How Using Data Lineage Can Benefit Business Operations

 

Every portion of your organization benefits from timely and precise data that can be analyzed to make proper business decisions. Decisions made using the backing of data analysis provide a solid spine from which to propel your business forward with more efficiency and better customer engagement and satisfaction. Data lineage is crucial in maintaining data integrity, so those decisions are made from accurate data pools.

What Is Data Lineage?

 

Data lineage is an ongoing process that examines data from its inception and throughout its life cycle. Data is examined and documented from its entry, at its storage, in any updates or revisions, as some data is deleted and as it is used and altered. The employees who are authorized to access, change, or enter the data are documented. The rules and procedures for employee interactions with the data are also documented. Data lineage services create metadata that is an accurate picture of how data is created, used, altered, and removed throughout your data pipeline.

 

Tracks the Source of Data Errors

 

If a database in your system becomes corrupted, you need to track the source of the problem. Possibly errors were introduced in a data migration or system update. There could have been errors in the data entry process. Data could have been erroneously changed during your customer service or sales department’s interactions with customers. Even worse, your data could have been purposefully sabotaged. Data lineage tools provide your enterprise with a means of accurately and quickly tracking and eliminating data errors, so you can make business decisions with the backing of data that is valid.

 

Engenders Trust in Data Integrity for Analytic Purposes

 

If your data is not accurate, you lose out on the capability to make rapid business decisions with data analytics. Having data lineage tools provides automation to the process of maintaining the integrity and quality of your data.

 

Speeds and Augments Disaster Recovery Efforts

 

In the event your business suffers through a disaster, having data lineage tools in place will speed up and aid your recovery process in getting your business back up and running.

 

Aids in Regulatory Compliance

 

Data lineage tools make it easier for organizations to lessen the risk of data theft, audit the data trail, and provide compliance with regulatory agency rules for the storage and processing of sensitive customer data. There are already regulations in place in the European Union as well as in states in the United States, such as California, that require strict compliance with data storage standards. This trend will likely only increase over time as more data breaches occur with personal data. If you have data lineage tools in place, it is far less expensive and easier to comply with such government regulations as well as find and root out data snooping.

 

Automates Metadata Gathering

 

Once you have data lineage tools in place, the tools automate the gathering of new metadata, even if your systems or sources of data change over time.

 

Adding data lineage tools to your data governance system provides a means of maintaining data integrity. When data has been corrupted or unauthorized actors have stolen data, data lineage tools make it easier to quickly root out the cause of the problems and restore the data, so your organization can begin analyzing the data again as a trusted source of decision-making. Data lineage tools also make regulatory compliance with data privacy laws an easier and faster process.