Data lineage provides a map of your data’s journey: where it originates, every stop it makes. On top of that, it describes which filters and transformations are applied.
Data lineage is important in various ways:
- It helps business users understand what their data means, and where it comes from.
- It is an indispensable tool for managing data quality. If data monitoring flags particular issues, a data lineage tool can help identify what might be the underlying cause.
Many modern data governance tools provide features that automatically map lineage across tables and technologies.
Popular data governance tools with data lineage capabilities are: