With technology and communications speeds getting
ever faster and applications & software eating storage space for breakfast,
modern technology becomes redundant quite quickly, causing near
constant IT refresh cycles and creating a problem of how to securely dispose of
the equipment. New Business talks to Karl Neary and Oliver Mason, founders of
KOcycle, a company that offers secure and ethical solutions to securely process redundant kit as well
as driving additional revenue streams for their clients.
KOcycle [1] is a relatively new company in an industry where every piece of
IT hardware potentially holds the company crown jewels in terms of sensitive
data. What motivated you to start an IT recycling company and were you already
in that world?
Coming from an enterprise IT background, our “world” certainly wasn’t a million miles away.
We had experience working on various IT lifecycle projects on behalf of our
clients, and we immediately saw the value to them in offering these services
alongside the gaps which currently exist in the market.The industry is
relatively unchanged – since the first piece of technology was sold, there have
always been buyers looking to purchase it in the second-hand space, so being an
IT partner is far more than purchasing “redundant” technology. What’s redundant
to one person is often valuable to somebody
else.These gaps are where the opportunity exists, and our ability to both
fill, and innovate, within the space is the reason KOcycle continues to grow at
a rapid pace.
We have all seen the results of councils shipping
dumped kit off abroad, for bank info or other data details to be harvested from
them. How can you guarantee total security?
We have indeed, and let’s face it – in today’s data
security climate, one data breach is one data breach too many. In our
experience, security is delivered by a fusion of people, processes and
technology. From the second a client’s redundant technology is collected by
KOcycle staff, to the second it’s been data cleansed at our ISO 27001 accredited
facility it’s accompanied by a process that mitigates as many risk
factors as possible. We’re committed to adhering to the highest
regulatory standards and constantly review our obligations to clients and how
we can continue to exceed them, as evidenced by our continued growth.
Do you have any “cradle to the grave”
partnerships with IT resellers where there is a built in recycling
arrangement as part of the sale contract?
Absolutely, one thing we immediately recognised
from our experience within the Value Added Reseller ‘VAR’ was the current gaps in the IT Disposal
market. From observations during previous projects, we felt traditional IT Disposal providers were not
delivering anywhere near enough value for the IT lifecycle process to be deemed
as an attractive – or indeed interesting – topic for a sales representative to
talk to clients about during a traditional sales cycle. We have spent time presenting
the KOcycle vision to our partners within
the Value Added Reseller market
and in particular on the value that the IT
lifecycle process offers from both a client, and a commercial, perspective. Our
unique experience of working on all sides of the sales cycle allows us to
support huge global opportunities and
maximise value for both our partners and their clients.The sales teams we support now
work with their clients to use the residual value in redundant technology to
fund the replacement technology, a unique and very different approach to the
traditional IT Disposal industry.
A business involved in any form of recycling
naturally scores highly on the social responsibility charts, is this a key part
of your ambitions for the company?
Every corporation has a responsibility to help its
community benefit from the value that it creates. In our instance, we come
across a lot of technology that is in
perfect working order but otherwise deemed redundant.Through our Giving
Back Scheme, we have been able to provide technology to local nurseries and charitable organisations where
budgets are either minimal or non-existent. And from a wider community
perspective, we can remarket technology at prices that allow all segments of
society to access technology they simply couldn’t afford at regular RRP. Whilst
we’re a business and must keep the meter running, our focus is very much on
adding value to our clients, partners and wider communities.
What would be success for you in your first five
years of business?
We can give you the standard “biggest player in the
market” response but, quite honestly, it’s been such an amazing, fun journey
so far and we’ve felt success so many times already that it’s hard to
comprehend where we can take the business and industry over the next five years!
From a social perspective, if we can educate our audience on the value of
reusing technology to a point that it becomes part of an overall social and
economic strategy, this would be a legacy that all of us involved with KOcycle
would be honoured to leave behind.
Our clients are global, so we’re already looking at setting up KOcycle facilities in other European cities so it’s very much a case of watch this space. [2]