Your provider should be experienced, ideally with a strong history of working with other customers in the education sector. Keep an eye out for case studies and other information about their previous work.

They should be highly accredited, with certifications to show that they have had audits carried out on their services and have been found to meet all required criteria. A key accreditation for ITAD (IT asset disposition) providers is the ADISA accreditation, which involves surprise audits to verify that the company in question is using the correct procedures for IT disposal.

For schools, colleges and universities, we would suggest that you require these services:

• Secure collection of your assets using GPS tracked vehicles (or on-site IT destruction if preferred)
• An inventory report outlining what was collected
• Complete data erasure using certified processes (or physical destruction if preferred)
• If your outgoing IT is relatively new and not being physically destroyed, then the ITAD provider should be able to offer you a rebate - allowing you to recoup some money on the service

Simple deletion of files from a device does not ensure the data is removed. Such a process only removes the pointers to tell you where the data is being held, and not necessarily the data itself.

A reputable ITAD provider will use certified, industry-approved erasure tools to overwrite all sectors of a data storage device, until verification tests confirm that 100% data erasure has been achieved.

This is the ideal solution, as the device is left intact and ready for reuse, helping both the environment and allowing you to earn a rebate on its resale.

However for those who are more security conscious, a good ITAD provider will be able to offer a physical destruction service, either on or off-site. Such destruction can include degaussing, punching and shredding.

Finally, your ITAD provider will provide you with documentation for your services, which you should keep together to help satisfy your regulatory and audit requirements.

Following these processes will ensure that your IT disposal is carried out smoothly and with utmost security. Such services can’t be entrusted to non-professionals without significantly increasing your organisation’s risk of a breach. However a good ITAD will work with you to achieve the best solution for you, and this can be easily repeated as required in the future when you need to dispose of your IT.