Information Lifecycle Management
Encyclopedia
Information Lifecycle Management refers to a wide-ranging set of strategies for administering storage systems on computing
devices. Specifically, four categories of storage strategies may be considered under the auspices of ILM.
governance
and management
; change control
processes; requirements for system availability and recovery times; and service level agreement
s (SLAs).
, restore, and restart; archiving and long-term retention; data replication; and day-to-day processes and procedures necessary to manage a storage architecture.
dependent upon the storage platforms; security
of storage; and data center
constraints. Within the application realm, the relationship between applications and the production, test
, and development
requirements are generally most relevant for ILM.
ILM includes every phase of a "record" from its beginning to its end. And while it is generally applied to information that rises to the classic definition of a record (Records management
), it applies to any and all informational assets. During its existence, information can become a record by being identified as documenting a business transaction or as satisfying a business need. In this sense ILM has been part of the overall approach of ECM Enterprise content management
.
However, in a more general perspective the term "business" must be taken in a broad sense, and not forcibly tied to direct commercial or enterprise contexts. While most records are thought of as having a relationship to enterprise business, not all do. Much recorded information serves to document an event or a critical point in history. Examples of these are birth, death, medical/health and educational records. e-Science
, for example, is an emerging area where ILM has become relevant.
In the year 2004, attempts have been made by the Information Technology and Information Storage industries (SNIA
association) to assign a new broader definition to Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) according to this broad view:
Creation and Receipt deals with records from their point of origination. This could include their creation by a member of an organization at varying levels or receipt of information from an external source. It includes correspondence, forms, reports, drawings, computer input/output, or other sources.
Distribution is the process of managing the information once it has been created or received. This includes both internal and external distribution, as information that leaves an organization becomes a record of a transaction with others.
Use takes place after information is distributed internally, and can generate business decisions, document further actions, or serve other purposes.
Maintenance is the management of information. This can include processes such as filing, retrieval and transfers. While the connotation of 'filing' presumes the placing of information in a prescribed container and leaving it there, there is much more involved. Filing is actually the process of arranging information in a predetermined sequence and creating a system to manage it for its useful existence within an organization. Failure to establish a sound method for filing information makes its retrieval and use nearly impossible. Transferring information refers to the process of responding to requests, retrieval from files and providing access to users authorized by the organization to have access to the information. While removed from the files, the information is tracked by the use of various processes to ensure it is returned and/or available to others who may need access to it.
Disposition is the practice of handling information that is less frequently accessed or has met its assigned retention periods. Less frequently accessed records may be considered for relocation to an 'inactive records facility' until they have met their assigned retention period. "Although a small percentage of organizational information never loses its value, the value of most information tends to decline over time until it has no further value to anyone for any purpose. The value of nearly all business information is greatest soon after it is created and generally remains active for only a short time --one to three years or so-- after which its importance and usage declines. The record then makes its life cycle transition to a semi-active and finally to an inactive state." Retention periods are based on the creation of an organization-specific retention schedule, based on research of the regulatory, statutory and legal requirements for management of information for the industry in which the organization operates. Additional items to consider when establishing a retention period are any business needs that may exceed those requirements and consideration of the potential historic, intrinsic or enduring value of the information. If the information has met all of these needs and is no longer considered to be valuable, it should be disposed of by means appropriate for the content. This may include ensuring that others cannot obtain access to outdated or obsolete information as well as measures for protection privacy and confidentiality.'
Long-term records are those that are identified to have a continuing value to an organization. Based on the period assigned in the retention schedule, these may be held for periods of 25 years or longer, or may even be assigned a retention period of "indefinite" or "permanent". The term "permanent" is used much less frequently outside of the Federal Government, as it is not feasible to establish a requirement for such a retention period. There is a need to ensure records of a continuing value are managed using methods that ensure they remain persistently accessible for length of the time they are retained. While this is relatively easy to accomplish with paper or microfilm based records by providing appropriate environmental conditions and adequate protection from potential hazards, it is less simple for electronic format records. There are unique concerns related to ensuring the format they are generated/captured in remains viable and the media they are stored on remains accessible. Media is subject to both degradation and obsolescence over its lifespan, and therefore, policies and procedures must be established for the periodic conversion and migration of information stored electronically to ensure it remains accessible for its required retention periods.
Exceptions occur with non-recurring issues outside the normal day to day operations. One example of this is a legal hold, litigation hold or legal freeze is requested by an attorney. What follows is that the records manager will place a legal hold inside the records management application which will stop the files from being enqueued for disposition.
Computing
Computing is usually defined as the activity of using and improving computer hardware and software. It is the computer-specific part of information technology...
devices. Specifically, four categories of storage strategies may be considered under the auspices of ILM.
Policy
ILM Policy consists of the overarching storage and information policies that drive management processes. Policies are dictated by business goals and drivers. Therefore, policies generally tie into a framework of overall ITInformation technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
governance
Governance
Governance is the act of governing. It relates to decisions that define expectations, grant power, or verify performance. It consists of either a separate process or part of management or leadership processes...
and management
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
; change control
Change Control
Change control within Quality management systems and Information Technology systems is a formal process used to ensure that changes to a product or system are introduced in a controlled and coordinated manner...
processes; requirements for system availability and recovery times; and service level agreement
Service Level Agreement
A service-level agreement is a part of a service contract where the level of service is formally defined. In practice, the term SLA is sometimes used to refer to the contracted delivery time or performance...
s (SLAs).
Operational
Operational aspects of ILM include backup and data protection; disaster recoveryDisaster recovery
Disaster recovery is the process, policies and procedures related to preparing for recovery or continuation of technology infrastructure critical to an organization after a natural or human-induced disaster. Disaster recovery is a subset of business continuity...
, restore, and restart; archiving and long-term retention; data replication; and day-to-day processes and procedures necessary to manage a storage architecture.
Infrastructure
Infrastructure facets of ILM include the logical and physical architectures; the applicationsApplication software
Application software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...
dependent upon the storage platforms; security
Security
Security is the degree of protection against danger, damage, loss, and crime. Security as a form of protection are structures and processes that provide or improve security as a condition. The Institute for Security and Open Methodologies in the OSSTMM 3 defines security as "a form of protection...
of storage; and data center
Data center
A data center is a facility used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems...
constraints. Within the application realm, the relationship between applications and the production, test
Software testing
Software testing is an investigation conducted to provide stakeholders with information about the quality of the product or service under test. Software testing can also provide an objective, independent view of the software to allow the business to appreciate and understand the risks of software...
, and development
Software development
Software development is the development of a software product...
requirements are generally most relevant for ILM.
Definition
Information Lifecycle Management (sometimes abbreviated ILM) is the practice of applying certain policies to the effective management of information throughout its useful life. This practice has been used by Records and Information Management (RIM) Professionals for over three decades and had its basis in the management of information in paper or other physical forms (microfilm, negatives, photographs, audio or video recordings and other assets). Video Lifecycle Management (VLM) is a video aware subset of ILM.ILM includes every phase of a "record" from its beginning to its end. And while it is generally applied to information that rises to the classic definition of a record (Records management
Records management
Records management, or RM, is the practice of maintaining the records of an organization from the time they are created up to their eventual disposal...
), it applies to any and all informational assets. During its existence, information can become a record by being identified as documenting a business transaction or as satisfying a business need. In this sense ILM has been part of the overall approach of ECM Enterprise content management
Enterprise content management
Enterprise Content Management is a formalized means of organizing and storing an organization's documents, and other content, that relate to the organization's processes...
.
However, in a more general perspective the term "business" must be taken in a broad sense, and not forcibly tied to direct commercial or enterprise contexts. While most records are thought of as having a relationship to enterprise business, not all do. Much recorded information serves to document an event or a critical point in history. Examples of these are birth, death, medical/health and educational records. e-Science
E-Science
E-Science is computationally intensive science that is carried out in highly distributed network environments, or science that uses immense data sets that require grid computing; the term sometimes includes technologies that enable distributed collaboration, such as the Access Grid...
, for example, is an emerging area where ILM has become relevant.
In the year 2004, attempts have been made by the Information Technology and Information Storage industries (SNIA
SNIA
SNIA can refer to an industrial association or an Italian manufacturer:*Storage Networking Industry Association**SNIA Dictionary*SNIA S.p.A. – Italian firm headquartered in Milano....
association) to assign a new broader definition to Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) according to this broad view:
- Information Lifecycle Management comprises the policies, processes, practices, and tools used to align the business value of information with the most appropriate and cost effective IT infrastructure from the time information is conceived through its final disposition. Information is aligned with business processBusiness processA business process or business method is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks that produce a specific service or product for a particular customer or customers...
es through management policies and service levels associated with applications, metadata, information, and data.
Functionality
For the purposes of business records, there are five phases identified as being part of the lifecycle continuum along with one exception. These are:- Creation and Receipt
- Distribution
- Use
- Maintenance
- Disposition
Creation and Receipt deals with records from their point of origination. This could include their creation by a member of an organization at varying levels or receipt of information from an external source. It includes correspondence, forms, reports, drawings, computer input/output, or other sources.
Distribution is the process of managing the information once it has been created or received. This includes both internal and external distribution, as information that leaves an organization becomes a record of a transaction with others.
Use takes place after information is distributed internally, and can generate business decisions, document further actions, or serve other purposes.
Maintenance is the management of information. This can include processes such as filing, retrieval and transfers. While the connotation of 'filing' presumes the placing of information in a prescribed container and leaving it there, there is much more involved. Filing is actually the process of arranging information in a predetermined sequence and creating a system to manage it for its useful existence within an organization. Failure to establish a sound method for filing information makes its retrieval and use nearly impossible. Transferring information refers to the process of responding to requests, retrieval from files and providing access to users authorized by the organization to have access to the information. While removed from the files, the information is tracked by the use of various processes to ensure it is returned and/or available to others who may need access to it.
Disposition is the practice of handling information that is less frequently accessed or has met its assigned retention periods. Less frequently accessed records may be considered for relocation to an 'inactive records facility' until they have met their assigned retention period. "Although a small percentage of organizational information never loses its value, the value of most information tends to decline over time until it has no further value to anyone for any purpose. The value of nearly all business information is greatest soon after it is created and generally remains active for only a short time --one to three years or so-- after which its importance and usage declines. The record then makes its life cycle transition to a semi-active and finally to an inactive state." Retention periods are based on the creation of an organization-specific retention schedule, based on research of the regulatory, statutory and legal requirements for management of information for the industry in which the organization operates. Additional items to consider when establishing a retention period are any business needs that may exceed those requirements and consideration of the potential historic, intrinsic or enduring value of the information. If the information has met all of these needs and is no longer considered to be valuable, it should be disposed of by means appropriate for the content. This may include ensuring that others cannot obtain access to outdated or obsolete information as well as measures for protection privacy and confidentiality.'
Long-term records are those that are identified to have a continuing value to an organization. Based on the period assigned in the retention schedule, these may be held for periods of 25 years or longer, or may even be assigned a retention period of "indefinite" or "permanent". The term "permanent" is used much less frequently outside of the Federal Government, as it is not feasible to establish a requirement for such a retention period. There is a need to ensure records of a continuing value are managed using methods that ensure they remain persistently accessible for length of the time they are retained. While this is relatively easy to accomplish with paper or microfilm based records by providing appropriate environmental conditions and adequate protection from potential hazards, it is less simple for electronic format records. There are unique concerns related to ensuring the format they are generated/captured in remains viable and the media they are stored on remains accessible. Media is subject to both degradation and obsolescence over its lifespan, and therefore, policies and procedures must be established for the periodic conversion and migration of information stored electronically to ensure it remains accessible for its required retention periods.
Exceptions occur with non-recurring issues outside the normal day to day operations. One example of this is a legal hold, litigation hold or legal freeze is requested by an attorney. What follows is that the records manager will place a legal hold inside the records management application which will stop the files from being enqueued for disposition.
See also
- Automated tiered storageAutomated Tiered StorageAutomated Tiered Storage is the automated progression or demotion of data across different tiers of storage devices and media. This movement of data is automatic to the different types of disk according to performance and capacity requirements....
- Computer data storage
- Data proliferationData proliferationData proliferation refers to the prodigious amount of data, structured and unstructured, that businesses and governments continue to generate at an unprecedented rate and the usability problems that result from attempting to store and manage that data...
- Digital asset managementDigital asset managementDigital asset management consists of management tasks and decisions surrounding the ingestion, annotation, cataloguing, storage, retrieval and distribution of digital assets...
- Digital continuityDigital continuityDigital continuity is the ability to maintain the digital information of a creator in such a way that the information will continue to be available, as needed, despite changes in digital storage technology. It focuses on making sure that information is complete, available and therefore usable...
- Digital preservationDigital preservationDigital preservation is the set of processes, activities and management of digital information over time to ensure its long term accessibility. The goal of digital preservation is to preserve materials resulting from digital reformatting, and particularly information that is born-digital with no...
- Document management
- Enterprise content managementEnterprise content managementEnterprise Content Management is a formalized means of organizing and storing an organization's documents, and other content, that relate to the organization's processes...
- Hierarchical storage managementHierarchical storage managementHierarchical storage management is a data storage technique which automatically moves data between high-cost and low-cost storage media. HSM systems exist because high-speed storage devices, such as hard disk drive arrays, are more expensive than slower devices, such as optical discs and magnetic...
- Information repositoryInformation repositoryAn information repository is an easy way to deploy a secondary tier of data storage that can comprise multiple, networked data storage technologies running on diverse operating systems, where data that no longer needs to be in primary storage is protected, classified according to captured metadata,...
- Records managementRecords managementRecords management, or RM, is the practice of maintaining the records of an organization from the time they are created up to their eventual disposal...
- ARMA InternationalARMA InternationalARMA International is a non-profit professional association for records and information managers and related industry practitioners and vendors. The association provides educational opportunities and educational publications covering the principles of records management...
- Application retirementApplication retirementApplication retirement is the practice of shutting down redundant or obsolete business applications while retaining access to the historical data. Legacy applications are often maintained solely to provide infrequent or sporadic access to the data within the application database for regulatory or...
- Data classificationData classificationIn the field of data management, data classification as a part of Information Lifecycle Management process can be defined as tool for categorization of data to enable/help organization to effectively answer following questions:...