During the past five-and-a-half years, the Redemtech company blog has operated like a perpetual motion machine, consuming latent energy stemming from a vastly churning and changing IT asset management and disposition industry, while plugging along with topical content that has kept readers informed, enlightened, and, in some cases, amused.
After those early days, the blog team grew to include a fine collection of industry experts and professionals within Redemtech’s Advisory Practice, while the blog became a useful conduit for contributions from company executives and guest bloggers. Highlights have included several multiple blogger series on topics such as the Bring-Your-Own-Device trend and group analyses of e-waste collections on Earth Day. One of our readers’ favorite series still resonates: a four-part nexus of humor blogs from December 2007 titled Big Red Goes Green, through which a technologically savvy Santa Claus visits the Island of Misfit Electronics and the elves learn an important lesson about recycling components.
Many things have changed since those pioneering days of blogging, and one of the most positive advances involves the acquisition of Redemtech by Arrow Electronics, Inc., a Fortune 200 global provider of products, specialized services and expertise to technology users across the product lifecycle. Acquisitions of this caliber require considerable analysis and cogitation so that all of the proper components fit well with one another. It’s really no different from taking a collection of highly charged components and piecing them together to create a working machine.
During this period, we are taking a pause from blog production and focusing on our other conventional platforms to keep customers informed of advances in our evolving industry. We put a lot of stock in the old Mark Twain adage: “No word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.” What will not change are the dedication and camaraderie we’ve established that continue to give purpose to our combined endeavors.
Under the heading: "Not Using ‘Em Yet? Then Consider Storage," the bloggers casually mentioned: "If you have a number of electronics that you simply don't know what to do with yet, then you can store them instead while you decide." After a bit more explanation about the "low cost of storage," the segment concluded: "Putting your electronics in storage can give you a chance to figure out what you'd like to do with them, which is better than throwing them away or having it recycled."
This recommendation appeared to offer a different view of the old adage, "Out of Sight, Out of Mind," which typically is understood as the idea that something is easily forgotten or dismissed as unimportant if it is not in our direct view. I would consider the idea of storing computers for an unspecified time to be more along the lines of "Out of Sight; Are You Out of Your Mind?"
The practice of storing idle computers remains one of the more significant problems with computer reuse and disposition today. It is estimated that millions of computers with plenty of useful life are prematurely retired from U.S. businesses each year, many of them relegated to closets or warehouses where they sit collecting dust.
While the blog I read is correct in assuming that computers and other electronics should not be haphazardly dumped into the waste stream, it should have focused on the ways reusing, recycling and refurbishing still-operating computers represent far better options than allowing useful units to sit idle. With nearly 60 percent of low-income American households in desperate need of computers, the notion that any company should store its unused computers "until they decide what to do with them" is terribly archaic and irresponsible.
This is especially true when considering that struggling U.S. families need basic computers to help them to search for jobs and enable their children to enhance their educational opportunities. Simply turn to the back of any newspaper employment section and you’ll realize that 99 percent of job ads are now online. Ask any student who does not have access to a computer how difficult it is to complete school assignments without online access.
A most viable alternative to storing computers resides in programs such as Connect2Compete, the initiative supported by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to narrow the digital divide through affordable computers for low-income Americans, free digital literacy training and discounted high-speed Internet; and Redemtech's own PC Pledge 100 computer donation campaign designed to entice corporations to provide their end-of-lifecycle computers to assist school age children with obtaining home PCs and laptops at a price in accordance with their families’ financial means.
Last week I had the opportunity to hear Connect2Compete CEO Zach Leverenz personally address the mission of the C2C initiative, through which the non-profit organization partners with Redemtech to refurbish computers donated by corporations and place them with eligible low-income families. More than 40 million computers are prematurely retired from U.S. businesses annually, Leverenz said, and 75% of those computers are less than four years old. Not only do donated computers help change the lives of family recipients, but donating computers helps the environment by reducing the amount of e-waste that might be improperly disposed in landfills or exported to Third World countries, he added.
“Through the collaboration and commitment of the many talented individuals, companies and non-profit organizations who have partnered with C2C, we have an unprecedented opportunity to ensure that all Americans have the tools and education necessary to be competitive in today’s digital economy,” Leverenz said.
Redemtech President Robert Houghton reiterated that sentiment by noting the importance of Redemtech’s selection as the chosen provider of low-cost refurbished computers for Connect2Compete. "As North America’s largest Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher (MAR), Redemtech is offering high-quality, business-grade desktop and laptop name-brand refurbished computers under the GoodPC brand to many families. This is a tremendous responsibility that Redemtech is proud to honor," Houghton said.
Computers should never fall into the category of "out of sight, out of mind." Electronic waste is a very visible global problem, so everything that can be done to reuse and recycle computers and other electronics must be done, especially when needy families and the environment benefit. Considering the type of personally identifiable customer and corporate data that may reside on idle computers, this aspect of the e-waste crisis has data security dangers as well.
Storing useful machines in warehouses is not a solution. The longer a once-useful computer sits in Computer Purgatory, the less value it retains.
Wednesday night at the The Boston Area Sustainability Group meeting, the guest speaker, one of the “Top 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics,” Tim Smith, from Walden Asset Management – a firm practicing Sustainable and Responsible Investing – put forth the premise that environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives are becoming mainstream, and that they bring great value to the organizations that embrace them. According to Smith, there’s a “new breed” of investors including pension funds, foundations, religious investors and investment firms with assets under management of over $70 trillion declaring that they are integrating environmental, social and governance issues into their investment process, sending a strong message to companies where they invest.
When I think about efficiencies and resource conservation in the context of electronics, I’m very proud of what Arrow Electronics has done and is doing to protect the environment, protect workers, conserve energy and water, and ensure a counterfeit-free electronics supply. What we do makes a huge difference and touches every aspect of our lives – from transportation to communication, from medicine to education. Electronics are literally embedded in everything we touch.
I’d love to hear how your organization participates in “environmental, social and governance” initiatives. What value do you perceive? Do you know how to tie your electronics disposition to your environmental, social and governance programs? I’m here to help.
Did you ever notice how in business we’re sometimes just as imprisoned by the latest trend of the month as we were back in high school? This month, the trend is big data. You can’t open a business magazine or attend an industry conference without a half dozen people ponderously weighing in on how big data will change everything.
There’s only one problem: big data has been around for a very long time. Do you think NASA got a man on the moon or the federal government has been delivering millions of Social Security checks each month without marshaling vast quantities of data? You know the answer to that one.What is perhaps newer, however, is the ease with which the average even modestly sized organization can slice and dice large data sets to arrive at some actionable intelligence. That’s being called data analytics, and you can mostly thank Moore’s Law for that--you know, the idea that computing power doubles every 18-24 months. Over time, that dynamic has put more computing power at the fingertips of the average person than entire Fortune 500 companies used to have access to with their vast mainframes.
I’m more aware than most about how all this has played out for the last couple of decades. I spent a number of years working at Capital One, a bank that grew largely because of its innovative practices in big data. Our founder and CEO, Richard Fairbank, was a true pioneer in this area. He understood before most that by leveraging lots of consumer data, smart players in the financial services industry could deliver highly customized products and services, the kind that people might pay a little more for.
But as this understanding filters ever-lower down the business chain of command, all the way to the operational stages, let’s not forget that the promise of big data will only be fulfilled when quality data becomes the norm, with lots of checks and balances built into the process. Remember: You can't manage what you can't measure -- and you manage poorly when you manage with bad data. Whether the data is little, big or somewhere in between, if it’s incorrect or otherwise lacking in quality, the sheer quantity of data won’t matter.
Recently, a giant bluebird and an irreverent raccoon joined our irregular viewing schedule. They are the primary characters on Regular Show, a Cartoon Network animated series that follows Mordecai (the bird) and Rigby (the raccoon) through various humdrum adventures that almost always turn out with them sucked into a time vortex or battling bizarre monsters, such as a 20-foot-tall villain made of fruit pie. After defeating the prodigious pastry in that recent episode, they even cheated Death from getting the Blue Ribbon in a pie contest.
Mordecai and Rigby are amusing because they drive a golf cart everywhere – on city streets, urban highways and off ocean piers while chased by zombies. And they came to mind when I read a recent news article about a new law that went into effect in one state this year that mandated new safety requirements for cities to allow golf carts on public roads. The new law includes rules for brakes, reverse warning devices and horns.
I have nothing against golf carts. I appreciate safety requirements. But to be honest, the thought that legislators spent their valuable time pondering golf cart horns hit me as something almost as ludicrous as the Pie Monster on Regular Show.
More than 40,000 state laws have gone into effect during 2012, many of them supporting worthwhile causes or significant issues. But when you consider how few new bills on e-waste management or end-of-lifecycle device disposal were considered this year, it simply doesn’t make a lot of sense that golf cart laws can easily putter into the legislative spotlight.
Many states have not duly considered the serious nature of e-waste. It has become the fastest-growing category of municipal waste in the U.S., and more than 80% of that e-waste is improperly disposed.
Rather than refurbishing and recycling electronics, millions of tons of e-waste are landfilled, exported or incinerated. Electronics recycling does not usually take place in developing countries where primitive disassembly and disposal processes expose impoverished people, many of them children, to potentially toxic levels of lead, mercury, cadmium and other chemicals.
In this heavy-handed season of politics, e-waste is one important global issue that is not partisan. Some states have passed disposal bans; others approved mandates on e-waste management. Some have done both. All states need to have at least some legislated e-waste disposal programs to keep end-of-lifecycle devices out of landfills and flowing into recycling facilities.
If e-waste was properly legislated, lawmakers across the country would be able to focus on other important issues.
Like golf cart horns.
Electronics, from our cell phones to our computers, from copiers and printers to networking gear, to medical devices and televisions, carry with them many reasons they shouldn’t be simply tossed. It’s both what’s in them as well as what’s on them that requires special handling. What’s on them is data, likely sensitive data that must be appropriately erased with an audit trail to prove it. What’s in them – namely the compounds from which they are manufactured – presents the many important environmental concerns that warrant safe handling, including:
1) Toxins
2) Rare Earth Elements
3) Conflict Minerals
4) Reusable materials
Toxins
Electronics contain various toxic compounds that present environmental and worker safety risks if not handled appropriately. If thrown into landfills, these toxins poison the soil and water. If incinerated, these toxins become hazardous gases. Without adequate protection, handling these materials can harm workers.
Rare Earth Elements
Some of what makes electronics function the way they do – what makes cell phones vibrate, for example, the special magnets used in disk drives, compounds used in lasers and medical imaging – result from the properties associated with a group of elements from the periodic table of elements known as the “rare earth” elements or materials. These “rare earths” are not so much rare as they are difficult and dirty to extract. Indeed, they’re relatively plentiful in the earth’s crust, but today they are sourced almost exclusively from China. Already China has announced that its supplies are running out. Already mining has resumed in the United States, and already the projected demand is outpacing the projected supply. Making the supply of rare earth elements even more problematic is that fact that to date, we have no process to reclaim them. This means that it’s imperative to continue to use what we have as long as it functions and not simply dump today’s electronics in favor of the next new thing. If there’s a compelling reason to adopt new technology, make sure usable technology finds a new home and isn’t forced prematurely into the waste stream.
Conflict Minerals
Common in today’s electronics are four minerals that, when sourced in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), may be associated with heinous crimes including murder and rape. Documenting the source of gold, tungsten, tantalum and tin is now part of the legislative reform passed in August 2012. As part of Dodd-Frank, suppliers are required to identify the sources of these minerals that may be originating in the DRC or adjoining countries. Keeping the lineage of the materials in tact will help suppliers source from ethical sources.
Reusable Materials
Pretty much everything used to make electronics can be reclaimed and put back into new manufacture – from plastic to copper to lead and glass. When equipment truly cannot be used further and its salvageable parts have been harvested, appropriate recycling sends materials back into the manufacturing stream.
Make IT Last
From an energy perspective, the greatest energy expenditure associated with an electronic asset comes in its manufacture, where the energy expended out-strips the energy used in the course of the asset’s life. For that reason, it’s imperative to make every attempt to extend the usable life. Assets can be repaired, refurbished and upgraded. If the upgraded asset isn’t what’s needed in the organization, the asset can be sold or donated, often extending the asset life by as much as four or five years.
What Redemtech Does
Redemtech does everything it can to protect people, the planet and the organizations that trust Redemtech with their assets. All data-bearing assets are treated with the highest security, ensuring no data is ever discoverable on any asset Redemtech processes. Redemtech does everything possible to extend the life of assets – repairing, refurbishing, and upgrading them so that they can be redeployed back into an organization, resold or donated. For equipment that can’t be fixed, Redemtech harvests serviceable parts to repair other equipment. When nothing usable is left, Redemtech uses e-Stewards certified downstream recycling processors to return every recoverable commodity to the manufacturing stream. Mercury handlers reclaim the mercury – no mercury containing device is ever shredded. Leaded glass heads to the lead smelter. Plastic to the plastic recycler. No electronic waste is ever sent to landfill, nothing is ever incinerated, and no non-functioning equipment is ever shipped abroad. Beyond this, Redemtech’s Serious Good initiatives channel usable equipment to programs like ¬ Connect to Compete, a national initiative to address the digital divide, and Habitat for Humanity.
Redemtech is now an Arrow Company and we’re proud to be part of a global organization that’s thinking “Five Years Out”. Check out our new family in a couple of great short videos like this one and this. You’ll quickly see why we’re so excited.
When you consider that nearly 60% of low-income homes in the U.S. lack a computer, closing the digital divide is a huge challenge. But we’re already starting to make progress with PC Pledge 100. There has been a lot of excitement since we joined with FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and Connect2Compete to launch this nationwide campaign to close the digital divide through corporate donations of used computers.
Today, I am pleased to welcome the first company to take the pledge – CNA, a leading insurance company based in my hometown of Chicago. CNA is the 7th largest U.S. commercial insurer and the 13th largest U.S. property & casualty insurer providing insurance protection to more than one million businesses and professionals in the U.S. and internationally.We appreciate CNA’s enthusiasm and quick action – they really get it. "CNA is committed to strengthening the communities where our employees live and work by providing volunteer and financial support to nonprofit organizations dedicated to building healthy and prosperous neighborhoods,” said Sarah Pang senior vice president, Corporate Communication. “Connect2Compete is an outstanding example of a program introduced to us by a CNA employee actively involved in their community. We are thrilled to support Connect2Compete’s green, efficient, and effective actions to close the digital divide."
CNA’s donated equipment landed on our loading dock just last week, and we’re getting to work to refurbish the equipment so it can be distributed to C2C participants. We think it’s an opportunity to showcase our Serious Good® approach to refurbishment, which caused a leading analyst firm to write that “Redemtech Re-writes the Rules on IT Equipment Donation.” Keep an eye on our @Redemtech Twitter feed over the next week or so. We’ll be posting pictures that show the whole process as equipment is received at the docks, unpackaged and processed for refurbishment, boxed and sent out the door for delivery.
Helping more companies learn about our system for making donation an easy choice is the key to tapping the more than 17 million used-but-still-useful corporate PCs that go to waste annually in the U.S. due to premature disposal or storage. Connecting that surplus with the needs in society is what PC Pledge 100 and Serious Good are all about.
I hope you’ll join me in congratulating CNA for the pioneering role in this effort. Feel free to send them a thank you on Twitter @CNA_Insurance. We will keep you informed as PC Pledge 100 continues to grow. What do you think is the most important issue for encouraging more companies to “take the pledge?”
So I am baffled as to how word of the threat posed by data security breaches seems to have somehow bypassed parts of Salina, if recent crime stories appearing in the local news media are to be believed.
According to these sources, several burglaries have plagued Salina of late. Thieves have been breaking into a variety of businesses, disassembling office computers and absconding with the hard drives. It seems pretty obvious that someone is after sensitive information on these data-bearing computers to use to commit other crimes.
But according to a news story in the Salina Journal, “the motive for a string of Salina burglaries in which computer hard drives have been stolen is a head scratcher.” A spokesperson for the police department was quoted as saying, "When you go to the trouble of pulling the cover off a computer and removing the hard drive, you are targeting that for a specific reason. So, is it the information on that hard drive, or are you using it for something else on down the road?"
The same spokesperson told local TV station KWCH: "We are trying to … figure out what it is they are looking for on those hard drives.” This sentiment was echoed by a comment from one of the data breach victims, who was quoted as saying, “You wonder why. What did we do? What's going on? What are they after?"
The answer is simple: They’re after information on customers. They use it to steal.
The Salina burglaries may be a case where the police are being cagey and the victims are behaving purposely coy, but the news media coverage implies that no one really knows what criminals do with stolen personal data. There are vague references to data theft, but nothing regarding what kind of information was stored on the stolen hardware or how many people might be impacted by the incidents. Advice to other businesses to protect data on their computers is relegated to the same mandatory comment graveyard as the caution for everyone to lock their doors and leave the lights on.
It is possible that local officials don’t want to create panic, but reporting a computer hard drive theft should include all of the pertinent facts so that those affected will know that their personal information may be jeopardized. Since the burglars disassemble the equipment to get to the hard drives and memory cards, it’s pretty clear that this is not just another crime where a data-bearing laptop is stolen so that a petty criminal can sell it quick for cash.
As this series of similar crimes in Kansas indicates, data theft can occur anywhere. Common information of customers, such as names, addresses, Social Security numbers, credit card information, bank PINs, mothers' maiden names and driver's license numbers are a lucrative commodity.
So the next time you read about some small-town business losing a laptop, hard drive, or other data-bearing device to thieves, press for more details. While others may be saying “What in the world would they want with that old computer?” you need to ask those responsible for storing that information how the loss affects you.
The second annual COMMIT! Forum has just concluded two fabulous days in New York City, and firstly, I want to say thank you, and kudos to conference organizers and leadership Richard Crespin, Dirk Olin, Elliot Clark and Kim Gilliam. As someone who came away from last year’s event with a mixed review, I’m especially impressed. Each and every criticism I raised was addressed, as, I’m sure, were those of everyone else who provided feedback. Rarely, in my experience, do I encounter such responsiveness and responsibility.
My biggest takeaway – and one that I gained from experiencing the conference as opposed to simply hearing the ideas – is this: we have to listen to “the other side.” Our problems are better addressed with everyone on the same side of the table, confronting the problems, rather than each other. “Of course,” you’re saying. “Like, duuuuh.” I say, “It’s all well and good to acknowledge the soundness of these principles; it’s another thing entirely to genuinely experience the goodness of them.” And, I say it’s a remarkable accomplishment indeed when an event can evoke that experience and reinforce it through repeated examples of intelligent and diverse points of view.“Yes we can, and, yes we must” – is my not-so-small second takeaway. Hearing story after story of efforts being made, lives be changed, inspiration and innovation, persistence and insistence, I came away determined and motivated. From the lightening round showcasing compelling new projects, to the awarding a lifetime of service, the only thing I didn’t hear was excuses.
The COMMIT! Forum facilitated plentiful mechanisms to engage with other conference attendees, and I’ll be working through the weekend to attempt timely follow-up on all the opportunities I came away with. As I do, I’ll be thinking of another key conference theme: It’s not only possible, but it’s also imperative: “You can do well by doing good.” If you need some examples, check out CR Magazines top corporate citizens. Check out the short films from The Green Living Project. Check out The Center For Green Schools and Learn Up. And get involved.
The time is now. COMMIT! And tell us about what you’re doing.
I love the story of how the United States spent thousands of dollars to develop a pen for space. The Soviets took a pencil. The story is great on multiple levels; it is, at first glance, an illustration of simple being better. But, upon closer examination, it demonstrates why one needs a broad view when evaluating processes. Imagine being in zero gravity and sharpening that pencil. I’m no electrical engineer, but I’d bet graphite dust in zero gravity with electronics isn’t a good thing. You’d probably need to spend thousands of dollars to develop a sharpener. (By the way, this story is an urban legend. The pressurized ink cartridge was invented by Paul C. Fisher and patented in 1965. It was only after its invention that it was sold to both the U.S. & U.S.S.R. space agencies.)
When developing ITAD processes, understanding the world in which that process will operate is critical to its being effective. A great way to do this is to remember the concept of process durability. Durable processes can take a licking and keep on ticking. Their design has considered the environment in which they will operate and has accounted for it. For example, one would not design a process that relies on verbal communication to operate inside noisy industrial environment. One would not design a process that requires visual cues to operate at night.
By starting to identify potential sources of process failure, one is forced to clarify the world in which the process lives. Understanding those interactions and impacts is critical to success.
When looking at risk management processes, like those for the retirement of data bearing assets, environments and resource availability can vary widely. Creating durability requires we account for all of it. What happens when someone is out sick? Or when they depart the company? How much variation in the process can we withstand before we see risk levels rise to unacceptable levels? Designing processes to be durable requires we play Devil’s Advocate. Rose colored glasses are the enemy of process durability and pessimism is required.
Now, having said that, understanding a process’s operating environment need not be a complete exercise in gloom and doom. As you’re looking for sources of external variance you are bound to also find things that will contribute to process reliability. Durability can be enhanced via external sources and identifying them can be as important as identifying risks.
So, don’t forget to think about the world surrounding your process. Take some time to think about how durable your process is, and as you’re identifying and engineering out external risks, look for ways to use the environment to your advantage.
Durable processes are ultimately more cost-effective processes. When not considered up front, durability is developed from the knowledge gained over multiple failures, most of which are negative experiences for your customer. It’s a bit like that old oil commercial, “You can pay me now or pay me later.”
I look forward to hearing your thoughts. Tell me where you’ve learned your lessons around process durability and how they have shaped your thinking today.