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 realized to the subsequent information chief is the true spirit of the Atlan neighborhood! So that they’re right here to share their hard-earned perspective on an evolving market, what makes up their fashionable information stack, revolutionary use instances for metadata, and extra.
On this installment of the collection, we meet Kenza Zanzouri, Technical Governance Skilled at Contentsquare, a number one digital expertise analytics platform that gives wealthy context and insights into conduct, 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 assist 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 information about 5 years in the past. Initially, I used to be finding out Political Science, however I transitioned into Knowledge Transformation throughout my Grasp’s which was a method for me to use what I realized from internships in Authorized & Compliance. I took loads of courses on Analytics and Enterprise Intelligence, and determined to just accept an internship in Enterprise Intelligence within the luxurious vogue trade.
Once you’re engaged on Enterprise Intelligence, you get to the touch a little bit of the whole lot about information, together with metadata and documentation, understanding how information flows and the methods 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 trade to study, understanding individuals in each technical and enterprise groups.
Then, I used to be employed at Contentsquare to construct the Knowledge Governance workforce. Again then, Knowledge Governance sat throughout the BI workforce, and that was an effective way to incubate the perform, as a result of we had been already part of the workforce that understood the enterprise. Our concept 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 realized so much.
Lately, Knowledge Governance has moved out of the BI workforce and into the Data Methods Division (ISD), and that’s the place I stand at this time. The job is wider in scope now, the place I don’t simply have a look at Knowledge Governance. We’re rebuilding loads of our methods, so we’ve got to grasp structure, how information flows, who owns information, and information high quality.
I’ve spent virtually three years at Contentsquare as a Technical Governance Skilled. I nonetheless take care of Knowledge Governance, and I nonetheless work very intently with the BI workforce.
Might you describe Contentsquare?
At the moment, Contentsquare is a unicorn with the surroundings of a startup, with our principal workplace in Paris, and our second-largest in New York. We’re a SaaS firm, and our principal product helps our prospects perceive their guests’ conduct on their web sites, and find out how they will enhance their buyer expertise.
We’re organized into completely different branches, after all, like Advertising, Partnerships, R&D, Product Technique, and Individuals. ISD, the place I sit, is below Finance.
Contentsquare has been round for almost 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 loads of our groups to guarantee 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 loads of rebuilding that’s taking place.
All of this rebuilding is a giant cause Knowledge Governance is so concerned, with everybody from the BI workforce 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 resolution? What was lacking?
I feel any firm, whether or not it’s in tech or not, understands that information is necessary. It’s essential to perceive how nicely your small business is doing, and it’s worthwhile to function nicely, typically. However Contentsquare, like every other firm and even once I labored in Retail Trend, has struggled with an absence of belief in information.
Why? As a result of, when an organization is rising, you begin to purchase increasingly instruments, groups get greater, then they cut up. Individuals are likely to function of their silos and begin to generate information, 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 can be intervening throughout departments to guarantee that no matter KPIs and deliverables they’ve are reliable and of excellent high quality.
Again then, we didn’t have an Data Methods Division, so that you had loads of methods and lots of people who weren’t all the time working collectively, and no single, centralized house for info. So, two or three years in the past after we had been contemplating Atlan, we had some massive questions round how the workforce may ship dashboards, extractions, or KPIs, after we weren’t actually positive about our formulation, the place information was coming from, or who owned it.
There have been some instances the place there wasn’t an professional to ask a couple of system, and the enterprise had purchased a product that didn’t get good adoption, however contained nice information. We needed to make use of that information, however weren’t positive what we had 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 workforce.
However inside Knowledge Governance, you want Lively Metadata, you want a solution to drive possession, it’s worthwhile to perceive your information, and also you want a system to centralize all that work. That’s after we had discussions round what instrument we needed to make use of, and Atlan was the most effective available on the market.
We needed 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 seemingly it’s that the enterprise will use it, and that’s not the route we needed to take. We didn’t need to assume that solely Knowledge Engineers and BI Analysts would use it.
We wanted one thing that may be user-friendly, would get nice adoption, and had an incredible Buyer Success and Assist workforce. So, we had loads of demos again then, and selected Atlan as the perfect one.
Might you describe Contentsquare’s journey with Atlan, to date?
Again then, I feel we needed 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 wanted to have one thing priceless in Atlan that individuals can be focused on so we might keep away from pushback from our enterprise items.
So, our greatest workforce for adoption was the BI workforce, the place all of their deliverables are actually supported by Atlan. I consider 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 once they have already got a method of working with technical individuals, who’re already utilizing Atlan.
I feel our Knowledge Governance workforce grew and advanced, and Atlan grew and advanced alongside us. There’s loads of change. Proper now, our precedence is rebuilding our structure and methods and issues are in a little bit of a pause, however Atlan continues 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 methods by coronary heart, our information 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 information, and I feel we may have moved a bit slower originally of our journey to essentially perceive what information and methods had been getting used. It was all a bit extra sophisticated again then after we didn’t have an Data Methods Division.
There was loads of documentation and processes lacking again then, and we determined to skip some components of that to leap straight into Knowledge Governance, after we may have spent a bit extra time understanding what we had and didn’t have, what we must always map, et cetera, earlier than serving to the enterprise alongside of their governance journey. That features Atlan and likewise Monte Carlo, the place methods and information change and it may be powerful to make certain of what information high quality guidelines to make use of.
I feel the recommendation for myself, if I may return, can be to take extra time understanding the structure, the plan, and our information 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 method.
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 likewise attempt to make them extra accountable. As a result of we had been a brand new workforce, Knowledge Governance was new, and we needed to do nice issues, we did an excessive amount of for the enterprise they usually had been anticipating so much from me and the workforce. So, they by no means felt accountable sufficient for his or her information.
To me, information is owned by the enterprise. The methods may be owned by a central workforce, however information have to be owned by the enterprise, as a result of on the finish of the day, they’re chargeable for who ought to have entry to it, the way it must be delivered, what it’s used for, and the best way it’s calculated. Once you’re doing an excessive amount of “hand holding”, possession is difficult, and it’s going to be even slower to maneuver ahead.
Typically, I consider in taking it sluggish. Knowledge Governance means a lot and nothing on the similar time. There’s so much concerned, and also you’re higher off splitting the work and never making an attempt to do all of it on the similar time. You’ll be able to’t be working in your information, implementing a Knowledge Catalog, engaged on Knowledge High quality, and managing compliance all on the similar time. It’s not potential.
Lastly, Compliance must be a giant precedence. I feel that is too simply put apart, when it must be one of many massive arguments for why everybody must be utilizing an information catalog. I feel loads of corporations are likely to put that apart, considering they’re tech-savvy and that information is a site of experience, however tomorrow, in the event you’re audited, it’s going to be essential.
That’s one of many causes I attempt to push Knowledge Governance as a lot as potential, not simply via the enterprise, however via something that’s associated to R&D and Product groups. Contentsquare did loads of work on this, and I’m very glad we’ve been in a position to make individuals chargeable for Compliance in every division. We had Knowledge Compliance Ambassadors that labored straight with me and the authorized workforce to work on that particular department of governance.
On the time, instruments like Atlan had been nice to have, as a result of it made issues simpler to begin someplace, to see our information, and to flag it. It’s one of many issues I’ve actually preferred about Atlan.
Picture by Jason Goodman on Unsplash