ILM has been confusing people for years. I googled "ILM confusion" and got 107,000 results. "ILM hype" returned only 78,100 results, so apparently there is more confusion than hype.
This blog entry was inspired by Mary Brandel's article, "ILM: If it's not a product, what is it?" She observes that:
How did ILM get so confused? The basic idea seems straightforward enough: As data ages, its value tends to change and therefore so do the requirements for quality of service. It is important to take this into account when designing data management strategies.
When ILM was first introduced, Steve Duplessie wrote an article (There's a new buzzword in town: Information Lifecycle Management) explaining that:
But I believe that the biggest source of confusion is that EMC took the idea of ILM and decided to use it to explain everything that they do. At EMC, everything is about ILM. Go to www.emc.com, and you'll see ILM front and center. Now visit emc.com/ilm:
To me, this is kind of like EMC's own private Dewey Decimal System. The Dewey Decimal System is designed to organize and categorize all of the books in a library, and EMC is using ILM to organize and categorize all of its solutions, products and services.
It is the nature of categorization systems to expand over time. The "Transportation" category in Dewey Decimal expanded to include rocket ships, even though rocket ships weren't invented yet when Melvil Dewey created his system.
Once EMC starting using ILM to explain everything that they do, it was inevitable that the definition would expand. No wonder the storage industry can't figure out exactly what ILM is:
This blog entry was inspired by Mary Brandel's article, "ILM: If it's not a product, what is it?" She observes that:
The concept of information lifecycle management has been around for a while, but the storage industry, it seems, is still trying to figure out exactly what ILM is. Consider, for instance, that in a recent survey of 252 users conducted by the SNIA End User Council, 42% said they "neither agreed nor disagreed" with the definition of ILM developed by the SNIA in November 2004.She quoted one industry expert who said:
It's worse than virtualization as far as, 'What does it mean?'Worse than virtualization?! (Note to self: write a blog entry on virtualization.)
How did ILM get so confused? The basic idea seems straightforward enough: As data ages, its value tends to change and therefore so do the requirements for quality of service. It is important to take this into account when designing data management strategies.
When ILM was first introduced, Steve Duplessie wrote an article (There's a new buzzword in town: Information Lifecycle Management) explaining that:
What's important to remember is that ILM is not a technology—it is a combination of processes and technologies that determines how data flows through an environment. By doing so, it helps end users manage data from the moment it is created to the time it is no longer needed.Steve's comment helps explain the confusion behind ILM. Once a buzzword becomes hot, customers start saying things like "show me your buzzword roadmap" and "I want to buy some buzzword products". Given customer demand like this, you can count on the computer industry to start delivering buzzword products and buzzword roadmaps, no matter what buzzword originally meant.
But I believe that the biggest source of confusion is that EMC took the idea of ILM and decided to use it to explain everything that they do. At EMC, everything is about ILM. Go to www.emc.com, and you'll see ILM front and center. Now visit emc.com/ilm:
No matter where you are in the process of implementing your ILM strategy, EMC is in a unique position to help. We have the vision, experience, and solutions you need. Our best-of-breed platforms, software, services, and support help you succeed with ILM.Dig into the links and you will discover that everything EMC does is categorized into this framework. When EMC upgraded the Symmetrix DMX, the press reported that "EMC beefed up its information life-cycle management (ILM) offerings with what it called the world's highest-capacity disk array." Now a disk array is ILM?
To me, this is kind of like EMC's own private Dewey Decimal System. The Dewey Decimal System is designed to organize and categorize all of the books in a library, and EMC is using ILM to organize and categorize all of its solutions, products and services.
It is the nature of categorization systems to expand over time. The "Transportation" category in Dewey Decimal expanded to include rocket ships, even though rocket ships weren't invented yet when Melvil Dewey created his system.
Once EMC starting using ILM to explain everything that they do, it was inevitable that the definition would expand. No wonder the storage industry can't figure out exactly what ILM is:
ILM is about everything; therefore ILM is about nothing.(Having said all this, some people will say, "That's all fine, but I'm still interested in strategies for dealing with the lifecycle of information as it ages. Can you help?" The answer is yes—I have some thoughts on that subject, but they'll have to wait for a future blog entry.)
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