Ingram Micro Intros Data Wipe Service for Retired Hardware

Virtualization, cloud computing, and data-center
consolidation leave in their wake unwanted hardware—and an environmental and
security headache for solution providers and their customers. To address these
concerns, Ingram Micro today unveiled its IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) Services
for resale by channel partners in North America.

Through a partnership with U.S. Micro, Ingram Micro’s
ITAD Services allow solution providers to offer businesses and consumers the
secure removal of data from an array of IT devices such as disk drives, SD
memory cards, printers, copiers, and other electronic devices that carry
digital histories. The service also eliminates the risk of future liability
organizations may face through improper disposal of electronic waste and potentially
hazardous materials.

These services are approved for use in
regulatory-intensive markets such as healthcare, since they are HIPAA-approved.

“We offer partners the ability now to go into a physician
office or hospital and offer asset management and asset disposal,” Michael
Humke, senior director, public sector and healthcare markets, Ingram Micro
U.S., told Channel Insider. “Here’s a
solution that allows you to step up your service and support for your
customers.”

With ITAD Services, solution providers now can bid on
national requests for proposals, said John
Redman, manager of professional services at Ingram Micro, in an interview. Without
the service, most partners were unable to do so because the process involved
forging ad hoc partnerships with regional asset-disposition firms across the
country, he said. This was a time-consuming, expensive proposition for most
VARs, said Humke.

“It gives them a world-class service to take to market.
It’s something a regional partner would never be able to build themselves,” he
said. “There are millions of devices out there prime for recycling right now.
The opportunity is tremendous going into 2012 and beyond.”

The white-label service, which appears as a SKU, is open
to all Ingram Micro partners, Redman said. When a solution provider sells the
service to a customer, U.S. Micro representatives go to the customer site,
ensure everything is compliant and meets expectations, and then inventory the
equipment. Once inventory is confirmed, U.S. Micro runs a Department of Defense-complaint
script to cleanse equipment of all the data, Redman said. U.S. Micro packages
equipment up for secure shipping and transport back to one of its two centers
in either Atlanta or Las Vegas via Brink’s truck, where it is once again
inventoried and matched-back to the original list.

At that point, the equipment receives a three-swipe DOD
cleansing of data to make sure no information remains. It is then either
remarketed and reintroduced or broken down to component parts via industrial
shredders, and the components are reused as possible, Redman said.

“The security risk, regulatory requirements and
environmental concerns around how to get rid of old or unwanted technology are
weighing heavily on businesses and consumers, and with good reason,” said Ted
Tilden, senior director of sales, U.S. Micro, in a statement. “Recent reports
indicate that Americans trash more than two million tons of personal and
professional electronics each year – six times more than what is recycled. It’s
a frightening reality that cannot be sustained and calls for immediate and
meaningful actions.”

In fact, green IT will become increasingly important over
the next few years, according to a 2011 study by CompTIA.
The CompTIA study found  that 35 percent
of organizations reported having a comprehensive green strategy for practices
such as reducing energy consumption, equipment usage/design, recycling/product
disposal, carbon footprint and employee behaviors.