Companies migrate their data to the cloud for many reasons: increased flexibility, lower costs, greater energy efficiency, and easier management with access to a wider range of platforms than would be available with an on-site data center. But, as with any major transition in the business world, to ensure the changeover is completed as seamlessly as possible, a cloud migration requires a considerable amount of advance planning. An important piece of that planning has to do with the servers and related equipment left behind in the data center after a cloud migration.

If you are planning for a cloud migration at your company, here are six IT asset disposition issues you should plan to encounter:

Issue 1: Deciding Whether to Dispose of or Redeploy Assets

Especially if your company has chosen a hybrid model for its IT infrastructure (a combination of cloud and virtualization elements with internal data centers), you probably still have a use for data center assets even after applications have been migrated off of them and into the cloud. Considerations here include an asset’s capacity for running the required applications, its value on the resale market, and the cost of moving it somewhere else within the organization.

Issue Two: Data Security and Information Destruction

If you are going to recycle, resell, or reuse your hardware, you must handle the data on those items in a way that ensures that internal and external data security policies, security procedures, and compliance requirements are being met. These days, when data breaches can be so costly, protecting customer data and sensitive business information is extremely important to almost every organization, and you want to make sure you handle destruction or redeployment of your assets in a manner that protects your data, company, and clients. Work with your certified data destruction partner as early in the data center change process as possible to develop a plan to be sure you have selected the right processes, the resources required are available, the work can be completed within the required timeframe, and that the plan will meet all company and industry requirements.

Issue Three: Regulatory and Environmental Compliance

Closely related to data security are the industry standards and regulations with which your company must comply. In addition, companies must also be sure that all materials are disposed of in full compliance with federal and state environmental regulations. Failure to follow either industry standards or environmental regulations can result in fines and bad publicity for your company.

Issue Four: Investment Recovery

If you are planning to recover some of your IT investment by selling your retired equipment, you will need to determine whether or not your items have sufficient resale value to make it worthwhile. For maximum investment recovery, the equipment should not be damaged and all components should be present and in working order. Review with your ITAD partner potential value based on the equipment configuration and timing of your disposition so you know what to expect.

Issue Five: Leased Asset Management

Some—or all—of the equipment in your data center may be leased. Whether you plan to purchase the equipment at the end of lease or return it to the lessee, you should have tracking and chain of custody procedures in place to segregate leased items and verify that sensitive data has been disposed of properly. An ITAD partner with lease experience can help you determine whether buy out or return is your best option, and assist you with the process.

Issue Six: Space and Time Requirements

Whether your company chooses to redeploy equipment after a cloud migration, sell it, or recycle it, the method you choose will take time to implement and space to house items prior to redeployment or re-sale, or to perform data destruction. If you have hard deadlines for project completion or removing assets, be sure to plan for these activities as far in advance as possible. For example, destroying hundreds or thousands for hard drives or tapes onsite can take several days and requires space and access. Make sure you’ve accounted for those requirements in your plan.

This was an introduction to the six major ITAD issues that should be planned for in a cloud migration project. For an in-depth discussion of each, including strategies for addressing them, download our free guide, “The IT Asset Manager’s Guide to Cloud Migration.”