Data Lifecycle Management (DLM) can be defined as the different stages that the data traverses throughout its life from the time of inception to destruction. Data lifecycle stages encompass creation, utilization, sharing, storage, and deletion. Each stage of the data life cycle is controlled through a different set of policies that control data protection, resiliency, and regulatory compliance.
Companies rely on different types of data to generate and grow revenue, create new market opportunities, and compete in the marketplace. The limitless potential of data can be harnessed by focusing on data protection, data security, data resiliency, and compliance. Data can be treated like any other physical asset in a company and plays a key role in the business decision-making process.
It is common to hear Data lifecycle Management referred to as Information Lifecycle Management (ILM), however, they are not synonymous and there is a subtle difference between the two. DLM refers to raw data that is either stored in a relational-database or NoSQL database. It could be both structured and unstructured data. ILM refers to a tangible piece of information that is constructed using one or more pieces of data and its associated metadata. For example, the different stages that a purchase order goes through from the time it is created, fulfilled, invoiced, archived, and finally destroyed can be referred to as ILM. Multiple pieces of raw data from different data silos that constitute the purchase order and the stages that data will grow through are referred to as DLM. It is fair to say that ILM will drive various stages of DLM as DLM cannot exist without ILM.
The cycle starts with the inception or generation of data. In today’s digital age, just about everything we do will result in the generation of some type of data. For example, Walmart collects 2.5 petabytes of unstructured data from 1 million customers every hour (DeZyre, 2015).
During its lifetime, data can be classified using a multi-temperature scale. Frequently accessed data is referred to as hot data, less-frequently accessed data is warm data and the least frequently accessed data is cold data. Data classification typically depends on business rules and can vary from company to company.
The number one challenge that companies face while growing and amassing data is a data breach, which means that the data must be managed effectively throughout its lifecycle. The three most important data lifecycle management goals can be categorized as follows:
Data will go through four different key phases during its lifecycle. Each phase revolves around the purpose and value of data and to whom the data is valuable. Other factors that will influence each phase include – data privacy, data security, and data compliance.
It is common for companies to generate petabytes of structured and unstructured data and have it stored in different data silos. Some of the issues that impact this data are privacy laws, data security, data ownership, data quality, legal liability, and public perception. Data governance and security solutions offered by Stealthbits can make it easy to manage the entire data lifecycle from a single-pane-of-glass. StealthAUDIT can discover all the structured and unstructured data silos, both on-premise and in the cloud. It also provides detailed reports on data access permissions, sensitive data discovery classification,and database vulnerability assessments. It will also help in remediating any adverse findings.
To learn more about how Stealthbits can help with your data lifecycle management needs, visit our website: https://www.stealthbits.com/solutions
Sujith Kumar has over 25 years of professional experience in the IT industry. Sujith has been extensively involved in designing and delivering innovative solutions for the Fortune 500 companies in the United States and across the globe for disaster recovery and high availability preparedness initiatives. Recently after leaving Quest Software/Dell after 19 years of service he was working at Cirro, Inc. focusing on database management and security. His main focus and area of interest is anything data related.
Sujith has a Master of Science in engineering degree from Texas A&M University and a Bachelor of Science in engineering degree from Bangalore University and has published several articles in referred journals and delivered presentations at several events.
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[…] its life, data is frequently classified according to a multi-temperature scale. The hot data is the most accessed, which needs to be replaced occasionally for decreased […]