Longer time required to backup data, but the window keeps shrinking. Storage performance does not meet requirements. Low utilization of existing assets; for example, in open environments, storage utilization rates of around 30 percent are quite typical. Manual processes causing potential business risk due to errors. Regulatory requirements dictate long-term retention for certain data. Inability to achieve backup/recovery/accessibility objectives for critical data. Inability to grow the support staff to keep up with the demand for storage management in an increasingly complex environment. Multiple backup and restore approaches and processes. Storage management requirements not well defined. In response to these, it is necessary to define specific objectives to support and improve information management: Control demand for storage and create policies for allocation. Reduce hardware, software. and storage personnel costs. Improve personnel efficiency, optimizing system and productivity. Define and enforce policies to manage the lifecycle of data. Define and implement the appropriate storage strategy to address current and future business requirements. In the next section, we describe the major ILM solution components and how they can help you to overcome these challenges, and propose an ILM assessment for planning and design.