Where the process usually breaks
Ask for the history of one retired laptop and you may find three separate records:
- the asset system says “retired, 14 March”
- a wipe report lists a drive serial that may or may not match
- the recycler’s collection note says “42 laptops”
Each record is correct. But together they don’t prove that this laptop was erased before it left, and that’s what auditors and customers ask about. Each handover between teams or tools is a chance for a device to drop out of the records.
Seven steps for retiring IT equipment
- Start with the asset record. Retirement begins when someone changes the asset’s status, for example at the end of a lease, during a refresh, after a failure or when an employee leaves. No one should remove a device without this.
- Approve. Check that the device can be erased: no legal hold, data backed up or moved, and the owner has agreed. Record who approved it.
- Erase where the device is. For remote staff, erase the laptop when they leave instead of waiting for a courier. For devices in the office, erase them before they go into storage for collection.
- Check and certify. Verify each erasure and issue a certificate linked to the asset ID and drive serial. Mark any device that fails for physical destruction.
- Hand over with a list. Give your ITAD partner or recycler a list of asset IDs and serials. Have them sign for that list, not just a box count.
- Record what happens next. Record whether each asset was resold, reused or recycled. In India, use a registered recycler and keep the paperwork you need for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) under the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022.
- Close the record. Mark the asset as disposed only when its certificate and final record are attached. List any asset still open after 30 days and follow it up.
Use the asset ID everywhere
Every system that handles the device should save its record against the same asset ID.
| Stage | System | What it records |
|---|---|---|
| Retire | Asset system (ITAM / CMDB) | Status, reason, approver |
| Erase | Erasure software | Method, standard, verification result, signed certificate |
| Hand over | ITAD portal or list | Collection date, signature |
| Final | ITAD partner or recycler | Resale grade, or recycling and EPR record |
Erasure tools now increasingly connect to asset systems. For example, BitRaser announced a ServiceNow integration in 2026. VaultRazer’s REST API and webhooks let your asset system start an erasure and get the certificate back on the same record, with no spreadsheets in between.
Certificate of erasure vs. certificate of destruction
These two are often confused:
- A certificate of erasure covers one device or drive. It shows the data was erased to a named standard and checked. The hardware can then be resold or reused.
- A certificate of destruction usually covers a batch and comes from a shredding or recycling company. It shows the drives were physically destroyed. It often lists a weight or count, not serial numbers.
For audits, a certificate for each device is stronger. A batch certificate without serial numbers can’t show that a specific asset was in the batch. See the six things every erasure certificate should show.
What to measure
- Coverage: the share of retired assets with an erasure certificate attached. Aim for 100%. Anything less is an audit finding.
- Time to close: the number of days from retirement to a closed record. Long delays often mean devices are sitting in a storeroom.
- Erasure success rate by device model. If one model keeps failing, the cause is usually locked firmware, not faulty drives.
- Resale value: what you earn by reselling erased hardware compared with shredding it. Our savings calculator gives an estimate.
Frequently asked questions
What is IT asset disposition (ITAD)?
ITAD is the process of retiring IT equipment safely. It covers approving the retirement, erasing or destroying the data, handing the equipment over, and reselling, reusing or recycling it, with a record at each step.
Should data be erased before or after an ITAD pickup?
Before, wherever possible. If devices are erased on site, or remotely when an employee leaves, they carry no data in transit. If your ITAD partner does the erasure, ask for a certificate for each device.
What's the difference between ITAM and ITAD?
IT asset management (ITAM) tracks hardware and software while they're in use. IT asset disposition (ITAD) is the last stage, when equipment is retired. They work best when ITAD records are saved back into the ITAM system.