Regional bank securely disposes of IT assets with Iron Mountain Secure ITAD

Challenge

A small regional bank needed to safely and securely dispose of IT assets across five branches and a data centre as it began a massive upgrade to its backend and customer-facing technologies. The project included decommissioning a data centre as the bank moved more enterprise systems to the cloud to enable remote access by employees. ATMs would be replaced with upgraded kiosks to provide more self-service functionality to customers in light of social distancing demands. That meant the bank had hundreds of data-bearing IT assets at end-of-life across different locations. An auditable process along with consistent oversight in disposition was critical to reducing risk, and a previous strategy of allowing each bank to choose its own ITAD provider wouldn’t suffice to ensure the robust legal and regulatory compliance required.

Solution

Iron Mountain’s Secure ITAD program provided a one-stop-shop for ensuring uniform secure and sustainable disposition of every IT asset across every location, including media destruction, remarketing and e-waste recycling. Data-bearing media and hard drives were either destroyed onsite in compliance with industry regulations and data privacy laws, or sanitised (wiped, degaussed, etc.) and remarketed to offset overall project costs. All remaining assets were de-manufactured into commodity categories and recycled in an eco-friendly manner. Secure chain of custody procedures allowed the bank to lead with sustainable business practices, while also ensuring visibility and proper documentation to reduce the risk of noncompliance.

Results

• Personally identifiable information (PII) is protected because data-bearing media and hard drives are destroyed onsite in compliance with federal and state privacy laws and regulations
• Project cost is decreased because remaining assets are tested, graded, refurbished and re-sold to maximise value recovery
• Risk is reduced significantly through secure chain of custody procedures which allow verification at the individual asset level and ensure auditable certificates of destruction