Policy manager software (policy managers) provides the guidelines that dictate which data to store, where to store it, when to move it and, finally, when to dispose of the data once it's aged.

Policy managers must support a wide range of data types including structured data such as databases and email, unstructured data such as documents and rich media, and semi-structured data such as spreadsheets. Policy managers also rely on heterogeneity to support an assortment of storage tiers and systems, automatically moving data from Tier 1 to Tier 2 and finally to archival storage over time. The software must also scale to accommodate huge numbers of files across hundreds of terabytes of storage, and to maintain records of every activity to address compliance needs.