Data Lineage

In depth

Data lineage provides a complete picture of your data’s lifecycle. It starts at the source, for example, with data from spreadsheets, services, or databases, and continues as the data is retrieved, modelled, and visualized. This visibility helps teams understand exactly how raw values become the numbers in dashboards and reports.

On a technical level, data lineage captures metadata about each process that touches your data. It records transformation rules, joins, filters, calculations, and movement between systems. Whether data is moved manually or automatically, through ETL pipelines and API connectors, lineage maintains a log of every change.

Lineage can be categorized into business lineage and technical lineage. Business lineage focuses on high-level flows—for example, showing which metrics depend on which data sources. Technical lineage drills down into the code or formulas behind each step.

As data environments grow, manually tracking lineage can become error-prone. Automated tools collect metadata, visualize complex networks, and alert teams to potential issues. They help ensure your lineage stays accurate, even as new sources and transformations are added.

Pro tip

Document key data transformation steps as you build your pipeline. Keeping a record of how raw data is cleaned, joined, or aggregated can save hours of troubleshooting when you need to trace an unexpected number.

Why Data Lineage matters

• Builds trust in your data: When stakeholders can see exactly how numbers are calculated, they gain confidence in every dashboard and report.

• Accelerates troubleshooting: Quickly find where errors are happening by following the lineage trail—no more guessing which process broke.

• Supports compliance: Auditors and regulators often require proof of data origin and handling. Lineage provides a clear audit trail.

• Enables self-serve analytics: Business users can explore data flows without relying on IT, speeding up decision making.

Data Lineage - In practice

Imagine your marketing team notices a sudden drop in customer sign-ups. With data lineage, they trace the issue back and discover that a recent change in the CRM schema broke a field mapping. They fix the mapping, refresh the pipeline, and restore accurate numbers—all without scripting or lengthy tickets.

Or, consider a finance department that needs to verify the source of quarterly revenue calculations before closing the books. Data lineage lets them review each transformation step, confirm the right exchange rate was applied, and sign off on reports quickly.

Data Lineage and PowerMetrics

In PowerMetrics, data lineage and data feed management are integrated throughout the platform to give you full visibility and control over your metrics. Each metric clearly displays its underlying data source, while data feeds show refresh schedules, status, errors, and the last updated timestamp.

Data feeds also provide access to any applied transformations or modelling steps, allowing you to trace how raw data becomes actionable metrics. These features help ensure your dashboards are accurate, compliant, and trustworthy.