Managing information for extended periods of time is a common problem for businesses today. In fact, many organizations increasingly suffer from "information blindness" with regards to key information assets that need to be managed, kept and utilized for extended periods of time. A lack of broader understanding in this area creates uncertainty and information risk. A good example is email where organizations are often unaware of its relevancy to specific business processes, the level of compliance it forces on organizations and the proliferation of risk and cost that ensues through its management. This article addresses what ILM originally set out to achieve, what it is today and what the real world requirements are for it long term.