Data Catalogs Done Right.

If the catalog or its implementation aren’t sound, minor oversights can cascade into grand problems that come to light later on. The result is always heavy effort-drain and expensive programs to remedy the issues. This article aims to provide some insights that can help you make sure your data catalog is done right.

Build your data cataloging team

We all know the importance of teamwork. Your catalog team must be composed of individuals who have either technical or business expertise. This team is intended to facilitate the synthesis of these two worlds within the catalog, with the objective of performing critical tasks.

Understand your data landscape

Before you even think about data cataloging; you need to have a firm understanding of the data sources within the organization. This can be a challenge because data assets are almost invariably dispersed amongst different departments and often stored in different applications or formats. But before any data can be cataloged and organized, your data catalog team needs to know it is there.

Know the data catalog market

You need to make sure that you pick the right catalog for your specific needs. Research for your data catalog should be no different as this metadata management tool will be responsible for taking care of your business and its important data. Just like any product in the market, there are different levels of quality and capabilities between data catalogs.

Know what data sources to scan

With a firm understanding of what data catalogs are on offer you need to choose the right one for your business. You need to evaluate whether the data catalog you’re looking at is able to extract all the data source types out-the-box and if third party scanners are needed. If you neglect to perform this evaluation properly before the data catalog is implemented, you might find yourself with one that is incomplete towards the end.

Consider scalability

Not all data catalogs on the market provide the tools to support a large amount of metadata. Sometimes, when the tool is initially tested it works fine, but then in action, it’s overloaded with more data than it can handle, leading to performance issues. Other situations arise where the data catalog is sufficient to handle the full brunt of the business’ metadata, only to be inadequate as the business grows and demands more data assets to be accommodated.

Why Alex?

Running a business is hard. Luckily, it doesn’t have to be all done alone. Alex boasts with confidence, top-of-the-line metadata solutions and expert data technicians to back it up. The Alex platform fully embraces the capabilities of machine learning, a staple of any of today’s successful enterprises. This allows for the capability to automatically scan, organize and classify data – both structured and unstructured – and can maintain consistent performance at any level of scalability.

We may not understand the intricacies of your business, but we don’t need to because you do. But we know data to a tee, and have the experience working with organizations to achieve their business goals together. Discover how Alex can help your specific business kick goals by requesting a free, tailored demo from our expert team:

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