Tag Archives: Blancco

Appointments, News

Blancco Appoints Jon Mellon as President of Global Sales, Marketing and Field Operations

Seasoned executive and business strategist Jon Mellon brings 20+ years of sales leadership and expertise, including more than a decade at NetApp

AUSTIN and LONDON – July 6, 2022 – Blancco Technology Group (LON: BLTG), the industry standard in data erasure and mobile lifecycle solutions, today announced the appointment of Jon Mellon as President of Global Sales, Marketing, and Field Operations. Mellon’s focus will include expanding Blancco’s channel program into vertical markets to further grow the company’s enterprise business. He replaces Blancco’s company president, Alan Bentley, who is retiring after a long and successful career, including nearly six years at Blancco.

“We are lucky to add such an accomplished member of the executive team as Jon Mellon with his incredible breadth of expertise, which includes building and scaling a multi-billion-dollar business unit at NetApp,” said Matt Jones, CEO of Blancco. “Jon brings a deep and varied knowledge of the software market to the Blancco management team and has a knack for fostering a thriving company culture. We welcome Jon to the team, and we also thank our outgoing company president, Alan Bentley, on his role in our success and congratulate him on his well-deserved retirement.”

A recognized industry leader, change agent, sales innovator, and business strategist, Mellon was most recently the Chief Revenue Officer at Sonatype, where he was responsible for all go-to-market activities at this company which serves the DevOps and Application Security market.

Prior to this, Mellon was with global cloud services and data management brand, NetApp, where he held various sales leadership roles during his 12 years at the company. His most recent position at NetApp was VP and General Manager of Americas Commercial Sales, in which he spearheaded the development and execution of a revenue-driven strategy focusing on sales, systems engineering, and business development across a third of the Americas operation and highest growth segment in the company. During his tenure, NetApp doubled in size – a major feat due to the scale and complexity of a multi-billion-dollar enterprise.

“At the heart of data sovereignty is an organization’s ability to be assured where data lives, how it’s used and for whom access is provided. Key to this data management theme is assured sanitization and Blancco is the market leader in serving our customers’ needs for this critical capability. I am delighted to join Blancco, at a time when all the complexities of data sanitization have come to the forefront of the world’s largest organizations and amidst a global mandate to perform these functions in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner. I’m convinced that we have a common belief system around serving the customer while also building an incredible work environment for our employees,” said Mellon. “I’m also particularly excited to work with our channel partners and to expand our reach into vertical markets, including those with stringent compliance requirements such as finance, government, and healthcare. Finally, I’m impressed by Blancco’s commitment to helping its customers meet sustainability goals and making a positive impact on climate change by reducing e-waste.”

For more information on Blancco’s management team, please visit https://www.blancco.com/company/team/.

ESG/CSR, News

Blancco achieves goal of becoming carbon neutral

Global leader in data sanitization affirms commitment to sustainability by achieving carbon neutrality in line with globally accepted standard PAS 2060

LONDON and AUSTIN – June 28, 2022 – Blancco Technology Group (LON: BLTG), the industry standard in data erasure and mobile lifecycle solutions, today announced that it has formally achieved carbon neutral status for 2021, in line with PAS 2060, the globally accepted standard for carbon neutrality. With support from Avieco, a leading sustainability consultancy, Blancco has offset its entire 2021 carbon footprint through investment in two renewable wind energy projects in India.

Over the past six months, Blancco has implemented and executed an effective management plan to reduce the company’s carbon footprint. It then set and achieved carbon intensity targets and purchased 3,622 carbon credits, verified in line with the Verified Carbon Standard, to offset its footprint and work towards its carbon neutrality goal.

Blancco’s efforts have now come to fruition through its investment in wind power projects in India, which will generate clean, low carbon renewable electricity and offset Blancco’s scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions (2021: 3,622 tCO2e). The projects are set to replace emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG’s) estimated to be approximately 498,536 tCO2e per year, displacing electricity from the generation-mix of power plants connected to the Indian grid, which is mainly dominated by thermal/fossil fuel-based power plants.

Not only will the Gujarat project reduce air pollutant emissions as compared with current power generation methods, but it will also generate local employment opportunities related to the construction and operation and contribute to local infrastructure development in line with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG8 and SDG9).

For the year ahead, Blancco will focus on reducing carbon intensity-based emissions through interim, annual decarbonization targets while monitoring how emissions rebound post-covid travel restrictions. It has calculated three intensity metrics which reflect key emissions drivers: emissions per square meter of office space, emissions per employee and emissions per £1 million revenue.

In addition to the carbon neutral project, Blancco has been working with Avieco on the development of an ESG dashboard that will calculate the carbon footprint of manufacturing a device (laptops, mobiles & tablets) as well as the carbon footprint avoided by preventing devices from entering landfill.

Commenting on the announcement, Adam Moloney, CFO, Blancco, said: “This has been a significant undertaking by the team at Blancco and we are very proud to have achieved carbon neutral status. Sustainability and reducing the impact of the technology industry on our planet is critical. Each year we continue to employ more environmentally sustainable models of practice and offer support for our customers to help them meet with their ESG objectives. We will continue to invest in circular economy initiatives and pursue greater environmental stewardship.”

To understand how Blancco can support your business’s environmental protection efforts, visit: https://www.blancco.com/company/sustainability/

Mergers & Acquisitions, News

Blancco acquires WipeDrive

Move extends Blancco’s reach in US among private and public sector organisations

AUSTIN and LONDON – June 8, 2022—Blancco Technology Group (LON: BLTG), the industry standard in data erasure and mobile lifecycle solutions, has announced that it has acquired WipeDrive, formerly known as White Canyon Software Inc, a US-based provider of data erasure software solutions. The transaction will enable Blancco to enhance its reach, specifically in the US region, and strengthen its competitive position. Under the terms of the deal, WipeDrive’s employees will join the Blancco team. The new group of talent spans research and development, sales, support, IT, finance, HR and marketing.

Headquartered in Utah and founded in 1998, WipeDrive provides data diagnostic, wiping, transfer and verification software tools. WipeDrive’s expansive customer base spans the private and public sector markets – and includes Fortune 500 companies and large US government bodies. WipeDrive also has various proprietary technologies that Blancco plans to leverage.

“We’re thrilled to announce this acquisition of WipeDrive, a business which is highly complementary with Blancco’s offering to the market – but will only serve to strengthen it”, said Matt Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Blancco. “Blancco has built a strong reputation as a global leader in the data erasure space, and this deal is set to further enhance our position. I’m also delighted to be welcoming the new team to Blancco and wish them all the best for a bright future with us.”

“Everyone at WipeDrive is extremely excited to be joining Blancco”, said Bill Glynn, Chief Executive Officer, WipeDrive. “Blancco is an acknowledged leader in data erasure and is the ideal company to take our business to the next level. The teams are incredibly complementary and are set to collaborate on what I am sure will be a very successful future together.’’

ESG/CSR, News

Blancco Named Sustainability Innovator of the Year at Channel Partner Insight’s US MSP Innovation Awards

Industry channel publication recognizes Blancco for significant role in empowering organizations worldwide to better engage with circular economy

AUSTIN and LONDON – May 27, 2022 – Blancco Technology Group (LON: BLTG), the industry standard in data erasure and mobile lifecycle solutions, today announced that the company has been named Channel Partner Insight’s Sustainability Innovator of the Year in the 2022 U.S. MSP Innovation Awards. The award competition celebrates dynamic companies who are serving as extraordinary examples of success in the American managed services market.

“We want to shine a spotlight on those in our industry who are already leading from the front in a fast-paced, highly ambitious field,” said CPI Editor Nima Sherpa Green. “What we’ve seen over the last year has shown us that more than ever, being innovative is a real differentiator for progress. Entries were extremely competitive, and those who won did so by proving they are truly galvanizing the channel to advance into new opportunities and growth. On behalf of the whole Channel Partner Insight team, I would like to share my warm congratulations to each and every winner in the U.S. MSP Innovation Awards 2022.”

The U.N. has set a target to increase e-waste recycling to 30% by 2023 – a vital goal as toxic substances such as mercury, BFR, and CFS are found in many types of electronics and pose severe risk to human health. Unfortunately, organizations worldwide contribute to this problem, as many old devices are physically destroyed to prevent sensitive data from being recovered and used for malicious purposes. With sustainability objectives aligned with the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, Blancco enables secure erasure of data bearing assets, which allows organizations to reduce physical destruction of devices, keep functional hardware in the circular economy, and minimize carbon emissions.

In Blancco’s recent ESG report, the company shared that it had securely sanitized 54.5 million devices using its software in FY21. This translates to a potential e-waste saving of 150 million pounds and carbon savings of 12.4 billion pounds. To put these figures into context, one iPhone 12 Pro 512GB has carbon emissions of 242.5 pounds over its lifetime, with only 13% of the emissions from usage and the remaining footprint coming from manufacture, packaging, and transportation. All equipment sanitized by Blancco is safe for reuse or recycling with a certificate of erasure and a guarantee of compliance with global data security standards, thereby enabling organizations to find alternatives to destruction and meet their ESG goals.

“Blancco is increasingly seeing a trickle-down effect whereby sustainability pushes people, people push buyers, and buyers push companies to reduce the impact of the technology industry on the planet,” said Christina Walker, Global Director of Channel at Blancco. “The IT channel plays a major role supporting customers’ efforts to build more sustainable businesses as growing numbers of channel partners hold subcontractors to account by requesting evidence of the work they are doing to mitigate and reduce their carbon footprint and employ more sustainable models of data and device lifecycle management. At Blancco, we are proud of how we help organizations meet their ESG objectives and honored to have been selected as the CPI Sustainability Innovator of the Year.”

Blancco is among the first recipients of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) Green Economy Mark, an accreditation awarded to companies listed on the LSE’s main and AIM markets that generate at least 50% of total annual revenues from products and services that contribute to the green economy. Blancco was also recently named a winner in the Sustainable Service category of the 2021 SEAL Business Sustainability Awards, an honor given to companies that showcase innovative services that set a new standard for sustainability.

To learn more about how Blancco is enabling companies to engage with the circular economy and supporting its employees and local communities while maintaining best-in-class governance practices, please download Blancco’s 2021 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report. For more information on how companies can join Blancco’s channel program, visit: https://www.blancco.com/partners/blancco-partner-ecosystem/.

Data, News

Blancco Announces New Chromebook Data Sanitization Capabilities

Blancco Drive Eraser now provides organizations with quick, efficient, and secure Chromebook data sanitization to meet sustainability goals and regulatory compliance mandates

AUSTIN and LONDON – May 17, 2022—Blancco Technology Group (LON: BLTG), the industry standard in data erasure and mobile lifecycle solutions, today announced Blancco Drive Eraser now supports Chromebook data sanitization. The new capability in Blancco Drive Eraser provides a wide range of organizations, including enterprises, IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) service providers, and academic institutions, with simple, efficient, and secure data sanitization specifically for Chromebooks.

Blancco Drive Eraser dramatically decreases the time spent erasing each device and allows for preservation of its native operating system, speeding the preparation of each Chromebook for reuse. Once data has been thoroughly eliminated, Blancco Drive Eraser confirms data sanitization has been completed successfully and provides a tamper-proof digitally signed certificate of erasure to support regulatory compliance and reporting mandates.

Alan Bentley, President of Global Strategy, Blancco, said the popularity of “budget-friendly” Chromebooks skyrocketed during the pandemic. Not only did many schools issue the devices for students to use for distance learning, but organizations also found Chromebooks to be a cost-effective way to equip employees who suddenly began to work remotely.

“While most students have returned to the classroom and employees are increasingly coming back to offices, the demand for Chromebooks has not waned. One forecast predicts nearly 30 million Chromebooks will be shipped globally in 2022, a decrease of 21% from 2021 but more than double the number of units recorded in 2019,” said Bentley. “As more of these devices enter the ecosystem, and as more organizations look to be participants in the circular economy, they need a solution that allows them to quickly and safely reuse these devices. Blancco Drive Eraser now meets that need.”

The Blancco Drive Eraser’s ergonomic UI design facilitates a quick and seamless erasure process. The solution’s auditable process drives speedier and more simplified compliance reporting. Together, both features represent a significant time saver for organizations, especially those with responsibility for the data sanitization of hundreds or thousands of Chromebooks.

“The recent surge in Chromebook usage means these devices have become repositories for massive amounts of corporate data and Personally Identifiable Information (PII) – two types of sensitive information that could pose serious security risks should the devices not be thoroughly sanitized before reuse or disposal,” added Bentley. “By expanding the capabilities of Blancco Drive Eraser to support Chromebooks, we are now able to give our ITAD partners and other organizations the ability to ensure device data is rendered completely unrecoverable. This capability allows them to confidently reuse or sell end-of-life devices instead of adding to the growing electronic waste crisis in our landfills.”

Secure data sanitization for Chromebook is now available as part of Blancco Drive Eraser at no extra cost. For more information, please visit: https://www.blancco.com/resources/sb-blancco-chromebook-erasure/

HR

Blancco partners with Ethan Indigenous to bridge digital divide in the Indigenous community

The initiative launched by Ethan and David Liddiard Group in collaboration with Blancco aims to improve digital inclusion by providing access to devices for Australia’s Indigenous community

Australia – May, 10 2022 — Blancco Australasia PTY LTD, the industry standard in data erasure and mobile device diagnostics, today announced it has partnered with Ethan Indigenous PTY LTD, to provide equal opportunities to young Indigenous Australian’s, enabling them to transition to economic independence through education, and employment in the IT industry. Blancco will support the campaign with licenses of its data erasure software so that refurbished devices can be safely and securely donated to schools and communities in need. Blancco and Ethan Indigenous have also committed to upskilling Indigenous cadets to help with the refurbishment process, with training on how to perform certified data erasure on donated devices.

Ethan Indigenous is a joint venture between Ethan and the David Liddiard Group, alongside partners including Blancco. One of the main goals of this collaboration is to empower the Indigenous community through improved digital and social inclusion. It will focus on upskilling youth for professional career pathways in ICT. This initiative will promote engagement with the circular economy, through sustainable support for existing government initiatives that are equipping the Indigenous community with access to technology and connectivity.

The coronavirus pandemic exacerbated existing challenges facing Indigenous Australians. Not having basic access to the internet or a laptop, computer or mobile device alienated young people isolating at home and delayed their education. Similarly, IT departments too faced restrictions while operating outside of office settings. To address and overcome these challenges, Ethan Indigenous with the help of Blancco’s Data Erasure Software aims to make IT assets more easily available to the Indigenous community by donating devices collected from Government institutions and enterprises.

As part of the collaboration, Blancco will be providing Blancco Drive Erasure Software to facilitate a secure purge of all data on the donated devices. Not only is this software compliant with the Australian Data Privacy Act and ISM requirements, but it also provides a detailed audit trail and certificate of erasure. The software securely sanitises devices of any traces of data and enables the refurbishment and reuse of the device.

To date, Blancco’s Drive Erasure Software has helped ready more than 2000 devices for redistribution amongst young people. This has already resulted in an increase in access to online learning and employment. The training provided by Blancco and Ethan Indigenous helps the community to develop valuable IT skills, as well as a deeper understanding of the importance of data management best practices that engage the circular economy.

David Liddiard, Managing Director of the David Liddiard Group has committed his life to ensure that Indigenous youth have a brighter future and the prospect of a professional career. David said, “It is only through putting technology in the hands of Students can we close the digital divide for our youth and enable them to have an equal opportunity to achieve their personal and professional goals.”

The vision of the two groups spearheading the project resonates with Adam Moloney, Chief Financial Officer, Blancco, who added, “This initiative is an example of how engagement with the circular economy can not only improve sustainability, but also improve social issues and inequality, providing our future generations from all socio-economic backgrounds with access to the resources and technology needed to receive a good education and equal employment opportunities.”

The project is always welcoming donations of new and used devices with future plans for further expansion to as many Indigenous communities and schools as possible. To find out more, visit: http://ethangroup.com.au/indigenous/home/index.html

News, Storage

Governments and public sector organizations spend millions globally each year destroying data storage devices despite sustainable alternatives

New Blancco report sparks conversations on SSD policy reform, revealing financial and environmental costs as well as security concerns for public sector organizations

AUSTIN and LONDON – March 9, 2022—New research launched today by Blancco Technology Group (LON: BLTG), the industry standard in data erasure and mobile lifecycle solutions, reveals current practices and policies for device sanitization within the public sector. For Blancco’s study, The Price of Destruction: Exploring the Financial & Environmental Costs of Public Sector Device Sanitization, researchers spoke to 596 government IT leaders across nine countries. The survey revealed that the governments and public sector organizations represented spend as much as USD$17M annually on the physical destruction of solid-state drives (SSDs), a data storage device widely used both independently and within laptops, desktops, and servers.

Additionally, replacement costs added another $40M, bringing expenses up to $57M for destroying public sector technology that is often still usable. For 70 organizations surveyed in each country, the costs for SSD destruction and replacement reached between $6.9M and $7.3M for the U.S. and between $6.4M and $6.9M for the U.K.

Environmental Costs

With global electronic (e-waste) called the “world’s fastest growing domestic waste stream,” the study also explores the environmental costs of physical destruction and the public sector’s current engagement with sustainable alternatives. Unnecessary destruction increases IT operations and materials costs for fiscally constrained public sector organizations. It also fosters increased e-waste creation during a global call for more prudent environmental stewardship.

Despite 54% of respondents agreeing that reuse of SSDs is better for the environment than physical destruction and almost all respondents (93%) saying their organization had defined plans to reduce the environmental impact caused by destroying IT equipment, less than a quarter (21%) are actively implementing those plans.

Security Concerns

For security reasons, physical destruction is still mandated if decommissioned drives were used to store classified or secret data. For unclassified data-bearing assets, other data sanitization solutions are available.

On the whole, respondents were well informed of their country’s or region’s respective data protection laws. However, some respondents’ processes for carrying out compliant SSD sanitization are concerning. For example, 78% of respondents globally said they reformat drives to sanitize them. Unfortunately, formatting alone can still leave drives vulnerable during transport or storage, and much of the data can be recovered with forensics tools easily available online.

“Governments and public sector organizations are responsible for handling some of the most sensitive information in the world. But several factors, including accelerated digital transformation, rising numbers of public sector data breaches and global sustainability initiatives, are changing the data management landscape,” said Alan Bentley, President of Global Strategy, Blancco. “With growing environmental and funding pressures, there is a need for these public sector operations to be more sustainable and efficient while maintaining robust security. Public sector organizations must explore SSD sanitization alternatives to demonstrate prudent use of agency funds and a greater contribution to national and international sustainability efforts.”

“We’ve seen several public sector departments benefit from moving away from destroying data bearing assets to reusing them or building up the circular economy. Our study highlights that there are significant opportunities for policy reform surrounding SSD data protection as national policymakers seek to steward financial, environmental, and data resources entrusted to their care,” added Bentley.

As the report concludes, governments and public sector organizations are committing to sustainability improvements, but very few have pushed forward with their implementation. This is resulting in a high cost of SSD destruction and replacement.

With overnments and public sector organizations under the spotlight when it comes to spending, it is increasingly urgent that they consider sustainable alternatives that extend device life, maintain lock-tight data security on end-of-life SSDs and, ultimately, save public services millions of dollars.

According to Blancco’s global study of 596 public sector respondents:

  • 41% of respondents say physical destruction is mandated by law to physically destroy SSDs that contain classified data, so they destroy all SSDs “just in case.”
  • Almost a quarter (22%) are unaware of alternative methods of sanitization.
  • Between 23% to 52% of organizations within a country believed that physical destruction was cheaper than other sanitization solutions, including those that would facilitate reuse and longer device life.
  • 35% believe there is no certified or approved vendor or solution that provides another option for them.
  • Between 37% and 45% of our respondents’ devices, or the drives alone, are sent offsite for physical destruction.
  • 37% of respondents are “aware of only” the NIST SP 800-88 r1 and do not know guideline details.

For full analysis, read the report here: http://www.blancco.com/the-price-of-destruction.