Driving Knowledge Belief, High quality, and Governance with Atlan
The Lively Metadata Pioneers collection options Atlan prospects who’ve accomplished an intensive analysis of the Lively Metadata Administration market. Paying ahead what you’ve discovered to the following knowledge chief is the true spirit of the Atlan group! In order that they’re right here to share their hard-earned perspective on an evolving market, what makes up their trendy knowledge stack, progressive use instances for metadata, and extra.
On this installment of the collection, we meet Kenza Zanzouri, Technical Governance Professional at Contentsquare, a number one digital expertise analytics platform that gives wealthy context and insights into habits, emotions, and intent at every touchpoint in a buyer journey for over 1.3 million web sites and purposes. Kenza shares the historical past of Knowledge Governance at Contentsquare, from its inception years in the past, to utilizing Atlan to help each BI deliverable, drive enterprise possession, and enhance compliance.
This interview has been edited for brevity and readability.
Might you inform us a bit about your self, your background, and what drew you to Knowledge & Analytics?
I began working in knowledge about 5 years in the past. Initially, I used to be learning Political Science, however I transitioned into Knowledge Transformation throughout my Grasp’s which was a approach for me to use what I discovered from internships in Authorized & Compliance. I took lots of lessons on Analytics and Enterprise Intelligence, and determined to just accept an internship in Enterprise Intelligence within the luxurious vogue business.
While you’re engaged on Enterprise Intelligence, you get to the touch a little bit of every little thing about knowledge, together with metadata and documentation, understanding how knowledge flows and the programs concerned, and structure. That’s once I realized that I didn’t actually like constructing deliverables for Enterprise Intelligence, however I did love all of the Knowledge Governance round it. It was an incredible alternative for somebody younger and junior within the business to be taught, understanding individuals in each technical and enterprise groups.
Then, I used to be employed at Contentsquare to construct the Knowledge Governance crew. Again then, Knowledge Governance sat inside the BI crew, and that was a good way to incubate the perform, as a result of we have been already part of the crew that understood the enterprise. Our thought was that Knowledge Governance would all the time be cross-functional, and that we might hyperlink collectively Knowledge Engineers, BI Analysts, and the enterprise items. I discovered rather a lot.
Lately, Knowledge Governance has moved out of the BI crew and into the Data Techniques Division (ISD), and that’s the place I stand at present. The job is wider in scope now, the place I don’t simply have a look at Knowledge Governance. We’re rebuilding lots of our programs, so we’ve to grasp structure, how knowledge flows, who owns knowledge, and knowledge high quality.
I’ve spent virtually three years at Contentsquare as a Technical Governance Professional. I nonetheless take care of Knowledge Governance, and I nonetheless work very intently with the BI crew.
Might you describe Contentsquare?
At this time, Contentsquare is a unicorn with the setting of a startup, with our important workplace in Paris, and our second-largest in New York. We’re a SaaS firm, and our important product helps our prospects perceive their guests’ habits on their web sites, and find out how they’ll enhance their buyer expertise.
We’re organized into completely different branches, in fact, like Advertising and marketing, Partnerships, R&D, Product Technique, and Folks. ISD, the place I sit, is underneath Finance.
Contentsquare has been round for practically 12 years, and over the previous months and years, we acquired two corporations, Heap and Hotjar. We’re merging these two entities into Contentsquare, and have rebuilt and restructured lots of our groups to be sure that we’re promoting a greater product sooner or later. Exterior of merging in Heap and Hotjar, we’re engaged on constructing a single CRM and a single ERP, so there’s lots of rebuilding that’s taking place.
All of this rebuilding is an enormous cause Knowledge Governance is so concerned, with everybody from the BI crew to our enterprise items, and all our individuals, whether or not they’re operational or excessive within the hierarchy, are concerned. It’s a good time for individuals to be right here, as a result of it’s very uncommon to witness a lot change in an organization, and it’s very uncommon to do it at this tempo.
Why seek for an Lively Metadata Administration answer? What was lacking?
I feel any firm, whether or not it’s in tech or not, understands that knowledge is essential. You have to perceive how properly what you are promoting is doing, and you must function properly, on the whole. However Contentsquare, like another firm and even once I labored in Retail Trend, has struggled with a scarcity of belief in knowledge.
Why? As a result of, when an organization is rising, you begin to purchase an increasing number of instruments, groups get larger, then they cut up. Folks are likely to function of their silos and begin to generate knowledge, then we don’t know what’s getting used and what’s not getting used. Exterior of that, you’ve gotten Enterprise Intelligence groups which might be intervening throughout departments to be sure that no matter KPIs and deliverables they’ve are reliable and of excellent high quality.
Again then, we didn’t have an Data Techniques Division, so that you had lots of programs and lots of people who weren’t all the time working collectively, and no single, centralized area for data. So, two or three years in the past after we have been contemplating Atlan, we had some huge questions round how the crew might ship dashboards, extractions, or KPIs, after we weren’t actually certain about our formulation, the place knowledge was coming from, or who owned it.
There have been some instances the place there wasn’t an skilled to ask a few system, and the enterprise had purchased a product that didn’t get good adoption, however contained nice knowledge. We wished to make use of that knowledge, however weren’t certain what we have been utilizing or the place it got here from.
In order that’s the place Knowledge Governance got here in, and that’s once I arrived with my supervisor to construct our crew.
However inside Knowledge Governance, you want Lively Metadata, you want a method to drive possession, you must perceive your knowledge, and also you want a system to centralize all that work. That’s after we had discussions round what instrument we wished to make use of, and Atlan was among the best in the marketplace.
We wished one thing that could possibly be utilized by anybody. It was essential to us that we didn’t use one thing too technical, as a result of the extra technical the instrument is, the much less probably it’s that the enterprise will use it, and that’s not the path we wished to take. We didn’t need to assume that solely Knowledge Engineers and BI Analysts would use it.
We would have liked one thing that may be user-friendly, would get nice adoption, and had an incredible Buyer Success and Help crew. So, we had lots of demos again then, and selected Atlan as the very best one.
Might you describe Contentsquare’s journey with Atlan, up to now?
Again then, I feel we wished to implement Atlan too quick, which was good in some methods, however we weren’t able to get all 1,500 individuals at Contentsquare to undertake it. We would have liked to have one thing worthwhile in Atlan that folks can be excited by so we might keep away from pushback from our enterprise items.
So, our greatest crew for adoption was the BI crew, the place all of their deliverables at the moment are supported by Atlan. I imagine that’s one of the best ways to get the enterprise to undertake. It may be arduous for the enterprise to undertake a brand new instrument, but it surely’s a lot simpler after they have already got a approach of working with technical individuals, who’re already utilizing Atlan.
I feel our Knowledge Governance crew grew and developed, and Atlan grew and developed alongside us. There’s lots of change. Proper now, our precedence is rebuilding our structure and programs and issues are in a little bit of a pause, however Atlan remains to be used for lots of foundational work. If there are new KPIs or updates to our reporting, we use Atlan.
What recommendation would you share together with your friends contemplating Atlan for Knowledge Governance?
Now that I’ve been within the firm for nearly three years, I do know our programs by coronary heart, our knowledge domains by coronary heart, I do know all people, and I do know the place we stand. I now perceive the enterprise doesn’t all the time know their knowledge, and I feel we might have moved a bit slower firstly of our journey to actually perceive what knowledge and programs have been getting used. It was all a bit extra sophisticated again then after we didn’t have an Data Techniques Division.
There was lots of documentation and processes lacking again then, and we determined to skip some components of that to leap straight into Knowledge Governance, after we might have spent a bit extra time understanding what we had and didn’t have, what we should always map, et cetera, earlier than serving to the enterprise alongside of their governance journey. That features Atlan and in addition Monte Carlo, the place programs and knowledge change and it may be robust to make certain of what knowledge high quality guidelines to make use of.
I feel the recommendation for myself, if I might return, can be to take extra time understanding the structure, the plan, and our knowledge stack, and to spend extra time with the enterprise. Even when the product is nice, there are nonetheless individuals who may have a tough time stopping what they’re doing to rebuild and transfer ahead in a greater approach.
My second piece of recommendation, and I feel I’m a bit divided on this, but it surely’s to each “maintain the hand” of the enterprise items, and in addition attempt to make them extra accountable. As a result of we have been a brand new crew, Knowledge Governance was new, and we wished to do nice issues, we did an excessive amount of for the enterprise they usually have been anticipating rather a lot from me and the crew. So, they by no means felt accountable sufficient for his or her knowledge.
To me, knowledge is owned by the enterprise. The programs may be owned by a central crew, however knowledge have to be owned by the enterprise, as a result of on the finish of the day, they’re answerable for who ought to have entry to it, the way it needs to be delivered, what it’s used for, and the best way it’s calculated. While you’re doing an excessive amount of “hand holding”, possession is difficult, and it’s going to be even slower to maneuver ahead.
Basically, I imagine in taking it sluggish. Knowledge Governance means a lot and nothing on the identical time. There’s rather a lot concerned, and also you’re higher off splitting the work and never attempting to do all of it on the identical time. You’ll be able to’t be working in your knowledge, implementing a Knowledge Catalog, engaged on Knowledge High quality, and managing compliance all on the identical time. It’s not doable.
Lastly, Compliance needs to be an enormous precedence. I feel that is too simply put apart, when it needs to be one of many huge arguments for why everybody needs to be utilizing an information catalog. I feel lots of corporations are likely to put that apart, pondering they’re tech-savvy and that knowledge is a website of experience, however tomorrow, for those who’re audited, it’s going to be essential.
That’s one of many causes I attempt to push Knowledge Governance as a lot as doable, not simply by way of the enterprise, however by way of something that’s associated to R&D and Product groups. Contentsquare did lots of work on this, and I’m very blissful we’ve been capable of make individuals answerable for Compliance in every division. We had Knowledge Compliance Ambassadors that labored straight with me and the authorized crew to work on that particular department of governance.
On the time, instruments like Atlan have been nice to have, as a result of it made issues simpler to start out someplace, to see our knowledge, and to flag it. It’s one of many issues I’ve actually appreciated about Atlan.
Picture by Jason Goodman on Unsplash
