Driving knowledge, belief, and governance within high-quality organizations requires a thoughtful and systematic approach. Atlan’s comprehensive framework integrates best practices from various disciplines to foster a culture of transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement. By aligning stakeholders, setting clear expectations, and establishing effective controls, organizations can confidently navigate complex landscapes and achieve their goals.
The Lively Metadata Pioneers’ comprehensive collection options cater to Atlan prospects, who have exhaustively studied the Lively Metadata Administration market. Pioneering a culture of proactive collaboration, the true essence of the Atlan group shines through in their willingness to proactively share knowledge and insights with their colleagues. To facilitate the sharing of their valuable insights on a dynamic marketplace, what drives the composition of their cutting-edge knowledge repository, featuring innovative applications of metadata and more.
In this installment of the collection, we are introduced to Kenza Zanzouri, Technical Governance Professional at Contentsquare, the leading digital expertise analytics platform that provides rich context and insights into behavior, emotions, and intent at every touchpoint in a customer journey for over 1.3 million websites and applications.
From its early beginnings to leveraging Atlan for seamless integration with every Business Intelligence deliverable, Kenza delves into the evolution of Knowledge Governance at Contentsquare, highlighting its impact on driving business ownership and ensuring regulatory compliance.
Might you inform us a bit about your self, your background, and what drew you to Knowledge & Analytics?
Within the past five years, I started my career in the field of information. Initially, I used to be finding out Political Science, however I transitioned into Knowledge Transformation throughout my Grasp’s which was a approach for me to use what I realized from internships in Authorized & Compliance. During my academic pursuits, I enrolled in multiple analytics and enterprise intelligence courses, leading me to secure an internship in this field with a prestigious fashion brand.
When leveraging Enterprise Intelligence, you’re afforded the opportunity to interface with various aspects of data, encompassing metadata, documentation, and comprehension of how information streams and methodologies are intertwined, all while fostering a deeper grasp of organizational structure. The program offered a valuable opportunity for younger professionals and newcomers to learn from experts in both technical and business fields, gaining essential insights and knowledge.
Priorly, I was responsible for building the Knowledge Governance team during my tenure at Contentsquare. Knowledge governance sat in tandem with the BI team, effectively incubating the operation by leveraging our existing understanding of the business. Our vision posits a cross-functional approach to Knowledge Governance, where knowledge engineers, business intelligence analysts, and enterprise models are interconnected through seamless hyperlinks. I realized loads.
As a result of recent organizational changes, Knowledge Governance has transitioned from its previous home within Business Intelligence to the Data Programs Division within Information Services Department. The role has expanded to encompass a broader remit, with my focus no longer limited to a single examination of Knowledge Governance. To reinvigorate our processes, we need to understand the underlying structure, visualize information flow, identify ownership, and ensure data integrity.
For nearly three years, I have served as a Technical Governance Professional at Contentsquare. Despite my responsibilities in Knowledge Governance, I still ensure meticulous collaboration with the Business Intelligence team.
Might you describe Contentsquare?
As a privately held company, Contentsquare currently operates as a unicorn within the startup ecosystem, with its primary hub based in Paris and a significant secondary presence in New York. As a SaaS company, our flagship solution empowers clients to gain insights into visitor behavior on their websites, allowing them to refine their customer experience.
We’re organized into completely different branches, after all, like Advertising, Partnerships, R&D, Product Technique, and Individuals. The Information Services Department, where I am seated, is located beneath the Finance division.
Since its inception approximately 12 years ago, Contentsquare has undergone significant growth, with a notable milestone being the acquisition of two companies, Heap and Hotjar, in recent months and years. As part of the integration process, we are consolidating the two entities under the umbrella of Contentsquare, with significant group restructuring enabling us to accelerate the development of an enhanced product in due course. As part of our ongoing efforts to merge Heap and Hotjar, we are currently developing a unified CRM system and ERP platform, which involves several rebuilding projects.
As concerns over Knowledge Governance escalate, a massive rebuilding effort ensues, with all stakeholders – from Business Intelligence teams to enterprise models and individual contributors, regardless of their hierarchical standing – impacted. As rare opportunities arise to transform an organization, individuals have a unique window of chance to make a meaningful impact at an unprecedented pace.
Seeking to streamline data management processes effectively demands a comprehensive and efficient metadata administration strategy. What was lacking?
Any organization, regardless of its industry or sector, recognizes the fundamental importance of information. It’s crucial to recognize how effectively your product or service is performing and its vital role in achieving success, most of the time?
Why? As companies scale, the need for additional tools and teams grows, ultimately leading to fragmentation. As a result, individuals tend to operate within their own isolated spheres, creating data without a clear understanding of its utilization or impact, leaving us wondering what’s being utilized effectively and what’s falling by the wayside. Outside of those organizations, Enterprise Intelligence teams intervene across departments to ensure seamless alignment with KPIs and deliverables, guaranteeing consistently high-quality results.
Given the absence of a unified Data Programs Division, our disparate approaches and numerous personnel were not always functioning in tandem, lacking a centralized hub to manage information effectively. Several years ago, we grappled with significant uncertainties surrounding how to deliver dashboards, extract insights, and track key performance indicators (KPIs) when we lacked clarity on data origins, ownership, and formulations.
In certain situations, where no subject-matter expert was available to address a few technical issues, the company had acquired a product that, despite not gaining widespread acceptance, still held valuable insights. Despite needing to leverage that information, we were unclear about its origin and utilization.
Upon arriving at the location, I found that Knowledge Governance had reached this point, accompanied by my supervisor as we assembled our team.
What we required was something universally useful, accessible to everyone. To ensure widespread adoption, it was essential for us to avoid excessive technical jargon in our software, as overly complex technology can deter users from embracing it. By keeping our approach straightforward, we aimed to create a user-friendly experience that fosters engagement and drives success. No assumptions were necessary; it could be used by anyone requiring data insights.
To achieve seamless onboarding, we sought a solution that was not only intuitive for end-users but also garnered widespread acceptance, accompanied by exceptional support from our Buyer Success and Assistance team. So, we conducted multiple demos once more, and after careful evaluation, ultimately chose Atlan as the standout candidate.
Here is the reworked version:
While implementing Atlas swiftly had its benefits, we underestimated the complexity of rolling it out across our entire workforce, particularly given the need for all 1,500 team members at Contentsquare to undergo training. To mitigate potential backlash from altering our business models, we aimed to create a unique feature in Atlan that would captivate users’ attention and engagement.
Given an existing framework for collaborating with tech-savvy stakeholders familiar with Atlan, adopting a new software becomes significantly less daunting.
As our Knowledge Governance team flourished and evolved, so too did Atlan, its trusted companion in innovation. There’s a number of change. Currently, our priority is re-establishing our framework and procedures, as challenges remain at a standstill; meanwhile, Atlan remains integral to supporting core operations. When introducing fresh key performance indicators (KPIs) or refreshing our reporting metrics, we leverage Atlan’s capabilities.
Prioritizing knowledge governance requires a collective effort. I’d suggest that my friends and I collectively assess the organization’s current state of knowledge management, identify key pain points, and develop a tailored strategy to address them effectively.
With nearly three years under my belt at this firm, I’m intimately familiar with our approaches, information spheres, and most importantly, I’ve come to understand each individual and where we currently reside. As we embarked on this enterprise, it became apparent that the organization didn’t always possess complete insight into its data. Initially, I sensed that we might have started our journey with some hesitation, unsure of which information and methodologies were being employed. When we lacked a dedicated Data Programs Division, things got significantly more complicated.
Although processes were lacking, we decided to bypass certain components to swiftly initiate Knowledge Governance, acknowledging that dedicating more time to understand our strengths and weaknesses, as well as mapping key aspects, would ultimately benefit the organization’s governance journey by providing a solid foundation for growth. That juxtaposes Atlanta and Monte Carlo, where methodologies and data evolve, rendering it crucial to establish reliable standards for ensuring information quality.
Despite a product’s quality, some people may struggle to put it down and make progress towards improvement.
My second suggestion is to maintain the hand of enterprise models, albeit with some reservations, ensuring they remain accountable and transparent in their operations. As a newly formed team, our knowledge governance framework was still evolving, leading us to take on an inordinate amount of responsibilities and deliver exceptional results, with the business expecting significant returns from my team and me. They didn’t feel sufficiently accountable for their data.
Information ownership should reside with the enterprise, ultimately responsible for defining access, delivery, usage, and calculation methods, as central crews are accountable only for managing processes that govern these aspects. When overcompensating with “hand holding”, possessiveness becomes challenging, ultimately hindering progress and slowing down momentum.
I generally prefer to approach changes incrementally. Knowledge governance means everything and nothing simultaneously, highlighting its paradoxical nature. There are numerous concerns, and it’s generally better to divide the workload and avoid trying to tackle everything at once. You can’t successfully work on implementing knowledge, building a Knowledge Catalog, focusing on Knowledge Quality, and ensuring compliance all simultaneously. It’s not doable.
Compliance must undoubtedly take center stage as a paramount consideration. It’s overly simplistic to assume a straightforward separation, whereas a robust information catalog should be a cornerstone argument for widespread adoption. While some companies may be tempted to segregate this data, given their technological prowess and the wealth of experience it represents, it will be essential to have a comprehensive record should an audit occur in the future.
That’s one of many causes I attempt to push Knowledge Governance as a lot as doable, not simply by the enterprise, however by something that’s associated to R&D and Product groups. Contentsquare conducted extensive work on this initiative, and I’m thoroughly pleased that we’ve successfully implemented accountability for compliance across all departments. With the support of our Knowledge Compliance Ambassadors, I collaborated closely with my team to develop a comprehensive governance framework for this specific area.
By that point, tools like Atlas had been invaluable, streamlining various tasks such as initiating projects, visualizing data, and marking important findings. I’ve genuinely come to appreciate numerous aspects about Atlan.
