On the one hand, information life cycle management – ILM for short — is a comprehensive approach to managing the flow of data and associated metadata from creation and initial storage to the time when it becomes obsolete and is destroyed.

On the other hand, ILM may be just the latest example of a buzzword that hasn’t quite move beyond the hype cycle.

In this podcast, I’ll explore what ILM is, why it’s relevant and why full adoption and implementation of the technology hasn’t been universal.

 

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Once you’ve listened to the podcast, learn more about ILM in the following stories, learning resources and white papers, several of which are cited during the episode.

Articles and learning resources:

Q&A: How does file archiving differ from HSM and ILM solutions?
- Greg Schulz

The SNIA XAM Initiative
The SNIA XAM Initiative to drive adoption of its forthcoming eXtensible Access Method (XAM) specification.

Information Lifecycle Management Course List
Sun Microsystems and Deloitte have joined forces to create a series of self-paced courses that reflect best practices for Information Life Cycle Management (ILM) across the enterprise and address regulatory compliance.

Solving information life-cycle management challenges
- Claudia Shandra

Does EMC’s ILM strategy really solve complexity?
- Beth Pariseau

The new buzzwords: Information lifecycle management
- Steve Duplessie, Nancy Marrone, Steve Kenniston

White papers:

The Roadmap to Implementing ILM (PDF)
The ILMI’s paper describes their vision for the various phases of implementing ILM.

Vision for the Future of ILM
In this white paper, you’ll read about the SNIA’s Data Management Forum (DMF) perspective on the evolution of ILM.

How to Simplify Information Management through Advanced Storage Consolidation
A number of technologies and approaches are available to IT organizations looking for new and innovative ways to deal with storage capacity growth and compliance demands. This white paper provides key insights to achieve a unified storage.

Practical Steps toward Information Lifecycle Management
In this paper by the Clipper Group, you’ll get current, practical advice on how your organization can implement an ILM strategy - from discovery of your information assets - to actively managing data over its lifecycle.

What is enterprise search? Why is it important? Why are major software firms and Internet giants chasing market leadership in enterprise search so intently? What is making enterprise search such a hot buzzword in IT? You’ll learn the answers to these questions – and more – in this podcast.

While articulating the concept is a challenge, choosing software, architecture, user requirements, testing and maintenance is even harder. Learn more about key considerations for anyone evaluating implementing enterprise search in this podcast.

 

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Once you’ve listened to the podcast, make sure to read the following excellent articles for more information about enterprise search:

Enterprise search platforms: Seven evaluation tips (SearchDataManagement.com)
Enterprise search platforms are a far cry from simple search engines. An IDC analyst and an experienced information expert share tips for evaluating enterprise search technology.

Oracle Secure Enterprise Search 10g gets overhaul (SearchOracle.com)
Oracle wants to make a name for itself in the highly competitive and quickly growing enterprise search market.

Can SAP enterprise search succeed in a crowded market? (SearchSAP.com)
SAP’s enterprise search offering will enter a competitive market when it is released later this year.

SAP melds enterprise search with business accelerator (SearchSAP.com)
SAP showcased new enterprise search capabilities, but users say more information is needed before enterprise search would be widely deployed.

Solix unveils Google enterprise search for Oracle E-Business suite (SearchOracle.com)
New archiving software from Solix Technologies Inc. adds Google enterprise search capabilities to Oracle’s E-Business suite.

In information technology, the term dashboard refers to a graphical user interface (GUI) that organizes and presents information in a format that is easy to read and interpret. An executive dashboard is a computer interface that displays the information corporate officers need to effectively run an enterprise. To gain more insight into dashboards, WhatIs.com’s Alex Howard interviewed the CEO of iDashboards, Shadan Malik.

In this podcast, you will learn the answers to the following questions:

• What are the key features of a effective dashboard?
• What are the most commonly used – and useful – metrics you see displayed in dashboards?
• What do you feel are the key points that an executive or organization should consider prior to choosing any dashboard application?
• What is the process of implementing an executive dashboard?
• How should an organization choose its metrics?
• What technologies are typically used in the building of dashboards?
• What are the barriers to adoption?
• What needs aren’t met by current versions of executive dashboards?
• How do you create more utility than just a display? Are many executive dashboards just “flashboards?”
• How do you deal with transparency and different levels of access from the CEO, CIO on down to managers, associates, clients and customers?
• Can dashboards be fooled, spoofed or hacked by a third party?
• Implementing business intelligence (BI) tools is one of the top priorities for CIOs in 2007, with revenue growing up to 2.5 billion this year, according to Gartner. Why choose a dashboard instead of so-called “scorecard” technology?
• How is the demand for data from mobile workers changing? Is there a trend emerging for “ubiquitous BI” from smartphone-equipped workers?
• Many companies – 64% according to Ventana Research – choose to build their own dashboards rather than buy software. Why use a third party product?

 

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iSCSI is an Internet Protocol-based storage networking standard for linking data storage facilities. In this short podcast, you will learn how iSCI works.

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