MADISON, Wis. & INDIANAPOLIS & ORLANDO, Fla. - IndianaStop -- Cascade Asset Management (Cascade), recognized as a national leader in information technology (IT) retirement solutions, proudly presents its milestone Tenth Annual ITAD Benchmarking Report. The publication explores current IT asset program trends while also referencing the evolution of IT asset disposition (ITAD) practices over the last decade.

Highlights:

• Average refurbished laptop values rose 16% in the last quarter of 2023 compared to Q4-2022. In the prior year, laptop resale values plummeted 44% as changes to global markets shocked the secondary market industry.
• Over 88% of organizations indicate they need to support remote workers in their environment, complicating ITAD program management.
• Fifty-four percent of organizations believe that ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) initiatives are important.

This year's publication of Cascade's Annual ITAD Benchmarking report was compiled from a survey of 50 enterprises and organizations collectively representing over 168,200 employees and 15 industry sectors. Additionally, Cascade evaluated more than 1.6 million assets processed between 2019 to 2023, including desktops, notebooks, tablets, smartphones, and servers.

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Participants in this year's benchmarking survey positioned "Managing Data Security and Privacy Risks" as their top concern when disposing of retired technology. This response earned a weighted average of 4.79 (on a scale of 1 to 5), notably surpassing the second-place response of "Sustainability," which received a score of 4.14 out of 5. Looking ahead to ITAD challenges in 2024, security concerns again emerged as the predominant issue with 32% of respondents commenting on the topic. The need to maintain security when retiring IT assets from employees is getting more complicated as 43% of respondents indicated that over 20% of their workforce is now remote.

The Benchmarking Report also shines a spotlight on ESG (environmental, social, governance) initiatives. This year's survey participants provide evidence of the increasing adoption of ESG practices within organizations. Thirty-five percent indicated that their employers categorize ESG goals as "very important," while an additional 19% recognize them as "important."

A review of resale data shows the precipitous slide in refurbished computer equipment values in 2022 has finally stabilized. While the average price of refurbished desktop computers was down by 57% at the end of 2022 compared to the previous year, desktops only lost 2% of their average value over the course of 2023. Laptops fared better with a 16% increase in resale prices by the end of the year, compared to a 44% drop in prices in 2022.

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Over the course of the past ten years of this Benchmarking study, organizations have indicated they are holding onto their computer equipment longer. The average age of a laptop is 4.29 years old when organizations retire them, up from 4.02 years a decade ago. Desktops are also reported to be held 6 months longer now than 10 years ago, with a current average retirement age of 4.69 years.

Neil Peters-Michaud, CEO of Cascade, expressed, "A decade ago when we initiated our inaugural IT Asset Disposition Benchmarking Report, our primary goal was to share knowledge and insights among our customers and industry peers to help all of us improve our programs and processes. This core objective remains as relevant today as it was then." Peters-Michaud continued, "Since we launched this annual survey in 2014, 600 ITAD professionals have contributed information about their programs, and we've reported on the processing activity of over 2.75 million assets. This body of knowledge has enabled us to develop the most comprehensive and consistently reliable ITAD benchmarking study available, and we are excited to share this annual report with IT asset management and disposition professionals."

A copy of the complimentary report is available by request. Cascade will also present its findings as part of the free and open-to-the-public IAITAM Wednesday Webinar series on February 14^th. Register to receive webinar alerts.