ILM definition draws fire

Are storage vendors fortifying the gap between information and storage management?

The recent definition of Information Lifecycle Management, which the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) put forth late last month, appears to many in the industry as a step in the right direction.

The definition attempts to help IT managers and others begin to view storage as information instead of just data to be stored on whatever device is available. The definition is pretty basic: ILM is comprised 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.

I recently did a story on the subject and got some interesting comments. While plenty in the industry see the definition as a way to level the field and bring some organization to some rather chaotic concepts, others involved in storage see the definition as nothing but window dressing. To quote from one letter I received: “Hundreds of companies in the information management industry have been working on the underlying principles of ILM since long before the term

was coined. In fact, you’ll find many of the same principles in fields

such as content management and digital asset management. The storage

industry is about 25 years late to the party. And now the industry has

the audacity to attempt to ‘define it’. Give me a break.”

That is an interesting observation. The writer goes further saying that the storage industry is, in fact, wasting time and money developing technologies that “conflict with, and in many instances trample upon, existing, mature information management solutions. Rather than breaking down the barrier between information and storage management, I believe the storage industry may well be reinforcing it.”

It sounds like the writer believes the storage industry is trying to re-invent the wheel and not doing it that well. In speaking to Mike Peterson, the analyst and leader of the group in the SNIA who came up with the definition, one reason for the definition is to build up management practices revolving around ILM.