What is Data Profiling?

Profiling is a crucial part of data preparation programs. It's the process of examining and analyzing data sets to gain more insights into their quality. Having mountains of data is the norm in modern business. But accuracy can make or break what you do with it.

Profiling helps you learn more about how accurate and accessible your data is while giving your teams more knowledge about its structure, content, interrelationships and more. This process can also unveil potential data projects, highlighting ways you can use your data assets to boost the bottom line.

Types of Data Profiling

There are three primary forms of profiling.

The first is structure discovery. This process is about formatting data to ensure everything is uniform and consistent. Statistical analysis can give you more insight into your data's validity.

The second type of profiling is content discovery. With the content discovery, the goal is to determine the quality of the data. It helps identify anything incomplete, ambiguous or otherwise null.

Finally, we have relationship discovery. As the name implies, it's about determining how data sources connect. The process highlights similarities, differences and associations.

Why Profiling is Necessary

There are many benefits to profiling data. Ultimately, the biggest reason to include it in your data preparation program is to ensure you work with credible, high-quality data. Errors and inconsistencies will only set your organization back. They can misguide your strategy and force you to make decisions that don't provide the desired results.

Another benefit is that it helps with predictive analysis and core decision-making. When you profile data, you're learning more about the assets you hold. You can use this process to make predictions about sales, revenue, etc. That information can guide you in the right direction, making critical decisions that help generate growth and success.

Organizations also use profiling to spot potential issues within their data stream. For example, the content discovery phase highlights errors and inconsistencies. Chronic problems may point to a glaring issue within your system, helping you spot quality data issues at their source.

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