Approximately one third of companies in a IDC survey use a third-party ITAD provider, according to an international IDC survey commissioned by Dell. North American companies are more likely to cite data security as their top motivation for using third-party IT disposal services while European companies rate requirements or mandates, such as the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive, as the key driver for their decision-making processes.

Small companies are far less likely to use IT disposal services compared with medium- and large-size companies. An estimated 11 percent of companies with less than 100 employees intend to use a third-party service, compared with 65 percent of companies with 10,000 or more employees.

Forty percent of organizations in North America opt for donation as a method of disposal, with the preference evenly distributed across organizations of all sizes.

Banks (63 percent) are more than twice as likely to use third-party disposal services compared to professional services (22 percent), education (25 percent) and retail organizations (26 percent).

More than half of financial services, health-care and retail organizations cite data security as their primary reason for choosing an IT disposal provider.

Companies that don’t currently use IT disposal services cite cost (31 percent), data security (25 percent) and preference to donate/resell systems (20 percent) as the top three factors. When asked to identify their number two reason, the issue of not knowing how to choose a qualified provider was a significant factor (15 percent).