When it comes to data destruction, you need to know you’re making the best possible decision for your company. And that includes where the data destruction takes place. Onsite – at your premises. Or offsite – on our premises. In this post, we’ll explore both options as we compare onsite vs. offsite data destruction.
Onsite Data Destruction
As we’ve mentioned, onsite data destruction takes place on your premises. Perhaps your company policy prohibits data bearing assets such as laptops from leaving the customer premises. In such circumstances, our experienced team will come to you and, using a hydraulic press, crush any redundant hard drives, rendering them completely unusable.
Offsite Data Destruction
For offsite data destruction, our satellite tracked, secure vans will collect your data bearing assets and return them to our state-of-the-art facilities where our expert team will complete all the destruction processes. Hard drives are put through the shredder, while the actual IT equipment (laptop / tablet etc) is assessed for either remarketing or recycling.
In both instances, you will receive your data destruction and duty of care certificates.
Onsite vs. Offsite Data Destruction – the Pros and Cons
In both instances, the risk of your data ending up in the wrong hands is dramatically reduced; the materials from electronics are recycled; the data destruction service is certified, and duty of care certificates issued; and your own redundant equipment becomes clean of sensitive data.
However, some prefer onsite and some prefer offsite. We’ll take a look at a few of the pros and cons of each.
Onsite Pros and Cons
Convenience: we come to you, and you can personally supervise the data destruction process. We are more than happy for you to oversee the whole procedure.
Immediacy: the data destruction process begins as soon as we arrive at your premises. No time is spent on processing and tracking the items, returning them to our facilities.
Simplicity: Because we bring the necessary machinery, there is no loading procedure, no inventory to prepare.
However, this option may prove more expensive and will also cause disruption to the work environment.
Offsite Pros and Cons
Affordability: whereas onsite data destruction may incur fees, sending redundant devices to an offsite facility may prove to be the more prudent option financially.
Declutter: all those unwanted devices that are occupying space on your premises will go.
Marginal disturbance: we come in and remove your old equipment, causing minimal disruption to your work environment.
However, some may argue that the journey from your premises to our secure facility presents additional time, as does the inventory and tracking once the equipment arrives. It also entails additional personnel handling. That said, at Asset Disposal, all of our staff are well-trained, our fleet of vehicles are secure and GPS tracked and we adhere to the strictest compliance regulations, including ADISA 8.0, ISO 9001, 14001 and 27001, as well as being fully UK GDPR and WEEE compliant.
For more information about our onsite and offsite data destruction options, please get in touch and a member of our team will be more than happy to talk you through the procedure.