Hard Drive Shredding New York Style

By Author: ITAMG mechanically destroys hard drives and permanently eliminates the ability to recover data off o
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ITAMG regularly provides IT disposal and data destruction services to our clients with offices and data centers in New York City. Recently we have had a lot of new clients ask us how it’s even possible for us to provide onsite hard drive shredding services in the chaotic New York environment. This post provides a quick explanation of how we manage obstacles and securely destroy electronic media in one of America’s most bustling cities.

Parking in New York City can be a nightmare. The industrial shredding equipment used to shred hard drives weighs thousands of pounds and is mounted on a large box truck (similar to paper shredding trucks you may be more familiar with). Most loading docks in New York City are extremely busy and located indoors, so idling and shredding drives at a dock is not an option due to congestion as well as health and safety concerns.

In order to get the work done curbside our crew will first scan and capture the serial numbers of the drives and then place the media into a locked container while still inside the client’s space. They then transport the locked containers, which are on wheels, ...
... down to the mobile shredding truck.

When there are no available parking spaces in the area we may be required to park several blocks from the client’s location. Although the client may be forced to get some unexpected exercise by taking a walk to the truck, he or she is able to follow the media at all times, and no media is left unattended.

To combat parking restrictions we always staff at least three crew members in New York City. All hard drive shredding projects in New York are staffed with a driver and a minimum of two technicians. With this strategy the truck can remain in a standing zone nearby while the other two crew members audit and prepare the drives for destruction.

When the technicians are done processing and auditing the drives the truck is called in to collect the container and the drives are destroyed at the nearest possible location. This staffing practice accounts for a potential emergency or required break and allows for a crew member to always remain available to guard the media prior to its destruction.

Everything, especially time, in New York is expensive. In order to reduce service costs our shredding trucks are also equipped to collect electronic waste and surplus computer equipment that is being liquidated. In addition to the shredded media remains there is space to remove upwards of three hundred desktops at a single service.

We are able to reduce shipping and logistics costs for projects that require both on-site media destruction and IT asset disposal services by performing both services at the same time.

ITAMG has been working in New York City with our own crews since 1999. If you are already a New York hard drive shredding client please reach out to your account manager and let us know how we are doing.