How MSPs Can Track Device Retirements Using Cloud-Native Workflows

Device retirement isn’t just a routine IT task — it’s a critical process that shapes organizational security, compliance, license budgeting, and asset hygiene. Without an intentional approach, retired devices can linger with access to sensitive data or continue consuming resources, exposing MSPs and clients to risk and unnecessary costs.

Rather than investing in bulky, full-featured asset management platforms, MSPs can create a streamlined, repeatable retirement workflow using widely available cloud-native tools like Intune, Microsoft 365, or Google Workspace. This guide walks through setting up a cloud-powered lifecycle tracker, automating updates, and maintaining audit readiness — eliminating gaps and manual steps while keeping everything secure and transparent in the cloud.

NinjaOne fits naturally into this approach by providing robust device inventory and status reporting, with hardware export features that give MSPs accurate, real-time visibility into candidates for retirement. By reconciling NinjaOne’s source data with a cloud-based tracker, MSPs can confidently enforce offboarding policies and optimize IT resources without leaving their native environment.

Prerequisites

• Access to Microsoft Intune or another MDM solution enables remote device management and secure retirement actions.
• SharePoint or Google Workspace is needed to store and collaboratively manage the retirement tracker.
• Power Automate or another workflow engine streamlines approvals, updates, and automation for consistent lifecycle management.
• Scripting capability with Microsoft Graph or PowerShell offers advanced customization for complex retirement scenarios and reporting.
• A well-defined internal retirement policy ensures every device retirement follows compliance and operational requirements.

Defining the device retirement lifecycle

Defining a clear device retirement lifecycle is fundamental for both audit readiness and operational efficiency. Segmenting the retirement process into explicit stages allows MSPs to standardize actions, prevent oversights, and maintain transparency throughout each offboarding event. Each stage should be reflected in the lifecycle tracker and referenced during QBRs or asset reviews to ensure complete accountability.

Retire requested

The process begins when a device is flagged for retirement by a stakeholder or through regular IT asset reviews. This step marks the device as entering the end-of-life workflow and prompts an initial assessment of usage, data sensitivity, and licensing status.

Pre-retire actions

Before retirement, critical tasks must be completed. These include backing up or transferring essential data, removing sensitive permissions, revoking access to corporate resources, and flagging any associated software licenses for reallocation or cancellation. This stage sets the foundation for secure and compliant device offboarding.

Retire completed

The device is formally wiped and decommissioned using an MDM solution such as Microsoft Intune or a similar tool. This action removes all company data, configurations, and access — ensuring the device can no longer connect to organizational systems, thereby mitigating risk if it’s reused or repurposed elsewhere.

Archived

After decommissioning, an audit record is created by exporting entry details and archiving the information in the chosen tracker. This preserves a compliance history and enables traceability should questions arise months or years after retirement.

By clearly documenting and adhering to these lifecycle stages, MSPs provide consistent, defensible offboarding that stands up to both internal and external scrutiny — and supports smarter hardware refresh decisions going forward.

Building a cloud-native retirement tracker

To build a cloud-native retirement tracker, set up a SharePoint list, Excel Online workbook, or Google Sheet with structured columns for efficient IT asset tracker management and compliance. Include columns for:

• Device Name
• Serial Number
• Assigned User
• Retirement Stage
• Date Flagged
• Retire Completed Date
• Notes

Configure this tracker for team editing so multiple staff can update status or add details as devices move through the lifecycle. Make it easily searchable and accessible across your MSP organization, supporting rapid audits and real-time collaboration (so no device status slips through the cracks and every step is documented).

Automating status changes using Intune or scripts

Automating status changes during IT asset retirement saves time and increases accuracy. Microsoft Intune’s built-in “Retire” action lets MSPs automate the decommissioning process, removing managed app data, policy settings, and device access from the environment when a device’s retirement is triggered. For advanced workflows, scripting with Microsoft Graph and PowerShell can retire devices programmatically — such as:

# Retire device via Graph API (powershell)

Invoke-MgDeviceManagementManagedDeviceRetire -ManagedDeviceId $device.Id

Process automation can be extended using tools like Power Automate. For example, configure your cloud-native retirement tracker (SharePoint, Excel Online, etc.) so when the device status changes to “Retire Requested,” the following tasks are triggered:

1. Notify the asset manager for approval or next steps.
2. Create a new Teams task that details required offboarding procedures.
3. Log the completion date directly in the tracker for future audit reference.

These steps reduce manual work and ensure offboarding stays consistent with policy, helping MSPs maintain accurate compliance records and operational efficiency.

Document retirement policy and roles

Device retirement process documentation should clarify roles, responsibilities, and requirements to ensure consistency and compliance. A comprehensive workflow should address:

• Who is authorized to flag a device for retirement (e.g., IT admins, department leads, or service desk staff).
• Required pre-wipe steps: performing data backups, offboarding user accounts, revoking permissions, and confirming return of accessories or keys.
• How software licenses assigned to the device are identified and reclaimed for redeployment or cancellation.
• The location and structure for storing evidence of completed retirements, such as screenshots, logs, or tracker entries.
• The data retention period for all offboarding logs and audit evidence, supporting future reviews or regulatory audits.

Clear documentation of these elements strengthens audit trails and helps every team member follow a standardized offboarding process.

Conduct quarterly audit reviews

Quarterly audit reviews are vital for maintaining device hygiene and regulatory compliance in the MSP environment. Each quarter, the retirement tracker should be systematically reviewed to ensure that all devices flagged as “Retire Requested” or those marked “In Progress” have successfully completed the process — no device should linger in transition, leaving potential security risks unaddressed.

It’s also necessary to validate that all completed retirements resulted in proper device removal from both Microsoft Intune and Azure AD, as device offboarding in one tool does not automatically delete it from the other. Thorough checks guarantee that no unwanted device retains access or consumes resources.

Following confirmation of the completed status, entries should be archived to a secure, long-term storage solution such as a “Retired_Q2_2025.csv” file. Proper archival ensures audit trails remain available for future review or regulatory inquiries; it also keeps the primary tracker free of clutter and focused on active lifecycle events. Taking these steps quarterly solidifies operational discipline, bolsters compliance, and empowers teams with complete visibility over device asset transitions.

Best practices (summary table)

For a reliable, audit-ready device retirement process, MSPs should adopt these best practices as foundational pillars. Use the table below to clarify each critical component and its role in delivering secure and efficient device lifecycle management:

Automation touchpoint example

Automation can streamline and simplify each step of device retirement, reducing manual effort and improving reliability. Here’s how a cloud-native workflow with integrated automation might look in practice:

1. A technician flags the device as “Retire Requested” in the cloud asset tracker.
2. Power Automate sends an alert to stakeholders and automatically creates a task for pre-retirement steps, including backups and permission cleanup.
3. The device is then securely wiped using Intune or a Microsoft Graph PowerShell script.
4. The tracker updates status to “Retire Completed” for audit and operational transparency.
5. Each quarter, an admin reviews tracker entries and exports compliance records (such as Retired_Q2_2025.csv) for secure, long-term archiving.

NinjaOne integration ideas

• Export device inventory reports from NinjaOne to quickly populate key cloud tracker fields such as Serial Number and Last Active dates.
• Apply custom tags like “Pending_Retire” within NinjaOne to synchronize real-time device disposition with retirement status in your cloud-based workflow.
• Set up policy alerts or compliance report triggers via NinjaOne to help identify new candidates for device retirement based on activity, age, or risk factors.
• Merge NinjaOne report exports with your SharePoint retirement/audit tracker, enabling comprehensive lifecycle visibility and easier audit preparation across your MSP org.

In summary

Cloud-native solutions like Microsoft Intune, SharePoint, and Power Automate empower MSPs to build secure, efficient, and audit-ready retirement workflows — no need for specialized ITAM software or risky manual processes. By standardizing lifecycle stages, automating status changes, and maintaining a collaborative, searchable tracker, MSPs can ensure device offboarding is both thorough and scalable for every client environment. Assigning clear ownership, logging every step, and conducting quarterly reviews to validate and archive retirement data not only streamlines operations but also safeguards compliance for future audits.