as Apple, we collect hardware from wherever it’s sitting idle — a user's home, an office, a satellite location — evaluate it and decide what to do next.

Devices may be redeployable to other users within the organization. If not, they may still be useful to other organizations. ITAD helps organizations maximize the high residual value of their Apple devices with Apple Trade In. We can resell it and put money back into your CDW account to use for future spending. In some cases, hardware may be at the end of its lifecycle and must be safely and responsibly recycled. In other cases, organizations may require that devices be wiped and destroyed to protect security and privacy.

With ITAD, we help our customers build customized solutions and implement those solutions.

When we dispose of devices, we help organizations avoid some of the risks they may face in the disposal process. Often, older devices may be resold or donated to those in need, such as groups serving veterans or the underprivileged. But if the data on these devices isn’t erased effectively, it creates a security risk for the donating organization. We eliminate this risk by ensuring that data is securely wiped from any devices that are donated.

Simply throwing away devices also creates risks for organizations. In addition to wiping data from these devices, we ensure that getting rid of them doesn’t violate Environmental Protection Agency rules, as well as any other ecological laws or guidelines that may apply that could expose organizations to fines or other penalties.

When CDW helps an organization get rid of its devices, we certify that they are disposed of securely and ethically. None of the materials are sent to a landfill or to a developing nation for disposal. 

Instead, the materials are shredded, sorted and sent to where they can best be put to use. Precious metals are pulled out for reuse in other IT hardware, while heavy metals are also recycled. Glass is recycled for use in products such as television screens and car windshields. Plastics are reused in a vast number of ways. In fact, some plastic manufacturers purchase these shredded pieces of plastic from former IT assets and use them to make new products. There’s almost no limit to where these materials go. We make sure it’s all reused in some way.

Apple, in particular, has made strides in sustainability by reducing the carbon footprint of Mac devices. Mac devices are designed to be energy-efficient by consuming less power when in use or in standby mode, which helps organizations shrink their energy consumption footprints.

One of the most valuable aspects of ITAD is that it helps ensure that organizations are maximizing the value of their hardware. With ITAD, devices no longer collect dust in the back of an IT closet. Instead, we assess them right away, when they are still at their highest value, then determine what needs to happen next. Your organization may gain value by issuing devices to other employees or by reselling them to put money back in your CDW account for future purchases. 

Whatever the condition of your IT assets, our ITAD program makes sure they are handled securely, ethically and in compliance with environmental standards.