How GreenTek Decommissioned A Full Data Center with 4,000 Assets in Just 5 Days—While Following R2v3 Guidelines

Whether a company is transitioning to the cloud, moving to a new data center or shutting down operations completely, a large decommissioning process is always a daunting challenge to execute due to its complexity and potential cost.

To make it even more challenging, many decommissioning processes happen on a tight deadline with requirements that add both time and complications. However, even a fast turnaround with lots of moving parts can be achieved with the right ITAD partner—and a proper strategy!

Here’s how GreenTek Solutions partnered with a software company to decommission their data center in record time—while getting $1.2M in fair market value for their equipment.

A Ticking Clock

When a software company approached GreenTek Solutions, they were in a uniquely precarious position. Not only did they need to decommission a $1M+ colocation data center with 300 42U full-server racks, they didn’t have any local employees to facilitate the project and needed a partner they could trust.

To add to this challenge, there was a rapidly approaching deadline: the software company had just under a month to complete the entire process, a scope that would normally be planned a minimum of 6 months in advance. And, if they missed the deadline to remove the servers, switches, routers and storage arrays from the racks owned by the data center facility, they would pay another full month of rent, approximately $100K.

However, the client couldn’t just pack up and leave. A recent data center equipment investment meant their IT assets were like-new, all from premium brands, like Cisco, HP, Juniper, Brocade, Arista and Dell. Not wanting to lose a substantial sum by quickly dumping hundreds of IT assets at low prices, the client sought an ITAD vendor who could not only decommission their data center, but offer fair market value reimbursement, a full A to Z vendor.

As a savvy company wanting to minimize risk and avoid any environmental damage, they also sought an ITAD partner who would ensure proper recycling or disposal of any end of life assets, eliminating any ITAD vendors who didn’t hold an R2v3 certification and the required insurance policies, recycling practices and data destruction methods.

With time running out and a hefty late departure fee looming, the software company engaged the team at GreenTek Solutions—who left no time to waste.

5 Days to Decommission

Immediately after engaging with the client’s IT leadership, GreenTek’s team got to work. Leveraging previous experience from large data center decommissioning processes, the GreenTek team came onsite to lead the project. By following a stringent decommissioning plan and frequent team communication, each day the data center became emptier and emptier. As GreenTek team members pulled equipment from racks, safely packed items for transport and organized miles and miles of cables, the equipment sales experts at GreenTek began strategizing how to maximize sale prices for the used equipment.

Just 5 days later, the data center was fully emptied of client IT equipment, safely avoiding the landlord’s penalty. With the month deadline for total project completion still in mind, GreenTek transported the items to GreenTek HQ, handling an extensive data erasure and data destruction process within 3 weeks.

4,000 Assets in Just 30 Days

After inventorying the assets and creating a full chain of custody and data erasure/destruction reports for the client, GreenTek made a competitive, fair market value price for all of the IT assets; the client received payment soon after.

Not only did GreenTek beat the month turnaround and recapture a substantial amount of IT equipment investment for the client while meeting all R2v3 standards, the software company paid absolutely nothing for the decommissioning, transport, data destruction/erasure, inventorying or equipment remarketing.

If you’re planning a data center decommissioning or another ITAD project, especially one with a quick turnaround or other complexities, discover how GreenTek can help—while recapturing your IT investments. Get in touch with our team here.