Elasticsearch 7.5.0 introduced enhancements to its Index Lifecycle Management (ILM) that allow users to control phase transition timings by using the origination date, which specifies how old the data is rather than when it was indexed. This is particularly useful for data that arrives in Elasticsearch later than its creation, enabling more accurate lifecycle management. The feature is implemented through two settings: `index.lifecycle.parse_origination_date` and `index.lifecycle.origination_date`, which let ILM calculate index age based on the origination date. By configuring these settings, users can manage data lifecycle policies more precisely, such as making indexes read-only after a certain period and deleting them when they become irrelevant. These configurations enable better alignment of data and index ages, allowing for a unified lifecycle process for datasets that include both new and older data.