Information lifecycle management (ILM) as defined by Wikipedia, comprises the policies, processes, practices, services, and tools used to align the business value of information with the most appropriate and cost-effective infrastructure from the time information is created, through to its final disposition.
Not a new concept, ILM has been used by records and information management professionals for well over three decades. More recently, vendors have started latching onto the ILM buzzword on the back of regulatory compliance requirements such as the local ECT (Electronic Communications and Transactions) Act, FICA and HIPAA.
International analyst, Yankee Group, suggests the current surge and hype around ILM is primarily driven by regulatory compliance requirements. We believe that there is an up-side to this scenario as most organisations will be in a position to address, or redress, their record management requirements, which have been neglected for years.
The response to ILM ranges from not knowing how to proceed and storing everything, to those suffering from the "Ostrich syndrome". The key lies in defining the balance of what has to be stored and at what cost, against a strategy supporting the business objectives.
A recent attempt has been made by the Information Technology and Information Storage industries (SNIA) to assign a new definition to ILM. Almost identical to Wikipedia`s definition, SNIA was hoping to find a way to manage and store information via less expensive means based on usage as opposed to evaluating its value to an organisation and managing it accordingly. While we agree that there is a need to find a means to more effectively manage the vast quantities of information being generated electronically, current IT practice is not by any means ILM, as it is classically known. In our view, ILM is part of the overall approach of enterprise content management (ECM). ECM leads to ILM, which results in record and information management.
New technologies will undoubtedly drive down the cost of storage per megabyte while increasing the capacity per square inch. But it still does not keep up with the pace at which we are exposed to the information explosion around us.
Current reports indicate that information stored electronically is growing by more than 100% per year. This is mainly attributed to easier access to information and the ability to store it online. Unfortunately, this can get out of hand very quickly in most organisations due to the absence of a strategy and mechanism to manage content. We are all too familiar with the number of duplicate copies of a corporate brochure all over our network and workstations. This scenario generates dollar signs in the eyes of all vendors who respond by marketing their solutions as the silver bullet.
Most of these vendor solutions essentially revolve around storage, which typically include any combination of SAN (storage area network), NAS (network-attached storage), DASD (direct access storage device), COLD (computer output to laser disc) and magnetic tape.
The "ILM" concept is so well entrenched that we believe the industry is well past the hype-cycle. In our view the challenge lies in defining a proper ILM strategy in alignment with business objectives and then position the enabling technology appropriately. For example, record management systems range from manual, paper-based filing cabinets through to an all-encompassing electronic archival and retrieval solution. Industry solutions will typically dictate the following priorities: Is record management a cost of doing business? How do we serve our customers best? Can I afford not to have my corporate information assets protected? How critical is easy access to correspondence for us? Do we have an integrated view of our customers?
The importance of storage and more so lifecycle management strategies is that they need to be inclusive, not only focused on the core company data on key servers, but also extend to the desktop. It must be practically impenetrable within the constraints imposed by the organisation and enable the right level of access to the right people. And, it must be business driven.
In essence, ILM is a business analysis of the trade-offs between cost and availability. The primary storage solutions are the most expensive per megabyte, but they also offer the greatest availability. This involves aligning IT infrastructure with business objectives and recognising that the value of data changes as it ages.
For more information, contact EOH on (011) 607-8100 or visit www.eoh.co.za.
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