Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) is a comprehensive approach to managing an organisations data and associated metadata, starting with its creation and acquisition through when it becomes obsolete and is deleted. ILM seeks to classify data according to business value and establish policies to migrate and store data on the appropriate storage tier and, ultimately, remove it altogether.
The goal of information lifecycle management is to optimize the value of information, minimize costs and risks, and ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.
ILM is a strategy that involves managing information throughout its entire lifecycle, from creation to deletion. This includes activities such as data backup, archiving, retention, and disposal. The goal of ILM is to ensure that information is available when needed, while also reducing storage costs and minimizing risks associated with data loss.
ALM, on the other hand, is a process for managing the entire lifecycle of software applications, from development to retirement. This includes activities such as requirements management, design, coding, testing, deployment, and maintenance. The goal of ALM is to ensure that applications are developed and maintained in a way that meets the needs of the business, while also minimizing costs and risks associated with software defects.
While ILM and ALM are different strategies, they share some commonalities. Both involve managing data and/or software throughout their lifecycle, with the goal of maximizing their value while minimizing costs and risks. Additionally, both ILM and ALM rely on a combination of processes, tools, and technologies to achieve their goals.
Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) is a process for managing the entire lifecycle of information, from creation through disposal. It involves developing policies, processes, and tools for managing the flow of information across different stages of its lifecycle, such as creation, storage, retrieval, use, archiving, and destruction.
The key stages of the information lifecycle include creation, classification, storage, retrieval, use, retention, preservation, and destruction. The specific stages and their order can vary depending on the type of information, its format, and the business requirements.
Implementing an ILM strategy can help organizations to reduce storage costs, improve data security, enhance compliance and risk management, streamline operations, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve decision-making by ensuring that information is available when and where it is needed.
Some best practices for implementing an ILM strategy include identifying the types of information and their lifecycle requirements, developing clear policies and procedures for each stage of the lifecycle, selecting appropriate storage and retrieval technologies, establishing data retention and destruction schedules, ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, and regularly monitoring and reviewing the effectiveness of the ILM strategy.
Some of the challenges of implementing an ILM strategy include managing the complexity of the information environment, ensuring data privacy and security, integrating different systems and applications, ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, and ensuring that the ILM strategy aligns with the business goals and objectives.
Technology plays a critical role in ILM, providing the tools and infrastructure to manage the flow of information across its lifecycle. This includes storage systems, data management software, content management systems, backup and recovery systems, and archiving systems. Technology also enables organizations to automate many of the processes and tasks involved in managing information, improving efficiency and reducing costs.
ILM and Records Management are related but distinct processes. ILM involves managing the entire lifecycle of information, including data, documents, and other types of content, while Records Management focuses specifically on managing records, which are defined as “information created, received, and maintained as evidence and information by an organization or person, in pursuance of legal obligations or in the transaction of business.” Records Management is typically more focused on compliance and legal requirements, while ILM is broader in scope and may encompass a wider range of information types and processes.
Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) refers to a series of strategies in order to administrate storage systems on computing devices.
ILM is the practice of applying certain policies to accomplish effective information management. This practice originated from managing information in physical forms such as paper, microfilm, negatives, photographs, audio or video recordings and other assets.. It refers to the information management of any product or process from start to end or until its execution.
ILM includes every phase of a "record" from creation to disposal. While it is generally applied to information that rises to the classic definition of a record (and thus related to records management), it applies to 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 enterprise content management.
The term "business" is often used in a broad context, beyond just commercial and enterprise activities. While many records may relate to business enterprises, not all do. Some documented information serves to record historical events or significant moments rather than business activities. Examples of these are birth, death, medical/health, and educational records. e-Science, for example, is an area where ILM has become relevant.
In 2004, the Storage Networking Industry Association, on behalf of the information technology (IT) and information storage industries, attempted to assign a new and broader definition to Information Lifecycle Management (ILM). A definition published on October at the Storage Networking World conference in Orlando, Florida, stated that "ILM consists of 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." In this view, information is aligned with business processes, through management policies and service levels associated with applications, metadata, information, and data.