A recent IDC study reveals that despite a shrinking economy at the end of 2008, the amount of data generated was 487 billion gigabytes, and the "Digital Universe" is expected to double in size every 18 months, resulting in a 5-fold increase in data over the next four years. For many organizations, this data is being stored on tape systems that represent a significant investment but offer decreasing visibility as data volumes grow. Read this paper to learn about a proactive tape storage management approach that automatically monitors tape library, tape drive and media performance, and provides real-time alerting and reporting capabilities. It describes a vendor-agnostic, platform-neutral, comprehensive assessment for tape storage systems that features recommendations to maximize existing resources, avoid unnecessary expenditures and ensure compliance requirements are met.