7 Inventory Liquidation Challenges Facing Office IT Managers

Relocating or closing down a corporate office is not the easiest work in the world and usually comes with a deadline that is not subject to change. And unfortunately for some – facility, property and IT managers – they are right in the middle of this get-everything-out-quick situation.

IT inventory liquidation may need to be carried out in a very short timeframe when there are moving changes in your company: downsizing, liquidation, merger, consolidation, acquisition, reorganization, relocation, or bankruptcy, you name it.

For IT equipment, disposition needs to be done on time and with minimal resources. You should also seek ways to curb the risk to the company with regard to data security and compliance, while at the same time maximizing value recovery.

It’s no child’s play.

The Challenges             

Those involved have a couple of issues to deal with. They include the following:

1. Little turnaround time that doesn’t allow for the normal surplus liquidation
2. Small budget (or none at all) to run the project. A good part of the time, these tasks are not included in the annual plan which means little funds (if any at all) have been set aside.
3. A deficiency of technology knowledge and resources to gather the asset details tech liquidators will find handy in order to properly do valuation. For example, model and configuration details.
4. Uncertain inventory, meaning the ability to tell what assets you have exactly and where they are located, more so in cases of multiple floors or offices where assets (computers, printers, telecom etc.) are spread out.
5. Multiple concurrent events that serve to add to the chaos. These include things like power and telecom disconnection, furniture disposal etc. You can also throw in to the mix stringent asset tracking and reporting requirements that are required by law or for financial purposes in some situations like bankruptcy or complete shut-down.
6. Heightened risk of a data breach and discouraging data security thanks to challenges in asset tracking and the number of people with access to the office space. Physical tape or hard drive destruction may also be a challenge due to limited time and space – sometimes power.
7. Vendor management issues especially if you use those with particular specialties such as ones specializing in networking equipment only, hard drive destruction only, telecommunications only and so on.

Fortunately, there is a way to bring sanity into the process and ensure it becomes easier, more efficient and lower risk.

A full service liquidator may just turn out to be the best news you hear during this challenging period. And they do bring a lot to the table:

• They act as the project manager and can help you gather information for the various types of assets, depending on your particular situation.
• They will do resale value recovery for all IT-related asset categories. This will get rid of the equipment, for one, ensure there will be some money coming in, second, and third, data security will be guaranteed.

• Determining decommissioning resources in case they’re needed, not to mention logistical requirements.
• They help you choose the best alternative available at your disposal by reviewing things like data destruction options, time, weighing options, risk and compliance.
• Ensuring you comply with data security best practices and environmental regulations, a tricky issue that will no longer be your headache to deal with.

Whenever companies and their IT managers are faced with such a challenging disposal project, the need to bring in more experienced hands in the form of inventory liquidators cannot be emphasized enough.

This is especially the case given it’s not an extra charge you will be incurring (in most cases) but rather, an additional resource to get you out of the rut while earning you a little something through recovery.