How to Use a Spreadsheet as Your Team's Data Dictionary

Use a spreadsheet-based data dictionary to stay on top of your company's data — A data dictionary is a document that assists you in navigating your team's mountain of data. For instance, if you had an up-to-date data dictionary, you could simply point your new data team hires to it to get up to speed on the layout and location of all your org's data.

In practice, however, most data teams we talk to use ad-hoc methods to document and their team's data knowledge. This week, we examine a step-by-step template to create a data dictionary for your organization ... using nothing more than the humble spreadsheet.

Bonus: Three Ways to Use Power BI on a Mac — Holistics product manager Anthony Thong Do covers three tips he's taken from his previous company for using Microsoft's Power BI on a Mac.

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Links From Elsewhere

My $2.6 Billion Ecosystem Fail: An RJMetrics Post Mortem — Bob Moore, co-founder of RJMetrics, reflects on the changing nature of the BI ecosystem. He argues that BI tools today need to start with interoperability in mind — and he's put his money where his mouth is: after selling RJMetrics to Magento, he built and exited Stitch — which was 'all ecosystem, no glory'.

Moore's striking takeaway is that BI tools are best when built for interoperability in a cloud-first, data-source-rich world. This is a huge difference as compared to the proprietary silos of yesteryear (think: IBM Cognos, Microsoft Power BI).

Why I'm Leaving Data — former data analyst Lisa H explains why she's leaving the industry. This piece begins with a 'day in the life of', and then lists her perceived pros and cons of the data analyst role.

Her conclusion? She believes that she isn't making much of an impact as an analyst in the organization, and then extrapolates from that to the rest of the profession. I won't presume to know where she's coming from — but I will say that her concerns are something we should all consider ... especially if we run a data team.

If your team's recommendations aren't acted upon in the broader company, you might soon have a morale issue on your hands. Lisa's story is a cautionary tale for us.

That's it for this issue of Inner Join.

See you next Wednesday!

Warmly,

Huy

Co-founder, Holistics