What ITAD KPIs to Measure when Disposing of Old IT Assets

KPIs are an essential part of ITAD because they provide data that help cut costs, optimize performance, ensure regulatory compliance, and guide decision-making. They are a crucial piece of information for organizations and businesses looking to track their progress and examine the details of their ITAD processes through metrics. We are going to take a look at the key ITAD KPIs you should measure when disposing of old IT assets and what they track. Knowing this information is vital to determining which areas you should track and how they affect the efficiency of your ITAD process. We will break it down by section and go over the KPIs that you should know when measuring ITAD progress and processes. 

Compliance and Data Security 

Compliance and data security are among the top areas to measure when evaluating KPIs, given their importance and the regulations that accompany them. Ensuring compliance with rules is a significant part of ITAD processing and is non-negotiable for organizations.  Data Destruction Verification Rate: This KPI measures the percentage of assets with certified, verified data destruction. This is the most crucial KPI for risk mitigation, as it measures how much data is destroyed, thereby indicating the risk associated with each IT asset.  Audit Trail Completeness: Measuring the percentage of assets with complete audit documentation, this KPI is an essential regulatory metric, as compliance requires audits to be documented in accordance with GDPR, CCPA, SOX, and HIPAA.  Chain of Custody Accuracy: Chain of custody refers to tracking the movement of an asset from pickup to final disposition, ensuring that it does not fall into the wrong hands. The chain of custody should be tracked in its entirety and accurately using GPS, barcodes, RFID, or blockchain tools to ensure the most accurate results for this KPI. 

Operational Efficiency Metrics 

Operational efficiency metrics help to determine how efficient your ITAD process is and how the value is impacted throughout the process. Your IT asset disposition process should be efficient and effective from start to finish, and these operational efficiency metrics will help determine where your business stands in processing.  Throughput: This metric measures how many assets are processed per hour or per day. This showcases the significance of large-scale enterprise refreshes and the number of assets your organization is going through and recycling or refurbishing over a certain period of time. To break it down, it measures the speed and efficiency with which an ITAD provider goes through the full cycle of sanitizing, refurbishing, and reporting an IT asset.   Regarding Turnaround Time: This is a basic measurement of how long it takes to get an asset from pickup to final disposition or resale. It will look at any specific delays and how they impact the asset’s value. 

Financial Performance

ITAD increases asset resale value and, overall, how much an organization gets back from the assets it refurbishes. However, not all IT assets are benign refurbished; some are being recycled, and these KPIs also help determine how many of those assets are going to which category. Recovery Value: The recovery value of an asset is the average resale revenue generated when an asset undergoes the ITAD process. This KPI helps to determine the ROI of a company’s ITAD process.  Total Recovery Rate: This measures the percentage of total assets that generate resale value; it does not include assets that are recycled and have no value after the ITAD process. This KPI is affected by the quality of refurbishment and how effectively they are refurbished to bring in a higher resale value.  Cost Per Asset: When working with an ITAD partner, there is a cost for processing assets, which includes labor, logistics, processing, and compliance costs for each asset that passes through the ITAD cycle. 

Sustainability and Circular Economy 

As a part of ITAD processing, sustainability and the circular economy are two significant factors. These KPIs are essential for an organization to measure for compliance and regulatory purposes, as well as for ease of reporting to organizations that may be looking for this information when working with or investing in a company.  Reuse Rate: This KPI measures the percentage of assets that complete the process and are refurbished or reused. This is particularly needed for corporate ESG targets seeking this information before investing.  Carbon Impact of Disposition: You’ll want to keep up with the carbon impact, or footprint, of going through your ITAD process for Scope 3 tracking and compliance. This includes assessing CO2 savings from reusing and recycling assets. 

Quality Control and Customer Experience 

This category examines what happens once the asset leaves the organization and enters the ITAD process. It takes into account the compliance rates, reporting, and even returned assets to determine how effective and efficient the ITAD process is as a whole.  Returned Asset Rate: This KPI measures the number of assets returned by customers due to defects, a key indicator of refurbishment standards and the ability to refurbish an asset to its full capacity.  Reporting Accuracy: Every organization must report on its ITAD process, which includes certificates, inventory sheets, and reconciliation reports. This KPI measures how many errors occur and how frequently they occur in each of these areas. 

Compliance Management 

Compliance is a crucial part of ITAD, and it’s essential for every company using an ITAD partner to monitor its compliance scorecard. This evaluates the ITAD partner on security, environmental, documentation, and certification requirements and compliance. It’s essential to ensure that your partner meets all these standards and regulations to continue normal operations and avoid potential risks. 

Keeping Up With ITAD KPIs

When we look at the KPIs you should measure when disposing of old assets, it’s essential to understand that there are metrics in each category that will help you make the necessary changes to improve efficiency during the process. Whether you are looking at ROI, environmental metrics, quality control, or operational metrics, you should examine them in relation to one another to determine the overall efficiency of your current ITAD process. These metrics are put in place for your own use or for ITAD partners of ESG investors to review to determine where you are in your IT asset disposition process. Remember to keep these KPIs in mind and continue to monitor the effectiveness of your IT asset disposition process as it relates to them, ensuring compliance and getting the most out of your refurbished assets. Contact us at ITAD Daily for help with your ITAD issues.