Bringing Technical and Enterprise Groups Along 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 following knowledge 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 knowledge stack, modern use instances for metadata, and extra.
On this installment of the sequence, we meet Kevin Nutbrown, Senior Knowledge Analyst at World Excel Administration, a medical value containment and claims administration firm, processing over $1.9 billion in medical claims yearly throughout greater than 90 international locations. Kevin shares the historical past of how his group has grown, and the way Atlan will play a key function in driving Knowledge Governance and interesting with their enterprise colleagues.
This interview has been edited for brevity and readability.
Might you inform us a bit about your self, your background, and your group at World Excel?
I’ve been at World Excel for 28 years, and I’ve seen the corporate develop from a small operation dealing with claims for Canadians touring outdoors of the nation to the worldwide chief it’s in the present day. Once we have been simply beginning out, leveraging knowledge as an asset was a comparatively new idea, and our methods have been fundamental. I obtained interested by how we may higher handle our knowledge, so I began determining how tables linked and easy methods to pull the knowledge we would have liked, which led me into the world of Knowledge & Analytics.
I ultimately went again to high school and picked up a Certificates in Laptop Science to enrich my enterprise diploma. That gave me the inspiration to assist construct our info methods as the corporate grew.
Our group is now divided into two elements: the Knowledge Group, which pulls knowledge from totally different sources and units it up for reporting, and the Analytics Group, which makes positive that knowledge is introduced in a manner that’s straightforward to grasp.
My function is sort of within the center. I’m not a programmer, but when there’s a mission that requires knowledge change between purchasers, for instance, I’ll help with that in addition to different tasks, comparable to implementing an information catalog.
Why seek for an Energetic Metadata Administration resolution? What was lacking?
As World Excel grew, the necessity for a extra structured and built-in strategy to knowledge administration turned clear. We lacked a unified system to doc and handle our knowledge, resulting in inefficiencies and inconsistencies ensuing with these of us who’ve been right here for a very long time up being a useful resource.
For example, now we have a desk referred to as ‘Declare’ in a single system, and one other desk referred to as ‘Declare’ in a distinct system, however they’re not the identical factor. Consequently, totally different groups may use the time period ‘Declare’ in a different way, relying on the system they’re working with, which creates confusion and discrepancies in reporting.
When totally different groups pull knowledge and get totally different outcomes, it’s irritating and time-consuming to determine why. That’s why we began searching for an answer; a method to deliver every part collectively in a single place, so we’d all be on the identical web page.
We wanted a method to deliver every part collectively in a single place and enhance our Knowledge Governance, so we knew who was liable for what. Our objective was to make sure that everybody, from technical groups to enterprise customers, had a shared understanding of our knowledge property to enhance accuracy and confidence within the knowledge.
Did something stand out throughout your analysis course of?
What stood out was Atlan AI, the way in which lineage is introduced, and the final “intuitiveness” of the software.
Particularly for individuals that aren’t technically oriented, or not on the info group, if you wish to know what “Declare” is, Atlan will provide you with Google-style outcomes. The glossary permits the enterprise to work together with knowledge and is an effective manner to make sure we’re talking the identical language with regards to our metrics and phrases.
This ease of use and deal with collaboration between technical and non-technical groups was a key differentiator. It was clear that Atlan wouldn’t solely assist us handle our knowledge extra successfully but in addition foster higher communication and understanding throughout the group.
How have you ever applied Atlan, to this point? What’s subsequent?
Atlan is built-in with Snowflake and MSSQL, permitting the info group to rapidly discover lineage, entry any potential impression of modifications and effectively navigate our knowledge panorama. This integration has considerably streamlined our onboarding course of for brand new group members, who can now rapidly achieve visibility into our knowledge platform with out sifting by means of complicated SQL queries or a number of tables. Straight away, that was a key win.
Concerning Knowledge Governance, we see Atlan as a software that we are able to construct on prime of. We now have a a lot clearer understanding of who can entry what knowledge, particularly with regards to delicate info like PII. It’s not only a theoretical dialogue anymore, it’s one thing we’re actively managing.
What’s forthcoming is getting extra readability round enterprise definitions and knowledge possession. It’s necessary for us to know who’s liable for what, and to verify everybody agrees on the that means of our knowledge property. This can assist us keep away from confusion and make it simpler for our enterprise customers to resolve issues on their very own, with out all the time having to show to the tech group for solutions.
It’s encouraging to know that we’ll have individuals liable for sure knowledge, and that it is going to be easy for the enterprise to grasp what it’s and who to ask about it. It implies that if any individual sees a quantity go up or down, they’ll know what it means and the place it got here from by utilizing Atlan, reasonably than asking us first. Downside-solving can be of their palms, and that’s extra of a “individuals” than tech downside, however requires a little bit of setup to allow it. It’s serving to us shift among the accountability to the enterprise customers, which is strictly what we would have liked.
We’ve executed lots of work to resolve ‘knowledge points’, and I’m hopeful that Atlan will give us the leverage to shift to a extra data-driven company tradition.
Photograph by Martha Dominguez de Gouveia on Unsplash
