At some point in the last three decades, business operations became entangled with information technology. Companies continue to build, own, and operate data centers to manage and oversee their data. DataKnox has helped many companies decommission data centers as well as retire, refurbish, and resell their IT equipment.

As we decommission certain servers and racks by correctly destroying tapes and hard drives, we uphold regulatory standards in their data center environment. We also help coordinate the permanent shutdown of a company’s data center, should they require it. But many of our customers ask us, “What does a data center shut down look like?”

They are curious because many of them find that their data center is dead as they merge into digital infrastructures and cloud technology. In fact, over 80% of enterprises will have already shut down their data center by 2025. Today, only 10% have permanently canceled their data center operations.

DataKnox wants to introduce you to the process of a staged decommission of your data center. Learn all the enterprise solutions you will need along the way from your provider and decommissioner. Then, explore how DataKnox provides the right services to mitigate risk, protect assets, and produce a return on your original investment.

What a Data Center Shut Down Looks Like

Many customers do not know what to expect from their data center decommissioning. They want to know what happens to unused, leased, and recycled assets.

Ease your mind - in this section, you’ll learn about the phases of development to look for once you hire a shutdown and asset recovery team.

Decommissioning Unused IT Assets

The first phase in a successful shutdown is systematically and securely identifying the assets that you never or no longer use. Some of these IT assets will need to be removed prior to any data destruction efforts, and they can be moved more quickly through the recovery process.

In this phase, we take out all the racked equipment and cabinets that are not used as information technology, and then move them to a staging zone where they are prepared for the next phase - shipping.

Removing and Mining Cable

Legacy cables must next be removed from the site in order to facilitate the processing of your remaining technology assets. This ensures that nothing obstructs access to the information technology equipment at your data center.

Some data centers rely on legacy cables, so we remove them carefully as needed by our clients. If salvageable, they are also moved to the staging area for transport and removal from the site.

Returning Leased Equipment

In addition to unused assets and cables, you will need to select leased equipment for an easy return to the vendor. We can help you prepare these returns and facilitate any credits you may be owed, whoever the lease is under.

All end-of-lease equipment would be prepared to your agreement standards for a simple and accurate exchange.

Conducting Data Destruction

We guarantee a secure and successful digital data destruction for each and every remaining asset. This phase is essential for the later process of refurbishing, reselling, and recycling assets. We uphold industry standards for secure data destruction and work hard to give you a return on your investment.

We offer data destruction as an on-site service or offsite, where we handle and process assets at our own facility. All data-bearing assets are processed and wiped according to strict chains and waves of sensitive information removal.

Tracking and Shipping Assets

We perform a physical inventory of equipment while documenting any difference from the client list of equipment. Then we prepare the assets for shipping by packing them in the staging area.

By reconciling inventory lists and preparing the remaining assets to be shipped for refurbishment, resale, or recycling, we ensure a timely close to your data center’s shutdown.

Refurbishing, Reselling, and Recycling

All the steps that come before refurbishing, reselling, and recycling are preparation for maximizing the value of asset recovery. With unused and leased assets removed, data destroyed, and assets prepared for shipment, you are ready to turn retired assets into a check.

We ship the IT assets for refurbishment, resell, and recycle to our own service location, or our partners, to process the assets. We redeploy the assets at other company-owned facilities only when requested while recycling broken or end-of-life devices.

The DataKnox Approach to Data Center Shutdowns

Businesses like yours are shifting their information technology infrastructure toward the cloud. The on-site data centers that used to power many businesses are significantly shrunk and, in some cases, shut down permanently. DataKnox helps to turn these data centers into a return on investment for clients while leaving the site itself a clean sweep space.

DataKnox empowers IT and data center managers to focus on their work in the live production environment as we systematically decommission and retire assets and equipment. We are used to decommissioning servers, racks, gear, cabling, and all kinds of equipment. That’s why our services include:

• IT Equipment Purchase
• Onsite Data Destruction
• Global Logistics
• Site Decommissioning and Relocation
• Certified Recycling
• Data Center Buyout Program
• Test and Lab Assets
• Cloud and DevOps

We are completely certified and ready for any audit. We take data security seriously, and we’re certified by the National Security Agency as well as NIST, R2, and NERC.

How Can I Learn More

Many managers want to know how much they can save and recover through a data center shutdown. You can learn to increase your decommissioning ROI while efficiently and profitably removing equipment, reselling assets, and refurbishing technology. If this is something you’re interested in, know that DataKnox is a resource for you.

Avoid mistakes during the data center shutdown process and learn how we can help you generate a return from your next decommission. Contact us for a quote.