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INFORMATION LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Index of FAQs
General ILM Questions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. What is Information Lifecycle Management (ILM)? What are the main components of ILM from SAP? How is ILM from SAP set up and what purposes does it serve? What is the difference between data management and ILM? Isnt ILM just a synonym for Hierarchical or Tiered Storage Management System? Is ILM a one-time event that will take care of all information issues in my system? Why is it so important to understand the difference between data and information? Can deletion and destruction of data be used interchangeably? What is the roadmap for the ILM solution from SAP and when will it be available? How can I get ILM from SAP and what does it cost?

ILM and Traditional Data Archiving 1. Our company has been using SAPs standard data archiving for years. Do we have to replace data archiving with ILM now? 2. Does ILM from SAP imply that in the foreseeable future a customer will have two storage access methods? 3. 4. Is ILM from SAP available for all archiving objects? What is ILM-Aware Storage?

ILM and Relationship to Other SAP and non-SAP Products 1. 2. 3. How does ILM from SAP relate or compare to Enterprise Content Management (ECM)? How does the reseller agreement with OpenText fit into the picture? How does ILM from SAP relate or compare to SAP Records Management?

General ILM Questions

1. What is Information Lifecycle Management (ILM)?
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. Information is aligned with business processes through the management of policies and service levels associated with applications, metadata, information, and data.

2. What are the main components of ILM from SAP?

ILM from SAP is made up of three pillars: data archiving/data management, retention management, and retention warehouse (Figure 1). Data archiving involves traditional functions and tool sets used to remove data from closed business processes from the database and storing it on inexpensive long-term storage. The focus of data archiving is data volume management. Retention management deals with the end-of-life of data, and involves newly developed functions focusing on retention policy management, ILM-aware storage, destruction, as well as legal case managementthe umbrella term for legal hold management and automated e-Discovery support. Retention warehouse represents a standardized process for system decommissioning and involves enhanced archiving and snapshot programs for emptying out the system to be shut down. It also offers BI integration and predefined tax content, so that customers can continue to use the data from the decommissioned system for reporting purposes, even though the original system has been shut down.

Figure 1: The Cornerstones of ILM Data Archiving, Retention Management, and Retention Warehouse

3. How is ILM from SAP set up and what purposes does it serve?
ILM from SAP integrates several aspects and answers different pain points. Its purpose is to provide retention management functions for structured data and directly related unstructured data in different end-of-life scenarios. With the components of the three cornerstones you can manage retention policies, legal hold scenarios, gain e-discovery support, or manage the decommissioning of legacy systems. For end-to-end ILM, SAP provides a special ILMenhanced and certifiable WebDAV interface which connects to WORM-like storage media. This ensures that the retention constraints are enforced also on the archived data or data from your decommissioned system.

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Figure 1, ILM from SAP: Components and Business Scenario

4. What is the difference between data management and ILM?

The two are closely related, but are not the same thing. The focus of data management is mainly cost related and deals with reducing data volumes, regardless of the contents of that data. It involves four basic approaches for keeping data volumes in check: prevention, aggregation, deletion, archiving. To be able to implement an ILM strategy you need a good data management strategy as a basis. The purpose of ILM is to achieve a good balance between TCO, risk, and legal compliance. So in addition to managing data volumes, ILM also manages data retention requirements, including such things as the final destruction of information. ILM is the sum of all of these measures.

5. Isnt ILM just a synonym for Hierarchical or Tiered Storage Management System?
No, at the beginning, ILM was strongly driven by the storage industry and often used as a synonym for tiered storage or Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM). This would be a very narrow definition of ILM. Although 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 life cycle. Since data is commonly born in a business application, ILM should start there, at the birthplace. Likewise, since the end of the information life cycle often takes place in a storage system, ILM should also span this realm. ILM means from cradle to grave and from application to storage system.

6. Is ILM a one-time event that will take care of all information issues in my system?
No, ILM is an ongoing strategy and process that has to be established within a company. It can be viewed as a change in company culture, and involves all departments and areas, not just IT. Much of ILM happens outside the system and has to do with communication between the different departments in your organization. The good news is that many of the processes involved in ILM are becoming more automated and are increasingly being supported by new technological developments offered through the new ILM solution from SAP.

7. Why is it so important to understand the difference between data and information?

Data is the physical representation of information in any form. It could be a piece of paper containing information or a data unit in a computer system. Data is a technical concept (extensional), while information is an abstract notion (intentional). The importance of distinguishing between the two in the context of ILM becomes apparent when you consider the following ideas: Information can be stored redundantly as different data. Disposing of data does not necessarily mean that you have lost or destroyed information.

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Data can only become an asset if it is interpretable. In an ILM strategy it is not sufficient to simply delete data. You have to think about the information you want to destroy and then delete all the necessary data carrying that information. This is also key in trying to interpret legal requirements. Often times a law will dictate that you destroy data after a certain number of years (e.g. employee data). What is really meant, though, is that you are to destroy the information about that person.

8. Can deletion and destruction of data be used interchangeably?

No, in the context of ILM deletion and destruction are two different concepts. When we talk about the deletion of data, we mean the physical deletion of a technical unit in the system. When we talk about the final destruction of information, we mean the deletion of all data records and their references, so that certain information or its existence can never be discovered again. For example, when data is archived, it is written to the file system and then deleted from the database. It can still be accessed and viewed in its archived state. The final destruction of this information would mean deleting the archive file and all indexes on it, as well as copies of it in the system, including change documents, related messages, etc. Final destruction may also involve the deletion of this information in the SAP NetWeaver Business Information Warehouse.

9. What is the roadmap for the ILM solution from SAP and when will it be available?
The first version of ILM from SAP will be available to ramp-up customers in mid-2008. General availability is planned for the end of 2008 beginning of 2009.

10. How can I get ILM from SAP and what does it cost?
ILM from SAP is part of SAP NetWeaver, and the first version will be available with SAP NetWeaver Enhancement Package 1. ILM from SAP is part of the official price list. Many of the initial ILM from SAP projects will be conducted with the help of SAP services, such as System Landscape Optimization (SLO). To find out more about how you can become a ramp-up customer and pricing, contact your SAP account executive or contact us under ilm@sap.com.

ILM and Traditional Data Archiving

1. Our company has been using SAPs standard data archiving for years. Do we have to replace data archiving with ILM now?
No, ILM is not a product that replaces data archiving. Rather, data archiving is one of the main pillars of ILM from SAP. If you have a data archiving strategy in place, you already have a very good basis for ILM. You can start from there and gradually work your way towards a full-fledged ILM strategy.

2. Does ILM from SAP imply that in the foreseeable future a customer will have two storage access methods?
ILM from SAP covers mainly the retention management of structured data, but provides a method to also handle the retention management of the related unstructured data (such as a scanned invoice directly related to a financial document in the application). The storage of structured data takes place using the WebDAV protocol (Figure 1) (for a general explanation of WebDAV see www.webdav.org). Here the structured data is moved to a hierarchy in the ILMaware storage system via a certifiable interface (certification BC-ILM 2.0; see What is ILM-Aware Storage).

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Figure 1: ILM-Aware Storage Integration: Structured Data

Unstructured data, such as scanned documents and print lists, are still stored in a storage system using ArchiveLink. The storage system could be one and the same central ILM-aware storage. The unstructured data linked to structured information from the SAP application inherits the retention properties and metadata. This is achieved through a parallel hierarchy that is similar to that of the structured data. The parallel hierarchy contains the references to the actual location where the unstructured data is stored. If the storage system has ILM capabilities, then the retention properties and metadata can also be propagated to the unstructured data.

Figure 2: ILM-Aware Storage Integration: Unstructured Data

3. Is ILM from SAP available for all archiving objects?

The first version of ILM from SAP will be delivered with the top archiving objects (most commonly used archiving objects, such as FI_DOCUMNT or SD_VBAK) enabled for ILM (for ramp-up certain technical restrictions may apply. Please refer to the product documentation for details). Later on other relevant archiving objects will be enabled. It will never be necessary to enable all archiving objects for ILM, because not all of them are relevant in ILM or legal compliance scenarios.

4. What is ILM-Aware Storage?

An ILM strategy can only be complete if both the application side and the storage side are considered. Therefore, an essential part of retention management and retention warehouse at SAP is ILM-aware storage integration. ILM-aware storage means that the storage technology is able to accept the retention constraints in the form of expiration date and legal hold properties from a retention scenario in the application and enforce them (guarantee non-deletability) on the stored data. SAP has been working very closely together particularly with WORM-like technology partners to facilitate such an end-to-end scenario. It also offers a special WebDAV certification for ILM (BC-ILM 2.0), to be generally available in April 2008 that verifies the ILM-awareness of the storage technology. For more information see https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/icc Integration Scenario.

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ILM and Relationship to Other SAP and non-SAP Products

1. How does ILM from SAP relate or compare to Enterprise Content Management (ECM)?
According to AIIM, the definition of ECM is: the technologies used to capture, manage, store, preserve, and deliver content and documents related to organizational processes. ECM tools and strategies allow the management of an organization's unstructured information, wherever that information exists. Thus, ECM deals with document management, input management, output management, records management, Web content management, digital asset management, e-mail management, forms management, collaboration, case management, business process management, and search. In contrast, ILM from SAP manages the retention of primarily structured data during different stages of its life time, from the time the data is first created in the application until it is destroyed either in the application or usually in the storage system. Along this process different aspects are involved, such as retention policy management, legal holds, and ensuring that the same rules continue to apply to the data, even after it has been moved to storage (ILM-aware storage). As mentioned under What are the main components of ILM from SAP, these considerations as well as the need for reporting, also apply to data from decommissioned systems. This is also covered by ILM from SAP through the retention warehouse. Within this context, unstructured data needs to also be considered, as it is often closely linked to the structured data, for example scanned invoices, which are linked to a financial document in the SAP application. In this sense only, ILM from SAP also considers unstructured data. For example, unstructured data is stored in a similar hierarchy as the structured data and in this way inherits the metadata and retention properties from its corresponding structured data.

Figure 1, ECM Components and ILM at SAP

2. How does the reseller agreement with OpenText fit into the picture?
ILM from SAP and the OpenText products under the reseller agreement (SAP Archiving by OpenText and SAP Document Access by OpenText) both provide benefits for customers, and have complimentary areas of usage. ILM from SAP deals with the retention management of structured data and system decommissioning. Open Text deals with all aspects of managing unstructured data, including its storage. You can implement ILM from SAP if you need to: Centrally manage your retention policies Manage the retention (life cycle) of your structured data, based on these policies Manage legal holds and e-discovery operations for structured data

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Decommission SAP legacy systems on an object basis, and continue to leverage the stored data for audits and reporting purposes Automatically apply retention rules and legal holds also to the unstructured data attached to the structured information You can implement SAP Archiving by Open Text and SAP Document Access Open Text if you need to: Use comprehensive content management functions for document-centric processes, such as forms management, imaging, scanning, document management or document access via virtual folders Store unstructured data as part of this content management solution in a hardware-agnostic and heterogeneous environment Decommission non-SAP legacy systems using a print list-based method Store structured data that has been archived using SAPs standard data archiving functionality to any type of Worm or Worm-like storage via ArchiveLink

Figure 1, Business Cases: ILM from SAP vs. OpenText

OpenText offers ECM and Document Management System (DMS) tools and services for managing mainly unstructured data in an SAP environment. SAP Archiving by OpenText covers the storage of documents attached to SAP objects, including print lists, outgoing and incoming documents, desktop documents and e-mails, and mass document input. SAP Document Access by OpenText includes process-oriented grouping of content and virtual foldering. Data archiving and ILM from SAP on the other hand deal primarily with structured data and begin in the application and database of the SAP system. Here the main focuses are data volume management, retention management, legal hold management, e-discovery support and system decommissioning with capabilities for continued reporting and auditing on the decommissioned data. Data archiving aims at volume management and has clearly defined process steps in the SAP world: writing structured data from already closed business processes from the database to the file system, then deleting the data from the database. Optionally, in the store phase, the archived data can be moved to a storage system using interfaces, such as ArchiveLink. With the new ILM solution from SAP, this archiving process has been enriched to allow for an end-to-end ILM process. Now metadata and properties are passed along with the archived data to ILM-aware storage systems also through a special interface based on the WebDAV protocol. This ensures the enforcement of retention policies also on the archived data. Full-fledged ILM from SAP will be possible with ILM-aware storage technology (see What is ILM-aware storage?). WORM-like magnetic disc storage, such as EMC Centera,

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IBM DR550, HP IAP, NetApp SnapLock, or HDS HCAP is best suited for being ILM-aware, due to the high security requirements. Open Text has mentioned that they plan to support the new ILM-enhanced WebDAV interface. In the OpenText world, the term archiving is synonymous with storage. To be able to handle the storage of documents, as well as ADK files, in an SAP environment, OpenText has obtained the ArchiveLink certification. ArchiveLink is the interface between SAP and storage products, particularly for unstructured data (but also ADK files). Since OpenText supports the ArchiveLink interface its products can be leveraged for secure long-term archiving of standard data archive files in a hardware-agnostic way. OpenText also plans to obtain the BC-ILM 2.0 certification in the future. Neither ILM from SAP nor Open Text solutions are necessary for each other. Both have complimentary areas of usage. Both can be implemented in parallel, depending on the needs of the customer.

3. How does ILM from SAP relate or compare to SAP Records Management?
In the area of records management SAP offers SAP Records Management (SAP RM), and SAP Public Sector Records Management (SAP PSRM). The latter is based on SAP RM and delivers functionality and certification to the most important records management standards in the public sector but also applied in the non-public sector like DoD 5015.2 (US), TNA (UK) and DOMEA (Germany). Both records management products are shipped with SAP NetWeaver. Both products offer records, case and document management capabilities. They also offer a technical framework to integrate any information objects such as links to SAP business objects in cases and records. The usage of the term records management in the industry is different than the original usage of the word in the product naming for SAP RM. Figure 1 lists the scope of functionality included in SAP RM.
Scope of Records Management
With Records Management all information can be stored as record which is declared as record or automatic recognized as (legal) record; Records Management is only about storing of information in a certain way, not about processing information Records Managements supports automatic or manual classification (through meta data, fileplan, keyword, full text classification) of records Records Management supports access control to all records stored in Records Management Records Management supports audit trail of all records in Records Management Records Management supports the disposal process of all records in Records Management Records Management does not support case processing or any type of Workflow: I.e. Approval procesing for outgoing mail is part of Case Management but not of Records Management

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Figure 1, Usage of Records Management outside of SAP

Records Management is only concerned with the storing and retaining of information, but not with driving the business process. One way to drive the business process could be to use Case Management. The following SAP applications use SAP RM: - SAP Dispute Management in SAP ERP - SAP CRM Case Management in SAP CRM - SAP MIC (SOX compliance) in SAP ERP - SAP Government Procurement

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SAP Grants Management

Important to note, is that a records management system contains copies of structured and unstructured data, where the structured data is stored in the form of xml. In other words, data is stored redundantly. ILM from SAP offers a legal case management function, which has been developed using SAP Records and Case Management. Legal case management is used for legal hold management and e-discovery support. If, for example, your company is being sued and you are requested to freeze and provide all data involved in the lawsuit, you can create a corresponding case for the matter in Legal Case Management. You can then use special reports to search for all electronic data (in the database and in the archive) involved in the case and include references to this data in the case you created. Note that here data is not kept redundantly, because only the references to the data are included in the case. You can then place a legal hold on the required business objects based on the references.

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