Successful Information Lifecycle Management strategies require Trust, Responsibility and Partnership

Iceland. Are you visualizing images of glaciers and rugged terrain – or – an advanced paperless society? Today the country of Iceland offers a neutral, central location, along with a national philosophy of understanding the intrinsic value of information. Due to the immense amount of planning and foresight by the government, Iceland now enjoys a paperless, cashless, society where an individual can purchase a new car with the swipe of a credit card – everything is automatically arranged including the payment for the car, taxes, license and registration. Data Islandia employees put this national philosophy and expertise work across the globe.

Data Islandia is cooperatively integrated with the Icelandic national infrastructure for telephonic transmission, submarine cables systems, and environmentally-positive electricity generation. They operate a biometrically-secure primary facility and multiple redundant data centers throughout Iceland.

Solution Summary
Company:	Data Íslandia Reykjavik, Iceland
Industry:	Archival storage, digital assets management, consulting
Challenges and Pain Points:	§ Anticipating exponential growth § Security § Knowledge § Regulatory environment
Solution:	§ Vendor consistency § Full-spectrum ILM § Client integration § Research and training
Benefits:	§ National infrastructure integration § Extensive integration for complex organizations § Stability and security § Proven long-term archival capacity § Very low electrical costs § Socio-geographic advantages of Iceland § 50 years of operations

For more than 53 years, Data Islandia has offered exceptional digital asset management expertise, meeting the long-term needs of complex transnational enterprises and governments. They provide international archival services for sensitive digital information under stringent security and privacy requirements. These innovative services are implemented using ILM based strategies for securing the client’s assets.

Assumption: ILM is chaos management

Data Islandia clients represent a wide variety of industries including petroleum, transnational finance, pharmaceuticals, research and government – but they all have common complex data management needs. Each client has unique legal and corporate governance requirements that require constant risk assessment and flexibility regarding organizational and technology evolution. The approach to developing a successful ILM strategy for each client includes addressing at a high-level, the same challenges:

1. Extensive research and Data Classification – “Data archival services” may sound passive, but a better description may be “active storage management”. The client’s content and how it is classified determines the appropriate approach to online storage and archive. Constant risk assessment, analysis and review is essential.

2. Definition and cooperative integration of appropriate storage media and formats - The goal is to establish a solutions strategy for short- and long-term operations, implement the strategy, and then periodically review success with both the client’s senior management and technical staff.

3. Cost-containment and insuring effective ROI – Understanding the needs of transnational operations, along with proactively anticipating regulatory requirements is an expertise that represents a positive contribution to the bottom line.

Data Islandia personnel have found that instituting a thoughtful, collaborative methodology to developing an ILM strategy brings the chaos found today in complex data centers, under control.

Measuring the success of ILM

Like many long-term relationships, ILM strategy success is measured incrementally. Designing an operational strategy specific to the needs of complex organizational structures demands proactive communications and accurate situational reporting. The ability to anticipate and adapt to the needs of security, governance, regulatory, and budget are the most significant factors in measuring success.

By constructing an appropriate business relationship with their clients, Data Islandia approaches ILM as a business solution that must be proactive and flexible. It is not unlike buying insurance – it is risk management with a complex equation. Technicians should not be expected to interpret constantly changing compliance regulations. Developing a sound ILM strategy is a giant step in the right direction of insuring that an organization’s information does not become a liability.