The pandemic is giving the world a crash course in data analysis. Each day, we’re presented tables, graphs, and maps representing the most up-to-date accounting of the virus in motion. It is, sometimes, overwhelming. The pandemic is also revealing the urgency and challenge of producing data that we can trust. Trusted data is required to drive trustworthy public policy.
A comparison of the data we see in a day can lead to skepticism when the data from source to source don’t match. Which is accurate? Who do I trust? We make individual, family, and economic decisions based upon our interpretation of the data. We are also presented with contradictory opinions of what the data means. Apparently, it’s easy to seed doubt about this data.
ASG’s Data Intelligence Establishes Lineage
ASG’s solution establishes trust through traceable data lineage. The data lineage capability includes a strong visual interface that displays how your data originated. Before you can dive into mapping the data lineage for any attributes, you’ll need to identify the critical data elements (CDE) of your business. Then, you’ll need to perform an exhaustive inventory of all the possible data sources that contributed to assigning or deriving that item. The good news is that ASG’s Data Intelligence platform scans and catalogues your data sources. It represents quite the effort, but building trust takes time, commitment, and discipline.
For each critical data element, you can produce a data lineage diagram. The diagram depicts how that element has changed, merged, or been derived as it makes its way from its origin through any transformations to your report. At any point in the lineage, you can trace backward or forward to see where the data has been upstream and where it is used downstream. Most of the connections in the diagram are discoverable through automation but manual intervention is sometimes necessary to fill gaps in the data’s movement from system to system. The tool provides a “stitching” mechanism to add the knowledge to close those gaps.
ASG’s Data Intelligence Ensures Reliability
Once the lineage is established, monitoring can be scheduled for the sources to provide alerts if the data flow unexpectedly changes. For instance, if an originating table definition changes that may impact the accuracy of that data element. Knowing the data sources and monitoring change builds confidence and establishes trust that can be verified.
Data trust is being established and maintained for all CDE. Whenever changes occur upstream, variance is identified and responsible actions can be taken by your data management team. It is better to be accurate even if that accuracy states that you have low confidence in your data. Standing up a data management program that emphasizes trusted data puts you in position to make data-driven decisions and company policies.
Contact us today for a complimentary discovery call to learn more.