"Previously, [the] service level was inherited," said Raymond Ngai, manager, IT infrastructure at HKJC. "We did not have a clear defined service level and users assumed a certain service level, ignoring the cost associated with that service level."

To help users understand the technical requirements of their data, a relationship manager from the IT shop was also sent to different business units to help translate that business requirement into the technical service level.

"The biggest challenge [in ILM implementation] is classification of data," added Sargeant. "It takes a lot of time to understand the information within the organization because it sits across many stakeholders."

It is not only a very time-consuming exercise, but could also be political, since business units often see their information far more important then the others. "Somebody [must act as] arbitrator to decide who has the most important data," he said.

Seeking outside help, or not