If your organization has a lot of old IT gear lying around unused, you might want to think about turning it into cash. When GlaxoSmithKline's IT department decided to clean out the company's closets, it brought in $1.2 million, reports Mary K. Pratt at Computerworld.

Despite systems for keeping track of computers and other IT equipment, things tend to slip through the cracks in large organizations and they end up in piles. Rather than paying someone to haul GSK's old gear away, IT manager Armin Jahromi worked with an asset value recovery company, PlanITROI, to make some money off it. The project covered more than six GSK sites, home to more than 20,000 employees, and it took about two years to complete.

It is not unusual for large companies to make millions of dollars from reselling refurbished computer equipment, according to Barbara Rembiesa, president of the International Association of Information Technology Asset Managers. However, an organization has to have the right collection policies in place for it to work well.

At GSK, older gear that worked and was still under warranty stayed within the company. Equipment that was no longer under warranty was put up for sale. Jahromi gathered up old monitors, printers, fax machines, flash drives, CDs, cables and more. A lot of the gear was between three and eight years old. PlanITROI refurbished it for resale and kept 40 percent of its value.

Many people don't realize that disposal companies, despite charging for their haul-away services, often turn around and resell the assets without sharing the profit with the original owner.

For more:
- see Mary K. Pratt's article at Computerworld

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