the client
overview
The client is considered one of the top five banks in the world. They are a large purchaser of servers and data center infrastructure. The company retires 10,000 to 20,000 servers per year.
problem
The company knew there was a better way to dispose of their servers. Because of the complexity of the data erasure process for three separate manufacturers, they opted to just recycle everything despite the significant residual value and environmental benefits of reuse.
data security
Data security was their first concern. Their current solution was to destroy and recycle everything. However, data can still reside on the firmware, which is often overlooked.
reporting
Performing firmware resets isn’t difficult, but the validation can be. The existing .xml files were thousands of lines long. With the lack of time and resources, they were unable to validate that the firmware had been reset.
sustainability
Reuse delivers a far greater environmental benefit than recycling because a four-year-old server still has substantial useful life remaining.
recovered value
Their approach to data destruction meant the client was leaving millions of dollars on the table due to their risk concerns.
apto solutions
Data Security
Our Project Management and Field Services teams were onsite to perform the reset, export the logs for every server, and upload the files for review. We worked with multi-national compliance teams during a prolonged pilot phase to make sure they were satisfied with validity of firmware erasures, as well as a fail-safe plan if the servers reached our warehouse without these records.
Reporting
Apto designed a proprietary tool that was able to intake lengthy .xml files and produce a clear set of results, including 12 columns of pass/fail, rack numbers, and serial numbers. In addition, our pre-sale process sent audit reports, photos, and firmware erasure reports to be examined by compliance team prior to resale.
Logistics
We partnered seamlessly with Data Center Operations to supply much needed resources in six data centers to help them execute the wiping and removal. Apto provided a strong chain-of-custody plan including tandem drivers, GPS, and dock reporting.
Recovered Value
Apto’s proprietary auction process maximized the resale value of $8MM over a six-month period.
sustainability
Our partnership with Bloom ESG’s ISO-verified methodology allows us to produce key metrics for every client. These reports summarize the avoided greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This is the result of recycling and refurbishing that allows valuable materials and assets to be recovered, reducing reliance on virgin material production and the associated energy use of emissions.
innovation. security. sustainability.
Meeting this challenge for the client introduced bonus rewards throughout the process.
Identifying the gaps and using an agile, innovative approach, our proprietary reporting tool can now expand into product categories outside of data center servers. We can now apply this approach to storage and networking and end user devices as well.