Data lineage can be described as a historical map of data’s journey within an organization. Use cases, in general, provide an example of how services or techniques can be used, and data lineage use cases are situations in which a form of data lineage can be used. Data lineage tools make tracking the data’s lineage […]
A Brief History of Data Modeling
Data Modeling is the “act” of creating a data model (physical, logical, conceptual, etc.) and includes defining and determining an organization’s data needs and goals. The act of Data Modeling defines not just data elements, but also the structures they form and the relationships between them. Developing a data model requires the data modelers to work […]
Data Observability: What It Is and Why It Matters
As a process, data observability is used by businesses working with massive amounts of data. Many large, modern organizations try to monitor their data using a variety of applications and tools. Unfortunately, few businesses develop the visibility necessary for a realistic overview. Data observability provides that overview, to eliminate data flow problems as quickly as […]
Data Cataloging Tools
Data cataloging tools work with data catalogs to make them more efficient. Data catalogs typically come with tools included as part of the data catalog package. The tools included with data catalogs have been developed to support data quality, analytics, and compliance with data privacy regulations. Unfortunately, the number of independently sourced tools for data […]
A Brief History of the Data Warehouse
A data warehouse stores data from in-house systems and various outside sources. Data warehouses are designed to support the decision-making process through data collection, consolidation, analytics, and research. They can be used in analyzing a specific subject area, such as “sales,” and are an important part of modern business intelligence. The architecture for data warehouses was […]
Making the Business Case for AI
Having made the suggestion the organization you work for needs artificial intelligence (AI) to support future growth, you are now required to make a presentation to the board of directors and convince senior leadership to invest in AI. Below are a few key considerations to consider while making the business case for AI. In terms […]
Types of Databases and Their Uses
There are several types of databases, and their differing designs process data in different ways. Providing access to information is the primary purpose of a database. They can be used for a variety of tasks, ranging from storing photos to buying items online to analyzing marketing and sales data. Large amounts of information can be […]
4 Common Data Integration Challenges
The ability to integrate data successfully into a single platform can be a challenge. Well-integrated data makes it easy for the appropriate staff to access and work with it. Poorly integrated data creates problems. Data integration can be described as the process of collecting data from a variety of sources and transforming it into a format compatible […]
Structured vs. Unstructured Data: An Overview
Structured data and unstructured data are both forms of data, but the first uses a single standardized format for storage, and the second does not. Structured data must be appropriately formatted (or reformatted) to provide a standardized data format before being stored, which is not a necessary step when storing unstructured data. The relational database […]
A Brief History of Business Intelligence
In 1865, Richard Millar Devens presented the phrase “Business Intelligence” (BI) in the “Cyclopædia of Commercial and Business Anecdotes.” He used it to describe how Sir Henry Furnese, a banker, profited from information by gathering and acting on it before his competition. More recently, in 1958, an article was written by an IBM computer scientist […]