How MyDataWork complements enterprise data catalogs
Enterprise data catalogs — Collibra, Alation, Atlan, and others — are built to govern technical and business metadata at scale. They answer questions like “what tables exist?” and “what does this field mean technically?”
What they don’t capture is the working context around actual analyst work: which dashboard supports which business decision, who the real stakeholders are, what the KPI actually means in practice, what recommendations are active, and what would be at risk if a tool changed.
MyDataWork captures that layer — at the analyst level, without requiring a platform implementation or IT project.
What MyDataWork adds alongside your catalog
| Your catalog provides | MyDataWork adds |
|---|---|
| Table and field definitions | Asset-to-use-case relationships |
| Technical lineage | Business context and stakeholder links |
| Data ownership (nominal) | Practical ownership and working definitions |
| Asset inventory | Active recommendations and action plans |
| Governance structure | Continuity notes for migration and change |
Why they work well together
When analysts document their work in MyDataWork, catalog efforts become more complete and easier to maintain. The context that currently lives in people’s heads — which report matters to whom, what a KPI really measures, what’s actively being improved — becomes visible, transferable, and durable.
Examples of context MyDataWork surfaces
- Which dashboards support which business use cases
- Who depends on a recurring report and why
- What business definition a KPI actually uses in practice
- What action plan is active around a specific asset
- What is at risk during a tool migration or rationalization