The Basics of the Electronic Shred

As a business owner, you understand the importance of secure IT asset disposition (ITAD).  You go out of your way to keep confidential customer, employee, and other information secure while in use, with firewalls, antivirus software, password protections, encryption, and more.  However, you also know that you have to take pains to dispose of this data properly when it is no longer needed.

This is where shredding enters the picture.  When it comes time to upgrade to new IT equipment and devices, you need to make sure that you don’t leave outdated and unused equipment lying around where unscrupulous employees could quietly sneak it out, or where it could become a target for theft during a break-in.  You need to have it shredded, not only for peace of mind, but in keeping with applicable privacy laws designed to protect consumer data.

The best way to accomplish this task is with the help of a certified ITAD service provider that meets the highest standards for asset disposition.  Here are the basics of what these electronic shredding services have to offer.

On-Site Security

Keeping devices secure against theft is a priority for businesses that take their legal and ethical responsibilities seriously.  This means not only choosing a reputable ITAD company that offers assurances of safety, but also one that helps you to improve your in-house security.

Instead of simply dumping all your old computer equipment and devices in a storage closet where anyone could potentially gain access, you can place them in locking bins provided by your ITAD service.  Having these bins in your office ensures that employees always know where to place old IT assets when they’re no longer needed and it increases security of the data housed on hard drives and devices until your service picks them up for shredding.

Pick-Up and Shredding

Scheduled pick-ups make IT asset disposition easy and convenient.  Your service provider will arrive at your location to collect locked bins full of hard drives and devices and transport them to a secure facility for shredding, or even shred them on-site with industrial shredding equipment, as you watch.

If you’re worried about even the remote possibility of data breach, watching your hard drives and devices being shredded can offer you piece of mind.  It also helps that the shredding equipment used is guaranteed to meet even the strictest standards (privacy laws and industry-related regulations) for data destruction.

Device Tracking

Just because you don’t have the time or interest to watch your IT devices being destroyed on-site doesn’t mean you aren’t keen to keep track of the data destruction process.  This is why you’ll want to team up with a certified ITAD service provider that offers device tracking.  When equipment and devices are collected from your location, they should be scanned into a tracking system and you should have 24/7 access to a portal that allows you to monitor progress, from transportation, to secure storage, to destruction.

Proof of Destruction

The final component of a good shredding service is proof of destruction in the form of Certificates of Destruction and Recycling.  This is your guarantee that devices have been properly destroyed in keeping with all applicable data destruction laws.

Sioux Falls businesses interested in secure and reliable electronic shredding can contact SEAM at 605-274-SEAM (7326) or online to get started today.