Choosing an ITAD vendor is an important part of maintaining a secure and efficient ITAD process. Because IT disposal is one of the riskiest points in the IT device lifecycle, it’s crucial to choose a partner you can trust to dispose of these devices properly and without risk. The best way to choose a vendor that fits your needs is to audit them before hiring them for your organization. Poor ITAD security can pose risks like lost devices, compliance violations, and data breaches. To avoid running into any of these issues, we have a step-by-step guide to help you audit your ITAD vendor and ensure they are certified, knowledgeable, and safe to work with.
What is an ITAD Vendor Audit?
Ultimately, auditing your ITAD partner means determining if they can securely handle, sanitize, and dispose of sensitive IT assets from your business. They will be in charge of the ITAD process, documentation, security, and risk mitigation, making it crucial to choose a vendor you can rely on. This can be broken into three sections: a basic vendor audit, a compliance audit, and a security audit.
When to Audit Your ITAD Vendor?
Firstly, you should audit your ITAD vendor before hiring them to work for your organization. This ensures you can get an idea of how they work and whether they are a good fit for your needs. Additionally, you should audit them during contract renewals, after a major IT refresh, and, if your industry is regulated, as that may mean stricter disposal rules.
How to Audit Your ITAD Vendor
Now that we’ve gone over what an ITAD partner audit is and when you should do one, let’s explore how to audit them. We’ve compiled a step-by-step guide to help you audit your ITAD partner to ensure they are the right fit for your organization and properly certified to do the job.
Review Certifications and Compliance
The very first thing you should do is review their certifications and compliance standards. You should review the common certifications, including R2v3 and e-Stewards. You will also want to review standards such as ISO standards, if they apply to your business, and data sanitization standards. Certifications and compliance ensure that the vendor is legally able to handle disposal and that their practices are up to standards.
Audit Data Destruction and Sanitization Process
Every ITAD vendor may handle destruction and sanitization differently, so reviewing their processes can help determine whether they are the right fit for your organization. Audit how they handle storage and drives, how they identify storage points, and how they handle specific storage types, such as removable vs. embedded storage. Determine what they use as wiping tools and verification methods, and what they have if a data wipe fails. Lastly, you’ll want to look into how they handle non-traditional data sources, such as IoT, AI hardware, and network equipment, which often involve more complex ITAD processes.
Confirm Chain of Custody
Chain of custody is a crucial part of the ITAD process, as it determines who plays each role at each step. For example, it determines who will handle collection, who has access, who handles asset tracking and documentation, and who handles device transportation. Knowing this information lets you see who is in charge of your organization’s devices at any given time. This helps with documentation, reliability, and tracking of the device through the process.
Evaluate Their Facility
These ITAD vendors will take your devices to their own facility for disposal, so it’s beneficial to evaluate their facilities and ensure they have proper security in place. You’ll want to see the secure storage areas, surveillance coverage areas, and where they store high-risk devices. You can also conduct employee background checks and determine the ITAD vendor’s plan in the event of a security incident.
Review Downstream Partners
Some ITAD partners work with other partners to complete the process efficiently, also called “downstream partners.” It’s important to audit these partners as well if they will be in contact with your IT devices. You’ll want to determine whether they use subcontractors, who their downstream partners are, and how they verify destruction with these partners.
Audit Documentation and Reporting Process
Documentation and reporting are crucial components of proper ITAD due to compliance and regulatory requirements. You should receive reports and documentation, including a sterilized asset list, certificates of recycling or data destruction, and chain-of-custody logs. If you are auditing their documentation process and find vague certification, delayed documentation, inconsistent reporting, or missing serial numbers, this could be a red flag that the ITAD vendor is not being transparent in their reporting and documentation.
Do a Pilot Program
If you’ve determined that all of these areas look good and are accurate, then you can implement a pilot program. Essentially, a pilot program is a test in which you will challenge the ITAD partner to go through their process. You can give them mixed device types, test wipe failures, and assets that may be trickier to dispose of to see the process. Finally, review reporting from this pilot program to ensure accuracy.
How to Maintain ITAD Vendor Security
If you’ve chosen a vendor to work with after following these steps, you should still maintain vendor security by implementing audits, expectations, and reporting. Here are some ways you can maintain vendor security:
- Audit semiannually or annually
- Put audit clauses into the contracts you send them
- Determine incident response expectations
- Require regular reporting
- Consider a vendor scorecard to make determining success easier
Work With a Trustworthy and Secure ITAD Vendor Today
Finding a secure ITAD vendor is important to ensure your organization’s data isn’t put at risk and that you remain compliant. ITAD is an important process that all organizations must go through, making it essential to work with a vendor that is compliant, secure, and efficient in its processes. Use this guide to help you audit your ITAD vendor and choose a vendor that you can rely on, is compliant, and is certified. Remember, you can determine if your ITAD vendor is the right choice by doing a pilot test before hiring them and putting a contract in place. A pilot test is a great way to see their process in action, test them with specifics, and identify any red flags. Be confident in your next ITAD vendor by implementing an audit and pilot process before hiring for this critical role.
