Decommissioning office and field equipment: data, accounts and disposal
For field and MSP technicians who retire laptops, phones, copiers, network devices and small-site storage at client and company offices. Prerequisite: 'Decommissioning and media sanitization' (the Clear, Purge and Destroy methods and chain of custody in a data centre). This course goes further on the equipment you meet in the field: finding every place data and credentials live, choosing an approach for each destination (reuse, donation, lease return, warranty swap or recycling) using NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 2 and NCSC guidance, unlinking device management and accounts, recording sanitization, and routing e-waste and batteries. Examples cite US (NIST, FTC, EPA) and UK (NCSC) guidance; environmental and data protection law differs by country and state, so this isn't legal advice, and your organization's or client's disposal policy and approved recyclers govern.
- Level
- Intermediate
- Length
- About 95 minutes
- Contents
- 5 lessons · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 10 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Identify every place data and credentials live in equipment being decommissioned, including copiers, phones and network devices
- Choose a sanitization approach for each device and destination using NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 2 and NCSC guidance
- Remove device-management, account and certificate links before equipment leaves your control
- Verify sanitization and record it on a certificate with the fields NIST lists, keeping custody until handover
- Route equipment and batteries to an appropriate disposal path and close the asset record
Course outline
- 1.Identify every place data and credentials liveLesson · 18 min
- 2.Choose a sanitization approach for each device and destinationLesson · 22 min
- 3.Remove device-management, account and certificate links before equipment leavesLesson · 18 min
- 4.Verify sanitization and record it on a certificate, keeping custody until handoverLesson · 17 min
- 5.Route equipment and batteries to an appropriate disposal path and close the asset recordLesson · 12 min
- 6.Decommissioning office and field equipment: data, accounts and disposal: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 14 questions
- 7.Decommissioning office and field equipment: data, accounts and disposal: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
- 8.Final exam10 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
- NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 2, Guidelines for Media Sanitization (September 2025)
- NIST CSRC: SP 800-88 Rev. 2 publication page
- NCSC: Secure sanitisation and disposal of storage media
- NCSC: Acquiring, managing, and disposing of network devices
- FTC: Digital Copier Data Security: A Guide for Businesses
- US EPA: Certified Electronics Recyclers
- US EPA: Electronics Donation and Recycling
- Microsoft Learn: Wipe devices with Microsoft Intune
- Apple Support: What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your iPhone or iPad
- Apple Support: Activation Lock for iPhone and iPad
See it with your own jobs and topics
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