[1] This practice originated from managing information in physical forms such as paper, microfilm, negatives, photographs, audio and video recordings[2][citation needed].
A definition published on October at the Storage Networking World conference in Orlando, Florida, stated that "ILM consists 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.
Policies are dictated by business goals and drivers, tying into a framework of overall IT governance and management; change control processes; requirements for system availability and recovery times; and service level agreements (SLAs).
[clarification needed][10] Use or Consumption occurs after internal distribution and involves applying information to support business decisions, document actions, or serve other organizational purposes.
The transfer process encompasses responding to requests, retrieving data from records, and granting access to authorized users.
Disposition is the process of handling information that is accessed infrequently or has reached the end of its retention period.
Although some information retains long-term value, most records lose relevance over time, with their highest value occurring shortly after creation.
Regular conversion and migration of electronic records help maintain accessibility for required retention periods.