A data catalog inventories and makes critical datasets available through metadata management. This platform informs businesspeople about what dataset assets exist and are related, where to find them, when they appeared, who created them, and how to access them, among other insights. As centralized repositories, data catalogs aim to be relevant to users across an organization, […]
What Is a Data Strategy? Components and Uses
A Data Strategy is a reliable touchstone created by an organization for businesspeople to apply when confronting challenges in executing data activities to meet or support a business strategy. It offers direction when generating, updating, storing, and consuming data to better perform these tasks. Managers use a Data Strategy to plan, assess, and synchronize data […]
What Is Data Architecture? Components and Uses
Data Architecture describes the infrastructure that connects a Business Strategy and Data Strategy with technical execution. Ideally, Data Architecture happens within a systematic framework, providing a foundation for people and systems to work with data. Three types of components underlie the architecture infrastructure and connect to drive insights, make data-driven decisions, and manage risk. They include: Specific examples of […]
What Is Data Management? Definition, Benefits, Uses
Data Management (DM) comprises a comprehensive collection of consistent and responsible practices, concepts, and processes. These resources align data for business success and implement a Data Strategy. Additionally, they span long-term, abstract planning to hands-on, day-to-day data activities. Since DM spans many outcomes, behaviors, and activities throughout the data lifecycle, companies find organizing it into a framework helpful. […]
What Is Data Modeling? Types, Benefits, Uses
Data Modeling describes the plans and activities around diagramming data requirements for business operations across one or more systems. This blueprint defines unique data entities (such as tables, systems, concepts, and hubs) and their characteristics (such as inheritance, importance, and physical structures) along with how the data flows between entities. Organizations create or update data models anytime, depending […]
What Is Data Quality? Dimensions, Benefits, Uses
Data Quality (DQ) describes the degree of business and consumer confidence in data’s usefulness based on agreed-upon business requirements. These expectations evolve based on changing contexts in the marketplace. As people get new information and experience different interactions, business requirements face updating, redefining Data Quality needs within the data’s lifespan. Since DQ represents a moving […]
What Is a Data Warehouse?
A data warehouse is a centralized repository that stores and provides decision-support data and aids workers engaged in reporting, query, and analysis. Data warehouses represent architected data schemas that make it easy to find relevant data consistently and research details in a stable environment. Data sources, including data lakes, can pipe data to a data warehouse. […]
Developing a Data Strategy Template
Organizations want a solid and usable Data Strategy template – a well-thought-out plan for a set of decisions that form a pattern, charting a high-level course of action – but face challenges. For example, only 30% of companies have impactful data strategies that align with some operations, resulting in wasted investments in improving analytics and business insights. Instead, most […]
What Is Data Governance? Definition, Types, Uses
Data Governance (DG) is a business program and bedrock that supports harmonized data activities across the organization. It accomplishes this goal as a formalized framework implemented to the specifications of a corporate Data Strategy. Applying governance, as a whole, requires connecting different components – such as roles, processes, communications, metrics, and tools – to increase the likelihood that the […]
Understanding Data Mesh Principles
ThoughtWorks consultant Zhamak Dehghani defines data mesh as a “decentralized sociotechnical approach to sharing, accessing, and managing analytical data in complex and large-scale environments – within or across organizations.” This type of Data Architecture continues to generate interest among corporations, and data professionals will need to become familiar with data mesh architectures, such as those with data lakes or warehouses. […]