What Is Information Lifecycle Management?

Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) is, first and foremost, a strategic process for dealing with information assets. Typically, ILM is expressed as a strategy, which is then used to generate policies. Finally, a set of rules is created and used by the organization or software to comply with the policies. ILM processes take into account what the information is, where it is located, what relationships it has to other information, and the lifecycle of the information.

Initially, ILM appears to be a lot like Data Lifecycle Management (DLM). DLM is also a policy-based process. It has rules and takes into account a lifecycle. The difference is that ILM operates on information, not data. This is a fundamental distinction that makes ILM a very different process.

Data is raw. It lacks structure that is externally visible. Information, on the other hand, is capable of external validation, even if it requires a human being to do it. Whereas data is completely dependent on applications for meaning, information is independent of applications.

Information is a collection of data within a certain context. When someone receives an e-mail, prints it out and reads it, or imports it into another program, it is still an e-mail. The blocks of data that comprise the e-mail are data. The data becomes an e-mail when the reader (human or computer) recognizes that there are FROM and TO lines and a message body.

Information Has Value

How much is a block of data worth? That's hard to say unless you know what the data is meant to represent. The value of information is easier to understand because what it is is known. An order from a customer has a value that can be determined from real costs and loss of revenue. A CFO's presentation to the financial community has a value that can be determined by changes in the stock price of the company. Assigning value to information is based on what is valuable to the organization.

Misconceptions Around ILM

As is the case with DLM, ILM is a strategic process. It is not about technology or products, though these can be used as tools for automating ILM rules. Unfortunately, there is some confusion about how products and existing processes fit into an ILM strategy.

Other technology or processes that are often confused with ILM are

• Data storage or storage management. Although storage is often part of the ILM picture, it is not a complete ILM solution. Storage may be considered to be part of the ILM policies, but it is secondary to the process.

• Content Addressed Storage (CAS). CAS is a very useful tool for ensuring ILM policy compliance. However, it is not the ILM process or policy in and of itself.

• Document management and records management. Document management and records management are considered by some people to be subsets of ILM and can be useful parts of the ILM strategy. Not all information is in document or form, however.

Why Bother with ILM?

There are some clear reasons why organizations bother with ILM. Many are first attracted to ILM because of regulatory compliance. There are, however, many other benefits. Benefits of ILM include:

• Enables information assurance. ILM helps organizations verify that data is what and where they think it is.

• More efficient use of resources. ILM allows a finer level of resource allocation than DLM does. Less important information can be given less expensive system resources.

• Data protection in line with information's value. As with DLM, data protection can be applied to the data that comprises the information. ILM allows decisions about data protection to be made based on the value of the information over its lifetime.

• Better security. By using ILM, organizations can better track where information is located. This eliminates duplicate, lost, or misplaced information. Good ILM policies should also help organizations determine when unintentional modification to information occurs. It allows the organization to know when people are looking at, copying, or changing data, with or without authorization.

• Allows organizations to handle large amounts of ever-changing information. ILM policies help organizations avoid drowning in useless information. They do this by helping the organization focus on the most important information first.

• Enhances privacy. By tracking the copying, destruction, and accessibility of information in an organization, ILM diminishes the likelihood of a privacy breach.