Data lineage is the process of tracking the origin of data and all stages of its processing in IT systems.
It allows you to understand:
-
where the data comes from
-
what transformations have been performed on it
-
in which reports or systems it is used
Data lineage is a key element of data governance, as it enables data quality control, error identification, and compliance with regulatory requirements.
In Business Intelligence environments, lineage analysis also helps to better understand the logic of reports and data models, which increases trust in the data used in decision-making processes.
In modern data architectures, integration tools such as Talend allow for automatic documentation of data flows and building a complete picture of their processing.