As with many buzzwords emerging from the intersection of business and technology, the phrase “business intelligence” (BI) is often misunderstood. In a nutshell, it refers to the skill and practice of extracting insights from data to realize new goals, strategies, trends, and values. A business intelligence analyst, working with a network of other knowledge workers (such […]
9 Key Data Management Principles and Practices
Business leaders often make corporate decisions in haste, based on data that is neither thoroughly analyzed nor understood. This can pose a serious threat to data-driven decision-making. Additionally, businesses risk losing a competitive edge by not following important business analytics practices. To get the full benefit of data-centric activities, businesses must follow several core Data […]
Are Data Scientists Needed in the Self-Service Analytics World?
As the world becomes increasingly data-driven, businesses are turning to self-service analytics to enable business users to perform their own data analysis tasks. In self-service analytics, business users can access and analyze data without assistance or support from IT personnel or data scientists. Direct access to ML-powered analytics platforms allows them to make better business […]
Data Lineage Use Cases
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
Overcoming Eight Data Literacy Barriers
Leaders want “everyone, everywhere, and all at once to become highly data-literate, demonstrate a high capability to read, work with, and analyze data,” says Dr. Wendy Lynch, founder of Analytic-Translastor.com and Lynch Consulting. As a consultant to numerous Fortune 100 companies, she understands why organizations want all their members to have a high level of Data Literacy. […]
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 Governance Roles and Responsibilities
Data Governance, a formalized practice that executes and enforces company-wide data policies, has gained significant traction in the last few years. As of 2022, 81.89% of the participants in a DATAVERSITY® Trends in Data Management(TDM) survey have either implemented a Data Governance program or plan to initiate one. Yet, 54.63% of those surveyed listed a lack of Data Governance as […]
Common Types of Cloud Computing
Before the cloud era, businesses had to rely on in-house data centers and internal hardware and software infrastructures to conduct online business. Organizations had to make substantial investments to set up their websites and networks. Additionally, each business had to hire the right people to manage and monitor their infrastructures. This approach not only added to the […]