/ Posts / NodeGraph: Your Solution to Data Quality
NodeGraph: Your Solution to Data Quality
by Scott Duthie
on February 18, 2020
Today, more than ever, data quality management is a serious concern for most organizations. From poor data entry to an absence of proper governance, the lack of resources and allocations to data quality is hampering many business’s success. According to a 2019 Global Data Management Research survey conducted by Experian, “95% of organizations see impacts from poor data quality” and over “84% of CEO’s worry about their organizations’ data quality” (2016 Global CEO Outlook, KPMG). So what are organizations doing to improve and maintain the quality of their data? For many businesses, NodeGraph is the solution to their data integrity issues.
NodeGraph is a data quality platform for all Qlik solutions that allows you to explore, visualize and trace where your data comes from. Business users are often faced with questions like: “Where did this field come from?”, “What applications are using this particular file?”, and “If I change this database table, what applications will be affected?”.
Well, NodeGraph can help answer those questions. NodeGraph scans both QlikView and Qlik Sense files to produce a graphical representation of your applications and the underlying data with an easy to navigate interface. Select a node and trace the lines of your data lineage through transformed QVDs all the way back to the source database. Search, filter and drill in any direction from applications, QVDs, source tables, fields, charts or SQL queries. Your data’s lineage is truly at your fingertips.
So, without further ado, let’s jump into a few of the exciting and value added features NodeGraph provides.
Data Catalog
- The Data Catalog, with a Google-like appearance and functionality, allows users to search into their data and see all related fields, expressions, tables, files, and applications. Select a result and dig deeper by applying filters to examine the ancestry and other important metadata, add comments and ratings for inter-platform communication, and so much more. The Data Catalog provides complete transparency and, with a seamless interface, allows for further exploration into your data
Dependency Explorer
- Visualize how your data travels throughout your Qlik Solution from the data source to the end-user application or reporting. One has the option to add layers to see how specific users have interacted with the data along the lineage or enabling application content to trace how master items, sheets, objects, and variables are derived from the source data. Grade the different nodes with a heat map based on users, children, file size, fields/records, and/or last modified time. With a simple right-click on a node, the tool will auto-generate documentation (PDF or MS Word) on the entire lineage with all data sources, transformations, and expressions used in the selected application.
Field Explorer
- The Field Explorer provides a detailed documentation that will allow you to examine the script of an individual field. See exactly what transformations have been applied to the field from initial input to production.
Reports
- Govern, review and assess your Qlik solutions with the help of the Reports module by making sure your data is structured according to your guidelines.
Data Quality Manager
- While everyone else is playing checkers, play chess by being one step ahead of all your data quality issues with the help of the NodeGraph – Data Quality Manager. Create and customize a data quality framework with powerful, automated testing functionality that is self-sufficient, continuous and up-to-date to help you better trust your data and suit your business needs.
Examples includes;
- Baseline testing by creating standardized benchmarks that can be reused as a testing reference point.
- Database connections to confirm your Qlik solution is pulling the correct data
- Raw data testing to guarantee the data you are storing is consistent and accurate.
- Testing files or QVDs to ensure business logic and transformations comply with your Qlik data quality framework.
- Application Testing – Test Sense applications for specific dimensions, expressions, values, etc. to ensure accuracy
Other Notable Features
- Documentation Scheduler – Have documentation for all content and lineage for your Qlik solutions refreshed and automatically generated on a set scheduler that is always up-to-date.
- Field Tracker – Search and select fields you want to keep track off and NodeGraph will generate automated reports detailing out information pertaining to the selected fields including the location of the data, a description, and all users who have access to or have accessed the data in the past; an Auditor’s dream come true!
- Qlik Sense Extension – Review, explore and play around with NodeGraph insights within Qlik to reveal even further discoveries.
- NPrinting – Visualize your NPrinting report as its components are broken down and traced back to their lineage.
- Integrations, such as;
- Import/Export Lineage
- Collibra
- REST API
- There are a multitude of APIs that one can use to expedite the testing framework process on a larger scale
Improve your data confidence, ensure its consistency, and maintain your data quality management in your QlikView and Qlik Sense solutions through the vast functionalities of NodeGraph.
For more information about NodeGraph, please reach out to a Pomerol Consultant at info@pomerolpartners.com.
