Don’t Let Your IT Disposal Put Your Company’s Reputation at Risk

Building a reputation as a company that has top-notch products or services and exhibits honesty, integrity, and concern for customers and their experience is no easy feat, especially in this day and age. Customers often turn to peer reviews to decide on which brands to support, but the results aren’t always accurate. Some customers can be arbitrary, leaving low ratings for things that are beyond your control, and unscrupulous competitors can post false reviews of your company to undermine your efforts.

Even so, many Sioux Falls, SD companies are able to earn a positive reputation online and in the real world because of their commitment to quality products, ethical operations, and customer satisfaction. From there, you have to find ways to ensure that your reputation remains untarnished. Keeping confidential data secure and protecting consumer privacy are major factors in this equation.

What can happen if your IT asset disposition (ITAD) strategy isn’t sound? How can you protect your reputation with appropriate ITAD procedures? Here are a few things to consider when planning how best to dispose of your IT assets.

Consequences of Failed ITAD Strategies
If your Sioux Falls, SD company has yet to adopt an ITAD strategy, you’re behind the game. You’re probably aware that there are privacy laws you must comply with. This means not only securing data during collection and usage, but also making sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands when you dispose of it.

Hard copies must be shredded in compliance with applicable federal, state, and sometimes even local laws, and hard drives must either be wiped or shredded. If you work in certain industries, like healthcare or finance, you’ll also have to comply with even stricter standards laid out in HIPPA, FACTA, and so on.

Failure to comply can not only lead to government penalties, but if you suffer a data breach or identity theft as a result of negligence, you could also face lawsuits, loss of customers, loss of revenue, and of course, damage to your reputation. When you compromise the sensitive, personal data your customers entrust to you, recovering your reputation won’t be easy.

Protecting Your Reputation
While you can certainly deal with catastrophes like data breach and identity theft swiftly and surely with appropriate disaster recovery planning in place, it’s better if it never comes to this. Protecting your hard-earned reputation is much easier if you avoid these problems in the first place.

It starts with your ITAD policies and procedures. Clean desk and shred-all policies are a great place to start, but you’ll also want to partner with a certified ITAD service provider that guarantees compliance with all applicable rules and regulations.

The right company will provide you with locking bins for hard drives and other devices to minimize internal threats. They will pick up and securely transport devices to a facility for safe storage until devices are wiped or shredded. They’ll provide a 24/7 portal that tracks serial numbers so you can check progress, and you’ll receive a Certificate of Destruction and Recycling when disposal is complete.

If you want to protect your Sioux Falls, SD business against data breach and identity theft and maintain your good reputation, contact the qualified professionals at SEAM today at 605-274-7326 (SEAM) or online to request a quote.