Top 5 reasons your organization needs a data catalog

Data catalogs store information on all of the company’s data in one place. They collect data in a single repository and organize, analyze, and distribute the accompanying metadata. Without a data catalog, it will be harder for your organization to derive value from your business data and perform analyses necessary for the improvement and betterment of innovation, technological development, and business strategy.

So, why is it so critical to have a data catalog in 2023? Here are our top five reasons.

1. A single source of knowledge for understanding business data

The data catalog improves organizational data access and agility. Its search function enables users to access dependable and ready-to-use data quickly. It provides a 360-degree perspective of the company’s data assets, including where the data originates, how it is generated and interacts with other data, and how it is traced from end to end.

This allows each user to better understand the context surrounding each piece of data.

2. Useful for all business areas

Data is a critical business resource that must be easily accessible and comprehensible. And this applies to all roles within the organization, not just data specialists. The data catalog, which contains a data dictionary and a business glossary, serves as a resource for easy access to information at all levels. It enables organizations to comprehend their data and use it consistently to carry out their activities.

3. Save time through automation

The data catalog facilitates process automation, which saves users time by eliminating manual tasks. They can then concentrate on more vital tasks, such as enhancing the data collected and resolving any issues. The data catalog provides customers with enhanced agility and faster execution times, helping businesses to lower their costs.

4. Secure data access and reduce risk

Data processing means data security. In a data catalog, you can manage permissions and access control. This means that users can filter and modify data access in accordance with business requirements (hierarchical level, company department, etc.). Limiting what users can see and change is also possible, which is critical for reducing the risk of fraud or information misuse.

5. An effective tool for becoming a data-driven enterprise

In the age of Big Data, data processing is critical to the growth of your organization. A data-driven business culture by definition supports data-driven decision-making. In addition to establishing data governance, adopting a data catalog can help optimize operations, decrease costs, and identify new business sectors. To put it simply, this key tool informs business decisions and promotes corporate growth.

Critical for control of your organizational data

If a problem with data access arises and there’s no data catalog in place, it’s challenging in the event of an audit to verify the completeness and trustworthiness of data records. The benefits of having a single source of knowledge are plentiful; the most obvious is you know where the data is and where it came from, and you can control access to the repository to ensure confidentiality.

Conclusion

A data catalog can help to turn your entire organization into a data-driven enterprise! The advantages of using a data catalog include a single source of knowledge for understanding business data, automated access to information, and reduced risk, among others.

In this day and age, without a data catalog, your company is at a clear competitive disadvantage – Organizations that are able to derive value from their data and perform analyses to boost productivity can expect to be ahead of the curve in terms of innovation, technological development, and business strategy.

In conclusion, having a data catalog can help overcome the challenges that stem from a lack of a centralized knowledge base and improved IT service delivery. With a greater understanding of your business data and its potential value, you can make smarter, more informed decisions in all aspects of the business.

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Learn even more about creating an intuitive data catalog to fit your needs! Sign up for a demo of DataGalaxy’s Data Knowledge Catalog, an all-in-one data catalog that offers out-of-the-box actionability with fully customizable attributes, powerful visualization tools, standardized business glossaries, and AI integration to help organizations easily document, link, and track all their metadata assets on one dynamic platform.