Short for information lifecycle management, the creation and management of a storage infrastructure and the data that it maintains. All information, or data, in a storage network has a specific lifecycle, from the time the information enters an organization's system to the time it is archived or removed from the system. The information may have a finite lifecycle—where the data are eventually removed from a storage network when the information becomes outdated or no longer needed—or an infinite lifecycle if the information remains valuable to the organization retaining it.

• The creation and/or acquisition of the data – information comes into the organization either by being created by one or more individuals or by being acquired through e-mails, faxes, letters, phone calls, etc.
  
• The publication of the data – some information needs to be published, either in print form or on a company's intranet or a public Web site.
  
• The retention and/or removal of the data – some information must be archived for later use, and some information has a finite purpose and can be discarded once it has served its purpose or is no longer valuable to the organization.