INTERVIEW: Allen Beach, Argus Connection “How Every ITAM Professional Can Make a Difference”

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INTERVIEW: Allen Beach, Argus Connection “How Every ITAM Professional Can Make a Difference”

Last month Barbara Rembiesa at IAITAM spoke of the need for IT Asset Managers to step up to the plate and be the superhero.  One way in which IT Asset Managers can make a difference is by developing an eGreen ITAD initiative.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Allen Beach from Argus Connection, keynote speaker at the IAITAM Conference, where he outlined how every single IT Asset Management professional can contribute to positive change.

Q. Can developing an ITAD initiative really makea difference?

The world has a lot of problems, and some of those are very complex, and there are lot of bright people working on solving those problems. But this is not complex at all! This is really simple.

Quite simply, there is no reason for our technology to be trashing third world countries, no reason whatsoever. We should not be sending our technology to third world countries. It is not the sending that is doing the damage but the third world countries not knowing how to utilise and manage the equipment.

Q. How big an issue is it?

It’s extremely common. People can make a lot of money from it. They are paid a low wage to extract the valuable metals. Young kids are scraping out the components in dumps. In the process they are poisoning the land, themselves and their water supply. We wouldn’t let it happen to our kids in the UK and US so why should we push it on them?

To see the scale of this problem see the video below from PBS.org ‘Mapping the Global eWaste Trade’

Q. What is eGreen certified?

It is recognition for your company that they treat ITAD seriously. It shows that the company tracks their assets and information from de-installation to final disposition.  It shows they use a credible, reputable supplier who finds a way to recycle equipment properly using approved processes. It is a certification that any company should be proud of because it also means that the company is looking after the interests of its customers by protecting their data.

For example if a bank is eGreen certified it demonstrates that not only are they being environmentally responsible but they also have a process in place to protect by banking details.

Q. How would you recommend that a company gets started with an eGreen initiative?

There are four key steps to devising an eGreen ITAD policy:

1. 100% tracking, re-use, recover and/or recycling of all retired technology assets
2. Assuring the absolute security of company data
3. Being eco-friendly from a technology point of view
4. Becoming eGreen certified

Allen Beach is Senior VP and Owner at Argus Connection. For more details about becoming eGreen certified visit The International Association of Technology Recycling and Data Destruction.

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