Isn’t ILM just a synonym for Hierarchical Storage Management System (HSM)?

Thursday, July 12th, 2018

Not at all, in the beginning, SAP ILM was strongly driven by the storage industry and often used as a synonym for HSM.

However this would be a very narrow definition of SAP ILM.

Although SAP ILM is partially made possible through technological innovation, it is a holistic approach to managing complex relationships and requirements on information. It is a mixture of processes, strategy, and technology, which are all used together to manage information across its entire lifecycle. Since data is commonly born in a business application, SAP ILM should start there, at the birthplace. Likewise, since the end of the information lifecycle often takes place in a storage system, SAP ILM should also span this media.

SAP ILM means from cradle to grave, from application to storage system.