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One way that financial institutions can achieve this through using automated data lineage. A simplified definition of automated data lineage is that it is a process that tracks where your data goes inside your system, making it much easier to keep track of who has access to what information and why it is used. However the real world applications of automated data lineage extend far beyond this foundational use case. For financial services enterprises, automated data lineage is pivotal for remaining compliant, creating trust, and providing elevated insights on your data for better business decision making.

Automated data lineage.

Data lineage is the process of tracking the origin and history of data. For example, if your company tracks customer information in a database, you need to know what data came from which source: did you get it from a survey or an API? You also need to know when it was last updated. This can help ensure that you are using up-to-date information and not outdated data.

Why should data lineage be automated?

Manually constructing data lineage across enterprise scale systems is incredibly resource intensive. Automated data lineage can save time for your organization by making sure there are no gaps in the recordkeeping process and also prevents errors from occurring due to manual error or human error. Moreover, due to how critical data lineage is for finance, having the ability to generate data lineage instantly through computing is invaluable.

Increasing regulations make it difficult for financial organizations to remain compliant.

The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has set the bar for other regulations worldwide. It requires companies to know precisely how and where they are using their customers’ data. Data lineage can help you prove that your company has the right permissions for each action it takes on customer data, making it easier to remain compliant with this regulation. These new standards make it more difficult for financial organizations to remain compliant, especially given that many of these companies are already struggling to understand where their data is stored.

Data lineage tools help organizations meet these increasingly strict regulations by providing them with a clear understanding of where their data is being used and how it flows through systems in just a few clicks.

Automated data lineage solutions make it easier to track your data’s usage while keeping your business compliant.

You can use automated data lineage tools to help you reduce risk, avoid lawsuits, and keep your organization in line with industry regulations.

With an automated solution, you can easily see which of your users is accessing the right data at the right time with the correct permissions. This gives you peace of mind knowing that you are prepared for any audit or inspection by regulators such as APRA or the SEC.

If a breach happens with your company’s customer information, having clear records showing exactly how that information was used will help show regulators that the company took all reasonable steps toward protecting its customers’ personal information from unauthorized access or losses. These steps could include deleting sensitive files after use; keeping backups of important files somewhere secure; prohibiting employees from sharing sensitive documents via email attachments or cloud services; encrypting sensitive files when storing them online; or preventing unauthorized people from gaining access to systems containing sensitive personal details through strong authentication processes such as multifactor authentication (MFA).

In addition, these solutions generate detailed reports that highlight who used what information and when they did so—a critical element for meeting regulatory requirements.

Data lineage is particularly useful in finance.

Data lineage is an important tool for any industry but the reason why financial services companies have been relatively quick to adopt it is because they have a special need for it—they’re required by regulators to provide detailed information showing how decisions were made.

Data lineage helps financial services firms meet these needs by providing granular information around when and how their data is being used, where it’s stored, with whom it is shared, when it expires and how long it has been retained by an organization before being erased or destroyed.

Automated data lineage provides a competitive advantage for your organization.

Automated data lineage delivers a competitive advantage for your organization. It helps you improve your customer experience, reduce costs, and increase efficiency.

Data lineage can help you:

  • Make highly informed decisions with better trust, visibility and access to your data.

  • Rationalize data systems and processes by providing the information needed to quickly resolve issues and make informed decisions.

  • Reduce costs by identifying opportunities for process improvement or automation that are currently being missed.

  • Increase efficiency by automating manual processes that currently take too long or require too much effort from your employees; this allows them to focus on other important tasks instead of wasting time on repetitive work activities like data investigation.

Why Alex?

Automated data lineage is a necessity for finance organizations that want to remain compliant and competitive. It helps them meet regulatory requirements and improves security, while also giving them a competitive advantage by helping them understand how their data is being used. The business case for automated data lineage for finance companies is strong—and it’s only getting stronger as regulations grow more stringent.

For these reasons, automated data lineage is imperative for finance organizations. That’s why they should invest in world-leading automated data lineage technology with cross-application lineage capabilities like Alex. We have worked extensively with a multitude of financial organizations and know the ins and outs of how such institutions can fully benefit from the best lineage there is to offer. To learn more about the relationship between finance and automated data lineage, or to see how it can benefit your organization, please request a free personalized demo:

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