Evergreen IT Solutions: Providing R2 Certified Data Center Decommissioning Services

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Evergreen IT Solutions

Juan Gonzalez, Founder & CEO, Evergreen IT SolutionsJuan Gonzalez, Founder & CEO
Being a leading ITAD and data center decommissioning service provider, Evergreen IT Solutions excels in electronics value recovery through refurbishment, hardware lifecycle management, recycling, and data destruction. The company is R2-Responsible Recycling, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001 certified, which are the industry’s leading standards in environmental responsibility and customer data security. The R2 Standards are implemented to strengthen the quality, transparency, environmental and social responsibility of facilities managing decommissioned assets.

Following is the interview that CIO Applications magazine had with Juan Gonzalez, CEO and Wendy Carmona, the Executive Account Manager at Evergreen IT Solutions. They talk about the company’s mission to empower corporations to have all electronics undergo a secure and environmentally responsible procedure to recycle properly once the hardware has reached end-of-life.

How has the past year been for Evergreen IT Solutions? Any key organizational milestones that you’d like to share?

This past year, as for everyone, has been filled with opportunities to adapt to an ever-changing world after COVID. We have shifted our services and outreach to include a more hands-on program and offer manual help for palletizing, cleanouts, and de-installation of hardware due to the massive problems companies are facing with having limited employees on-site. This, in turn, creates a solution for organizations who have a set deadline to remove
the equipment from their facility due to auditing, financial, or security purposes. The growth we have seen by servicing essential companies during the pandemic has pushed us to pursue higher certifications, including the new and more robust R2 v.3 versions released in 2020 and ISO 9001 for quality management systems.

What are some of the trends and challenges in the data centre landscape? How has Evergreen IT Solutions positioned itself accordingly, with its capabilities around data center decommissioning?

One of the most common problems we’ve seen data centers face when it comes to hardware lifecycle management is not having a concrete and reliable tracking system to keep track of items that have been decommissioned and are no longer in use. Due to the high-level security protocols in place, many data center technicians have multiple managers to go through to get approval for replacing hardware. This, in turn, creates long, tedious, and time-consuming processes where several people are involved in multiple email chains and all trying to figure out what gear has already been recycled and which gear needs to be removed from their cage.

One helpful tool we’ve implemented is our online Client Portal where our customers can login and search via serial numbers or asset tags the devices we have recycled through our program. We provide Certificates of Recycling that include inventory lists of the gear we collected and serial numbers of hard drives destroyed. This is incredibly helpful for back-tracking gear that the customer still has to write-off with their accounting.

Our company truly cares about the level of customer satisfaction and service we provide to all our clients

In a nutshell, we ensure customer success in fulfilling the following needs for IT departments, data center operations, and manufacturing facilities:

- Secure data destruction with certification per NIST 800- 88 standards for decommissioned hard drives, servers, laptops, PCs, and data-containing media.

- Prototype and proprietary product and hardware destruction with certification.

- White-glove services to assist in deracking of servers, unbolting data center cabinets, network cable removal, palletizing, and transporting equipment for processing.

- Remarketing of functional and reusable hardware to provide monetary value recovery for decommissioned assets.

- Responsible electronic waste recycling per state and federal regulations

Who are your typical clients? Please throw more light on your client on-boarding process.

Our typical clients range from data center infrastructure and operations managers, senior IT administrators, and facility operations managers. All of our customers work for software service providers, manufacturing facilities, colocation data centers, biopharmaceuticals, educational and healthcare facilities. Typical client on-boarding includes an MSA creation and an SOW to take care of their existing decommissioning needs to start them on a clean slate onboard our e-recycling collection bin program.

Could you please cite one or two case studies on how you have enabled clients to overcome their hurdles and attain desired outcomes with your solutions?

This example is when we decommissioned the building where Brocade resided, which was an American technology company specializing in storage networking products, and is now a subsidiary of Broadcom Inc. When they were acquired, we assisted in decommissioning their four floors of the data center within a week’s time. They had initially hired a moving company to do that as the entire building was liquidated, however, as the date of move-out came nearer, the moving company informed them that they could NOT complete the entire process in the designated time. In a moment of grave need, the company called us to complete the job, and we put our heart and soul into this project. We worked every day—put in 15 hours shifts—and liquidated and completely decommissioned 200 pallets of equipment, including server gears and empty cabinets, in just seven days. Further, we were able to recuperate $40,000 for our customer from the e-waste that was accumulated due to the decommissioning of the data center.

What, according to you, sets Evergreen IT Solutions apart from its competitors?

Our company truly cares about the level of customer satisfaction and service we provide to all our clients. Big or small, we service them all to the highest level of care and attention that they need. We have strived to provide a professional service that can fulfill the standards and expectations of our clients while forming a long-standing vendor relationship. Many of our clients have transitioned to our programs specifically because of the poor customer service or lack of flexibility that other ITAD companies have, and that is simply due to the heart and soul our team pours into taking care of our clients.

Where do you see Evergreen IT Solutions in the near future? Tell us in detail about the plans of the company’s expansion in terms of the services that it offers, expansion in terms of types of client it serves and geographical presence?

Many people do not know it is illegal and extremely harmful to dispose of electronics in the trash. When electronics reach the landfill, toxic chemicals from the precious metals inside electronics leach into the soil and corrupt water systems and the health of the ecosystem. This is one of the main reasons why it is so important to educate the general public about the importance of properly recycling e-waste with a certified recycling facility.

Our company’s vision is to provide full-circle hardware lifecycle management for data centers and corporations that depend on proper maintenance and decommissioning capabilities. We see ourselves as investing in additional services such as providing installation services and relocation services for server and networking gear during important upgrades or moves. Additionally, we have begun looking for a second headquarters in Texas to expand our physical presence and be more logistically competitive for our customers on the east coast.

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