The ILM Process - Redefined
Posted by Pankaj Bhutani
Hey Folks, I am back to delve into the detail of the ILM process, the ILM framework and the ILM service.
In order to enable you to digest these details properly, I will cover 1 particular aspect in each of my blogs. The ILM process is what I will get into in this one. But even before I get into the details of the ILM process or how we defined ILM for our client, let me rewind a bit and explain the relevance of the 2 CSF’s that I had mentioned in my blog last time.
1.Leverage Best Practices – Here’s the situation. We have identified that we need to work on ILM. We also are aware that we do not, ideally want to lose the momentum we have currently for working towards ILM maturity at en enterprise level. So then how do we ensure that we work towards maturing ILM on a continuous basis and not in a piecemeal manner? Well, develop and implement ILM as a service so that it is not perceived to be a one off program but a service which an enterprise needs to pursue if they want to achieve ILM enablement at an enterprise level.
2.Engage relevant groups within the organization – Most organizations today are mature in their IT systems and would have various teams performing initiatives that would tie in and help in ILM maturity like email archival, document management systems etc. ILM is certainly not something that can be achieved by a single dedicated team. It relies on a lot of technology, hardware and processes. It is certainly not pragmatic to reinvent the wheel or do something which is overlapping within the organization (as in if somebody else or some other team is also doing the same thing). It is in fact very much for the benefit of the organization that we get the relevant groups within the organization to contribute in their individual capacity which is also exclusive to their team and there are no overlaps possible. These individual efforts should be clubbed together and collaboratively used to mature Information Lifecycle Management at an enterprise level. Hence the importance of engaging different teams and believe me; it works pretty well if different teams work together on key shared goals.
Cool, so enough of importance given to the CSF’s, which they deserve and now coming to the actual process that we had developed. Well it is not rocket science, but a very logical grouping of sub processes into an integrated process in which existing teams of an organization can add value. The 4 process phases that we came up with are:
1.Real Time Information Management - Management of data once it is introduced through the initial stages of creation, usage, distribution, storage and access without compromising Data Protection.
2.Retrieval Management - Classifying information based on risk and manage their retention with an objective to reduce overall costs while maintaining right level of performance and availability
3.e – Discovery Management - Trigger based management of e discovery to cater to the Legal and Regulatory compliance requirements.
4.Purge Management - Management of the destruction of data based on the retention schedule and policy.
So, do you feel we have invented something new in the process above?? For sure no. It was a very simple logical flow of events/processes on handling information at different stages. e – Discovery management was brought in as a significant independent process phase keeping in mind its criticality in today’s industry and the amount of investment it calls for if not treated as a critical process and handled informally (read” in a mismanaged manner”). This was the ILM process and if any of you have any questions/clarifications, just start shooting and I ensure there will be a response asapJ Cheers, till my next blog…
