Final Thoughts The information in this book represents my view of the current state of thinking on this topic. I have done my best to think through all that I have seen in this space. Database archiving is a new topic for data management. The vendors are new, IT departments are new, and the data archivists are tackling their first applications. The field is far from mature. Much is left to be learned from these early experiences. It could be that some of the lessons will not surface for years, since we have no experience in dealing with old data. The data archived today will take some years to grow old enough to expose some of the flaws in current thinking. I doubt that the requirements for database archiving will change. Certainly the laws will not get softer. Enforcement of the existing laws will only become more strict. If anything, having a smooth-running, efficient practice might encourage enterprises to keep data longer. It could also increase the types of data enter- prises choose to keep in an archiving platform. I predict that all medium-size to