A major US bank with over 1,000 retail branches had a problem. Each location was similar in that it had some private offices and workstations, between five and ten tellers and a maximum of 30 users per location. However, they were spread across the country and there was no easy, consistent way to handle end-of-life equipment disposal in an environmentally responsible manner while maintaining strict data security.

For a financial institution, data security is the highest priority.

PwC reports that cyber crime is now the second most reported crime globally with financial services firms at the top of the risk list.

Without a strict protocol in place to safeguard the data of both customers and the institution, a bank is at risk for financial losses as well as loss of brand and reputation. One of the key elements of a digital security strategy is having a plan for the disposal of data assets when they’re no longer needed.

The customer chose Quantum over the incumbent vendor because of a transparent solution based on limited outsourcing. The only task that Quantum outsourced was logistics from the branch level to the consolidation warehouse. Once the equipment arrived at the warehouse, Quantum transported it to their site, audited the assets and proceeded with data destruction or erasure and the remarketing of assets.

According to Quantum President Mark Cooper, it was important to the bank that they would receive fair market value for their assets. Quantum provided 70 per cent of the remarket value of all resellable equipment minus data handling and auditing costs. If items could not be remarketed, Quantum provided a commodity rebate or issued a small charge for environmentally responsible recycling of hazardous materials.

Download a PDF version of How Quantum Works with Financial Institutions

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The project scope meeting was straightforward. The bank was organized and had a list of assets by location that were to be decommissioned in the next three to four years. Quantum provided an estimate of gross resale value and the cost to ship the items to the consolidation warehouse. The bank had an internal data security protocol that required every data-bearing device to be wiped at the branch before it was shipped to the disposal vendor.

Achieving company-wide buy in was easy since the bank was already dealing with a single service provider for the entire life cycle of the IT asset.

The VAR supplier handled installation of the new gear, serviced existing/old gear including device wiping, and coordinated the disposal. Additionally, because of their size, the bank had very low rates with the shipping company that transported the assets to the consolidation warehouse.

For the bank, the solution lay in its simplicity. As the IT asset refreshes occurred at each branch, retired assets were shipped to the consolidation facility. Once each shipment was received at the facility, technicians created a list of assets, which detailed the branch location they were received from.

Once a trailer load of a few thousand assets had accumulated at the consolidation warehouse, Quantum arranged for transportation to their warehouse. The account manager provided updates to the bank upon receiving the equipment, and another update upon completion of validation, sorting and after asset recovery. The second update allowed the bank to confirm the chain of custody for the assets from each branch.

To date, Quantum has successfully processed the first trailer load, with the bank receiving detailed reports on exactly what was sent. The bank also received a cheque for their remarketable assets. According to Cooper, the bank is extremely happy so far with Quantum’s responsiveness, their ability to provide the deliverables within the time frames committed to and, of course, the financial return from recycled assets.