It may seem that sustainability and business profits aren’t always aligned. It’s a fair argument but it should not be the end of the discussion. The truth is sustainable IT isn’t something a single company can achieve on its own. It’s not a microcosmic problem. It’s macrocosmic and it requires a fundamental shift on how we see and value business goals on a global scale.
How can you establish sustainable IT practices at your company? Sustainability covers a lot of important concerns – environmental impact, financial stability, operational efficiency, to name a few. Broadly, a sustainable company responsibly allocates and uses resources for the good of the company and the environment. This is especially important when it comes to your company’s technology. From an environmental perspective, discarded electronic equipment is the fastest growing source of waste in both the developed and undeveloped world. Worse, most of that electronic waste contains materials that can be permanently hazardous to the environment if mishandled. From a financial perspective, technology represents a substantial investment. To increase profitability, it is important to implement sustainable IT practices so your company can more responsibly and efficiently allocate IT resources. With all these concerns, it is especially important to establish sustainable policies for your company’s technology. But what does it look like for your company to adopt sustainable IT practices? The best way is to adopt a “reuse” strategy for your hardware.
Used Hardware is Good For Business and The Environment
Although the term is still being codified one of the common tenets in creating a “sustainable IT” environment is reusing, recycling, or repurposing IT equipment at the end of life. Sometimes it’s easy to forget how interconnected something that deals in bytes and racks is to the natural world, but the principles are really the same. Proper maintenance is key to the health of both. Be it a century old glacier or a legacy server, when one things fails to be properly maintained it can set off a catastrophe. Without maintenance and a solid back-up plan in place what seems like an isolated problem can lead to a system-wide disaster.
That back-up plan is key, as one of the greenest things you can do is aim to use a piece of equipment as long as possible, before you recycle it. Finding reliable and affordable maintenance partners for your legacy hardware is a great first step towards more sustainable IT.
In fact, rethinking labels like “old” allows a company to rethink their procurement strategy all together. Rather than a road block, older equipment can be developed into a hardware procurement strategy that fosters more opportunities for savings and growth. Good for business and good for the environment.
Reselling as a Sustainable IT Practice
Reselling your excess IT hardware generates a direct financial benefit for your company. You can reinvest the money you get for your old technology immediately into your infrastructure. But reselling your excess IT equipment is more than an opportunity to recoup capital – it is also an opportunity for reuse. Reselling equipment gives it a second chance to have a useful life. This is especially true if you partner with an IT asset recovery company. Once your hardware has been purchased by an IT asset recovery company, the data on the equipment will be securely erased, and the equipment itself will be refurbished, upgraded, and prepared for a productive second life. This keeps salvageable technology out of landfills, and provides growing companies and nonprofit organizations with more affordable options for developing their infrastructure. Not only does your company immediately benefit from the recovered capital, but you also foster environmental sustainability and economic growth in your community
Want help? Schedule a quick consultation call to find out how your company can implement your own sustainable IT practices.