The IT industry has yet another nebulous acronym stirring fear, uncertainty and doubt among C-level executives and IT man-agers across the globe: Information Lifecycle Management (ILM). Is it a marketing frenzy created by a few powerhouses in the industry? Yes. Is it something to which we really need to pay attention? Yes. Is this something we already do? Yes. But as it stands today, there is no clear-cut way to approach ILM from an enterprise-wide standpoint. I would suggest companies need to socialize their organizations to understand the importance of their approach to Information Lifecycle Management. To begin with, we need to understand what has driven this industry initiative. The reality is that IT professionals have been managing information for a long time. Now, however, we have regulatory bodies looking over our shoulders, while also dealing with rapid growth in the types and amount of information complicating the management function. All electronic communication, regardless of the medium, is now potential evidentiary fact in our litigious society. We must devise methods to organize, manage and mobilize that information to not only meet compliance requirements, but to also get the best return on our information. Consider the benefits to your bottom line when unstructured information is suddenly optimally organized and managed.
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