Data Lineage

Data lineage is used to track and manage the data. It answers questions such as :

  • Where does the data come from?
  • How is the data changed?
  • Where does the data go to?

As such data lineage covers the complete data lifecycle, by showing the data flow from source to target, through its various intermediate states. Ideally data lineage includes both the back-end & the front-end part.

For obvious reasons the back-end part is included, since this is where is transformed by definition. On the other hand within the front-end part, data can also be logically and / or physically transformed. These transformations can take place in the front-end semantic layers, reports & analysis or even between different front-end tools.

As ETL and BI front end tools integrate within single platforms end-to-end data lineage becomes a possibility, which offers great benefits in case of changes to the data warehouse.