One of the common misconceptions about tape management is that everybody manages their tapes in exactly the same way. While there may be some commonality to the way most people manage their tapes, there is always some twist that makes each enterprise unique.

It is also rare for each enterprise to have a full comprehension of how tapes are being managed, and even where there are written SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures), it is usual for the actual processes to adhere exactly to the SOP.

To make matters worse, each tape management stake-holder often has a different perspective of who is managing, what, from where, and with what tools. There is also often a misconception of what the various tools in the backup/tape management tool chain do.