Information Lifecycle Management Maturity Model

Information lifecycle management
maturity model
ABSTRACT
Information lifecycle management (ILM) has been widely hyped in
the storage industry without a clearly understood vision or a defined
approach to implementation. Information lifecycle management’s
stated value is compelling, but clear steps toward implementation are
required. Our proposed information lifecycle management maturity
model defines an achievable roadmap to the information lifecycle
management vision.
WHITE PAPER
April 2005
1 WHITE PAPER
Information lifecycle management maturity model
Executive summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
The maturity model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Maturity stages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Elements of the maturity model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Current state: reactive maturity level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Future state: advanced maturity levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Action plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2 WHITE PAPER
Information lifecycle management maturity model
Executive summary
Information lifecycle management (ILM) is a sustainable storage strategy that balances the
cost of storing and managing information with its changing business value. A well-executed
ILM strategy will result in a more agile organization, reduce business risk, and drive down
both storage unit and storage management costs. Ultimately, organizations gain solid and
immediate business benefit from information lifecycle management by better controlling
information assets for competitive advantage.
In this paper we present a model describing five states of maturity for information lifecycle
management. Our purpose is to present a vision and practical advice for organizations that
are deploying an information lifecycle management strategy. Although we believe that our
vision for information lifecycle management is not fully attainable in the market today, we
also believe that solid business benefit from information lifecycle management is attainable
today. Our objective here is to help reduce risk by providing that the information lifecycle
management foundation is built today with a view toward attaining that vision in the future.
The five stages of maturity comprise the first axis of the two-dimensional model. The five
stages range from a base state (chaotic) through stages denoted as reactive, proactive,
optimized, and, finally, self-aware. Generally, the maturity stages are characterized by
increasing levels of automation and integration, and the depth of alignment between
business processes and information lifecycle management.
There are unique values associated with moving up the maturity stages. The early stages
offer increased control of the storage environment and cost savings via optimization and
better utilization. The latter stages provide substantial reductions in human resources
required to manage and administer storage.
On the other axis of the model, we have defined a set of elements that provide linkage
between business intent and storage management reality. The elements are structured
into five layers:
..
The business interface defining the relationship of IT and business processes
..
A business value integration layer providing the linkage between business processes and
storage management, tying business processes to policy, data classification, and security
..
A storage management integration layer linking intended actions and the actual
outcomes of storage management actions
..
An information placement layer involving activities that optimize data location, including
data protection, retention management, and optimization processes and tools
..
The physical infrastructure consisting of the physical hardware and software used
to store data, interconnect storage and servers, move information, and monitor and
manage storage
The information lifecycle maturity model will provide a roadmap and an assessment
approach to provide that current efforts will build a solid foundation for the future, and
help to optimize current investment. Achieving the long-term benefits of a fully mature
information lifecycle management strategy is dependent on taking the right foundational
steps, and many organizations are making those decisions in the near term. The information
lifecycle management maturity model will help organizations avoid the pitfalls that
generally accompany new technology implementations.
3 WHITE PAPER
Information lifecycle management maturity model
Information lifecycle
management
(ILM) is a sustainable storage
strategy that balances the cost of
storing and managing information
with its changing business value.
Information lifecycle management
provides a practical methodology
for aligning storage costs with
business priorities.
ILM maturity
model — highlights
..
Five stages of maturity described
..
Intended to provide insight
and direction
..
Later stages not currently
attainable and in some
(perhaps many) organizations,
not worth attaining
Information lifecycle
management (ILM) maturity
model stages:
..
Chaotic — Ad hoc
storage optimization
..
Reactive — Uncoordinated
process-management driven
..
Proactive — Standardized
tools and process; linkage of
storage optimization to service
level management
..
Optimized — Policy-management-
driven ILM linked to content
management
..
Self-aware — Predictive
policy-based management,
linked to information quality
and content management;
highly adaptive “on-demand”
storage infrastructure
Introduction
The concept of information lifecycle management (ILM) has received a great deal of
attention, but has not lived up to the hype. Perhaps we have progressed through the
“peak of raised expectations,” and into the “trough of disillusionment” and have not yet
begun to realize the “slope of enlightenment.”
1
Our objective is to advance information lifecycle management more rapidly into productive
results. The basic concept of information lifecycle management is sound. Simply put,
placing information on the most cost-effective platform available, while meeting business
needs, is a sensible objective and difficult to refute as good policy.
We’d like to help IT organizations avoid the extended “hype cycle” syndrome, and rapidly
deploy the elements of the strategy that are mature enough, when they deliver business
benefit and are foundational to future steps. To that purpose, a roadmap is needed.
Thus we have developed a “maturity model” for information lifecycle management. The
model is intended to provide insight and guidance into what we perceive as the stages of
evolution of information lifecycle management.
It’s worth noting that a truly advanced state of information lifecycle management is currently
impossible. The advanced state we will describe will require the convergence of some current
technologies, and the emergence of other technologies. It will also require some hard work
for IT organizations and their business counterparts.
There is clear benefit in moving up the maturity model from a low level of information
lifecycle management maturity (which we will call chaotic) to a reactive and then proactive
stage. As is typical of other maturity models, such as software development SEI/CMM and
CMMI, the advanced stages of maturity are expected to have positive but diminishing returns.
Further, it will not make business sense for all organizations to attempt to achieve those
advanced stages.
The maturity model
Maturity stages
The information lifecycle management maturity model is intended to provide direction to IT
organizations seeking to evolve their information lifecycle management implementation.
We have defined five states of maturity in the model:
..
Chaotic — Ad hoc approaches to managing storage.
..
Reactive — Multiple processes and procedures in place for storage management, relying
on individuals’ knowledge and experience. Data protection (backup and DR) is consolidated.
..
Proactive — Standardized and documented procedures, generally unsophisticated.
Service level management has resulted in definition of standard service levels that
have been translated into information lifecycle management data classes and policies.
..
Optimized — Policy-based storage management processes are standardized,
and compliance is managed. Enterprise content management is linked to storage
optimization efforts.
..
Self-aware — Storage management processes have been elevated to best practices
levels; continuous improvement and benchmarking are in place. The IT organization
supports rapid adaptation to business changes.
1
See any one of Gartner’s “Hype Cycle” publications, such as “Hype Cycle for Storage Technologies,” June 2004
4 WHITE PAPER
Information lifecycle management maturity model
Information lifecycle
management (ILM) maturity
model elements:
..
Business interface
..
Business value integration —
includes policy management,
and data classification processes
..
Storage monitoring — includes
resource management,
metadata management
and measurement functions
..
Information placement — includes
data protection, archive and,
optimization processes and tools
..
Infrastructure — consists of the
physical storage layer
Combined top-down and bottom-up,
the elements define a model linking
business intent with storage reality.
Fundamentally, information lifecycle management depends on linking business value to
storage management actions. We define “optimized” as “business-value optimized.” To attain
business-value-based optimization requires linkage between business process requirements
(service levels) and use of infrastructure. Information lifecycle management must address
issues beyond access frequency as a means to decide where in the infrastructure to place
a given data object. Information lifecycle management must deal with data recovery and
protection; discovery, retention, and disposal; and security.
2
In order to be truly linked to
business value, information lifecycle management must be content aware.
Elements of the maturity model
The information lifecycle management maturity model is structured to link business intent
(plans, requirements, and service levels) downward through a layer of integrating processes
(policy management and data classification) and into the model “gearbox” of storage
management integration. From the bottom up, infrastructure is linked to information
placement (data protection, archive, and optimization) and into the management
integration layer.
Together these elements define a top-down and bottom-up model for information lifecycle
management, integrating business intent with storage reality.
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2
See “Best practices in data classification for information lifecycle management” at
www.storagetek/solutions/white_papers.html
5 WHITE PAPER
Information lifecycle management maturity model
Information lifecycle
management (ILM) maturity
Current state:
..
Majority in reactive
stage of maturity
..
The task at hand for IT
organizations: business
process alignment
..
The task at hand for IT suppliers:
tools and platforms that provide
virtualization, policy management,
flexibility, and granularity across
heterogeneous storage systems
The elements of the model are as follows:
..
Business interface defines the relationship of IT and business processes. Maturity stages
map the development and integration of IT infrastructure to business processes.
..
Business value integration is the linkage between business processes and storage
management, tying business processes to policy, data classification, and security.
..
Storage management integration supplies the linkage between intended actions and the
actual outcomes of storage administration or management actions. It includes resource
management, metadata management, and measurement functions. Management
integration matures through stages starting with basic monitoring, followed by
management, integration, optimization, and prediction.
..
Information placement is the physical management layer in the information lifecycle
management maturity model. It involves activities that optimize data location. It includes
data protection, retention management, and optimization processes and tools.
..
Infrastructure is the physical hardware used to store data and interconnect storage
and servers. Infrastructure also includes the software layers used to move, monitor
and, manage storage.
Current state: reactive maturity level
As of early 2005, we believe in a reactive state of information lifecycle management maturity.
This may have less to do with the organizations themselves than it has to do with the state
of available tools and infrastructure solutions. There is one significant hurdle that most
organizations will have to clear to get to a proactive or optimized information lifecycle
management state: closer business and IT alignment.
About a year ago, Gartner quantified the process maturity of large U.S. data centers.
3

Using a model with some similarity to our information lifecycle management maturity
model, Gartner assessed the overall state of IT process maturity. Gartner’s results indicate
significant improvement from their 1999 estimates. Still, a significant number of organizations
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3
Gartner, “Data Center Poll Confirms Improved Process Maturity,” April 2004, SPA-22-1694
6 WHITE PAPER
Information lifecycle management maturity model
Information lifecycle
management (ILM) maturity
Future state
..
Business and IT alignment
..
Pervasive, automated
resource management
..
Self-correcting policy engines
..
Infinite classes of information
optimized automatically across
a continuum of storage, based
on the business value of the
information content
Required convergence of
technology and process
..
Content management and
storage optimization
..
Information science (information
quality management, semantic
abstraction, information asset
management) and ILM
..
Adaptive storage infrastructure
(approximately 85 percent) had not reached a state where business process linkage
had evolved to the point where it could be relied upon to provide sound input to IT
infrastructure decisions. Business and IT alignment is critical to business-value-based
information lifecycle management; without it information lifecycle management is merely
cross-platform hierarchical storage management (HSM). An organization may achieve some
business benefit from implementing heterogeneous HSM, but the broad value that we see
from information lifecycle management involves intimacy with business considerations,
beyond access history. Advanced information lifecycle management maturity involves
making storage management “business process aware.” This implies using a broader set
of business considerations (such as access performance, retention, disposal, protection,
discovery, recovery and, security) in applying policy to a set of business objects.
IT suppliers will need to upgrade their portfolios if information lifecycle management
is to reach an advanced state of maturity. Tools are needed that improve virtualization,
policy management, and infrastructure flexibility. These need to be made available across
platforms and will likely need to be standards-based. Additionally, they need to provide the
ability to integrate file-based management with object- and content-based management.
While this is a tall order, our perception is that it is being worked on by most of the
information lifecycle management vendors. It’s highly likely that the proverbial “perfect
storm” for information lifecycle management will really occur.
Future state: advanced maturity levels
Envision a storage management world where business information objects are
automatically managed based on their business value. Where the storage infrastructure
not only is business aware, but also is conscious of the content of a business object. Where
business decision-makers have specified rules about their information, and the complex
service level requirements of a particular information element are consistently and
automatically met. Finally, envision a storage management world where the incremental
cost of storing information is as low as the cost of incremental capacity. That is our vision
of information lifecycle management.
The characteristics of a “self-aware” information lifecycle management
implementation include:
..
Complete alignment of IT and business processes based on sophisticated service
level management processes
..
A self-correcting policy engine treating all data as objects, with infinite granularity,
and with actions based on business rules
..
Transparent, automated resource management, with automated and pervasive
discovery, providing a “living” model of the storage infrastructure and its linkages
to business processes
..
Integration of information quality management, content management, security,
data protection, archive, and storage optimization
..
Virtualized, resilient, self-healing, self-provisioning, and self-balancing storage
infrastructure; not representing a tiered architecture, but a continuum of performance
options available on a “pay per use” basis
A “self-aware” information lifecycle management implementation is dependent on the
convergence of several technologies and processes. Perhaps the most significant is the
convergence of content management and file-based storage optimization. Today content
management vendors are focused on consolidating islands of archive applications into a
7 WHITE PAPER
Information lifecycle management maturity model
Information lifecycle
management (ILM) maturity
action plan
..
Complete a self-assessment of
your organization’s information
lifecycle management maturity
Advice for reactive stage
organizations:
..
Focus on IT and business
alignment — storage resource
management is key to building
and maintaining a model linking
storage infrastructure to
business process
..
Consolidation of archive and
content strategies — with a clear
vision of future integration with
other ILM services
..
Data protection stability and
reliability must be provided
..
Storage optimization will likely
yield significant benefits
vertical application (not unlike what backup vendors have been doing for the past decade).
This is driven by the need to do discovery across all of an organization’s archives, in support
of compliance. Generally, content management suppliers haven’t even begun to think about
infrastructure optimization of the soon-to-be-consolidated archives. After uncoordinated,
decentralized archives are consolidated into centralized archive implementations, we
expect the next step will be to provide automated, tiered implementations for content.
This convergence will eventually make content management an information lifecycle
management service.
A more subtle dependency is the convergence of information lifecycle management and the
general group of disciplines we will call “information science.” Information science deals
with the use and reuse of information, its quality, taxonomy, and automated abstraction.
Advanced information lifecycle management is closely integrated with such issues, and will
help to fulfill the promise of actually managing information as a business asset.
Finally, adaptive storage technology needs to develop further to realize the potential of
information lifecycle management. Flexible, adaptive storage is a clear prerequisite of
advanced information lifecycle management.
Summary
Action plan
In the near term, depending on where you are in the deployment of an information
lifecycle management strategy, there are several actions that will increase your benefit
from information lifecycle management. One of the clear conclusions from our initial
testing of the information lifecycle management maturity model is that IT and business
alignment is the most important indicator of maturity. A first step (and the reason why
we are presenting this model) is to complete an initial high-level information lifecycle
management assessment. Make sure you have a clear understanding of where you are
and where you are going.
We have documented the information lifecycle management maturity model in considerably
more detail than is presented in this introductory white paper. We are also working to
develop an assessment questionnaire to help organizations self-assess their stage of maturity.
Based on our assumption that the majority of organizations are in a reactive state, we can
provide some generic recommendations.
1. Generally, organizations in a reactive state will require a closer linkage between
their business and IT processes. Several public resources, such as ITIL and COBIT, are
available to support IT process development and further this objective. Additionally,
several providers of professional services have offerings that are intended to close the
IT/business gap.
A solid alignment depends on a clear understanding of the resources available and their
linkage to applications and business processes. This appears close to impossible without
a good resource management solution.
2. Archive and retention management is also a probable candidate for focus. Reactive
organizations are likely to have begun the consolidation of archives and are likely to
be in the midst of evaluating enterprise-wide content management solutions. A key
consideration is recognizing that eventually you will want to integrate your content
management solutions with your other information lifecycle management services.
3. Clearly, if your data protection strategies do not have consistent results, or if you are
not cost-effective in meeting service requirements, a need to focus on solving those
8 WHITE PAPER
Information lifecycle management maturity model
Information lifecycle
management (ILM) maturity
model benefits
The information lifecycle
management maturity model:
..
Provides a roadmap describing a
vision and a path to it, to provide
that current initiatives help to
build a solid foundation
..
Provides an assessment model
to check the IT investment
portfolio and provide that
investments are optimized
problems is obvious. Again, solving them with a view of the future of information
lifecycle management will pay off as you begin to integrate data protection with
security, retention management and content.
4. Depending on your current infrastructure and storage management tool set, a storage
optimization initiative will likely yield significant benefit, and will build a foundation for
other information lifecycle management initiatives. Again, look to the future to verify
your infrastructure will support deeper integration of data protection, retention
management, and content.
Benefits
Our purpose in building the information lifecycle management maturity model is to clarify
a roadmap for advancing information lifecycle management. We have hypothesized that a
significant number of organizations are in a reactive state and are likely frustrated with the
amount of “buzz” surrounding this subject.
While our vision of advanced ILM is currently impossible, the individual steps along the way
will yield strong business benefits. Further, we commit to quantifying those benefits as part
of the ongoing development of this model.
The information lifecycle management maturity model will provide a roadmap and an
assessment approach to help make sure that current efforts build a solid foundation
for the future, and help to optimize current investment.
For perspective, one only has to look back a few years and remember the cost and
frustration associated with early client/server implementations. Eventually, as an
industry we figured out what worked and what didn’t, and the tools, processes and
technologies matured to the point where we now take client/server for granted.
Achieving the long-term benefits of a fully mature ILM strategy is dependent on taking the
right foundational steps in the context of a long-term vision, and many organizations are
making those decisions in the near term. The information lifecycle management maturity
model will help organizations avoid the pitfalls that generally accompany new technology
implementations, and will help organizations to gain solid business benefit from
information lifecycle management — today.
Sun Microsystems, Inc. 4150 Network Circle, Santa Clara, CA 95054 USA Phone 1-650-960-1300 or 1-800-555-9SUN Web sun.com
©2005 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All right reserved. Sun, Sun Microsystems, and the Sun logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.
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