Driving Knowledge Belief, High quality, and Governance with Atlan
The Energetic Metadata Pioneers sequence options Atlan clients who’ve accomplished a radical analysis of the Energetic Metadata Administration market. Paying ahead what you’ve realized to the subsequent 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 fashionable knowledge stack, progressive use circumstances for metadata, and extra.
On this installment of the sequence, we meet Kenza Zanzouri, Technical Governance Professional 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 functions. 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.
May 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 manner for me to use what I realized from internships in Authorized & Compliance. I took plenty of courses on Analytics and Enterprise Intelligence, and determined to simply accept an internship in Enterprise Intelligence within the luxurious vogue business.
Once 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 techniques 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 important 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 throughout the BI crew, and that was an effective way to incubate the operate, as a result of we have been already part of the crew that understood the enterprise. Our concept was that Knowledge Governance would at all times be cross-functional, and that we might hyperlink collectively Knowledge Engineers, BI Analysts, and the enterprise items. I realized lots.
Not too long ago, Knowledge Governance has moved out of the BI crew and into the Info Methods Division (ISD), and that’s the place I stand right now. The job is wider in scope now, the place I don’t simply take a look at Knowledge Governance. We’re rebuilding plenty of our techniques, so now we have to grasp structure, how knowledge flows, who owns knowledge, and knowledge high quality.
I’ve spent nearly three years at Contentsquare as a Technical Governance Professional. I nonetheless take care of Knowledge Governance, and I nonetheless work very carefully with the BI crew.
May you describe Contentsquare?
At this time, Contentsquare is a unicorn with the setting of a startup, with our most important workplace in Paris, and our second-largest in New York. We’re a SaaS firm, and our most important product helps our clients perceive their guests’ conduct on their web sites, and learn the way 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 beneath Finance.
Contentsquare has been round for practically 12 years, and over the previous months and years, we acquired two firms, Heap and Hotjar. We’re merging these two entities into Contentsquare, and have rebuilt and restructured plenty of our groups to make it possible for 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 plenty 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 Energetic Metadata Administration resolution? What was lacking?
I believe any firm, whether or not it’s in tech or not, understands that knowledge is vital. It is advisable to perceive how nicely your enterprise is doing, and you might want to function nicely, on the whole. However Contentsquare, like some other firm and even once I labored in Retail Vogue, has struggled with a scarcity of belief in knowledge.
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 knowledge, then we don’t know what’s getting used and what’s not getting used. Exterior of that, you’ve Enterprise Intelligence groups which might be intervening throughout departments to make it possible for no matter KPIs and deliverables they’ve are reliable and of excellent high quality.
Again then, we didn’t have an Info Methods Division, so that you had plenty of techniques and lots of people who weren’t at all times working collectively, and no single, centralized house for data. So, two or three years in the past once we have been contemplating Atlan, we had some large questions round how the crew might ship dashboards, extractions, or KPIs, once we weren’t actually positive about our formulation, the place knowledge was coming from, or who owned it.
There have been some circumstances the place there wasn’t an professional 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 positive 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 Energetic Metadata, you want a technique to drive possession, you might want to perceive your knowledge, and also you want a system to centralize all that work. That’s once we had discussions round what software we wished to make use of, and Atlan was top-of-the-line available on the market.
We wished one thing that might 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 software 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 wish to assume that solely Knowledge Engineers and BI Analysts would use it.
We wanted one thing that might be user-friendly, would get nice adoption, and had an important Buyer Success and Assist crew. So, we had plenty of demos again then, and selected Atlan as the perfect one.
May you describe Contentsquare’s journey with Atlan, up to now?
Again then, I believe 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 wanted to have one thing precious in Atlan that folks could be enthusiastic about 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 consider that’s the easiest way to get the enterprise to undertake. It may be exhausting for the enterprise to undertake a brand new software, nevertheless it’s a lot simpler once they have already got a manner of working with technical individuals, who’re already utilizing Atlan.
I believe our Knowledge Governance crew grew and advanced, and Atlan grew and advanced alongside us. There’s plenty of change. Proper now, our precedence is rebuilding our structure and techniques 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 techniques 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 at all times know their knowledge, and I believe we might have moved a bit slower firstly of our journey to actually perceive what knowledge and techniques have been getting used. It was all a bit extra difficult again then once we didn’t have an Info Methods Division.
There was plenty of documentation and processes lacking again then, and we determined to skip some components of that to leap straight into Knowledge Governance, once we might 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 in addition Monte Carlo, the place techniques and knowledge change and it may be powerful to make certain of what knowledge high quality guidelines to make use of.
I believe the recommendation for myself, if I might return, could 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 can have a tough time stopping what they’re doing to rebuild and transfer ahead in a greater manner.
My second piece of recommendation, and I believe I’m a bit divided on this, nevertheless it’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 lots 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 techniques may be owned by a central crew, however knowledge should be owned by the enterprise, as a result of on the finish of the day, they’re liable 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. Once you’re doing an excessive amount of “hand holding”, possession is tough, 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 lots 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 knowledge, implementing a Knowledge Catalog, engaged on Knowledge High quality, and managing compliance all on the similar time. It’s not potential.
Lastly, Compliance needs to be an enormous precedence. I believe that is too simply put apart, when it needs to be one of many large arguments for why everybody needs to be utilizing an information catalog. I believe plenty of firms are likely to put that apart, considering they’re tech-savvy and that knowledge is a website of experience, however tomorrow, if you happen to’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 by way of the enterprise, however by way of something that’s associated to R&D and Product groups. Contentsquare did plenty of work on this, and I’m very comfortable we’ve been in a position to make individuals liable 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 begin someplace, to see our knowledge, and to flag it. It’s one of many issues I’ve actually preferred about Atlan.
Picture by Jason Goodman on Unsplash