Data mapping: approach and tools

Unleash the power of your data by making it accessible and understandable to everyone. Use data mapping to transform complex information into clear, actionable insights. Overlay, analyse and visualise your data to reveal hidden trends, optimise your processes and make informed decisions.

This content on anonymised data is part of our dossier on the Data Catalog.

Democratise access to information to unleash the full potential of your data!

The democratisation of access to data through data mapping is profoundly transforming the way individuals and organisations understand and exploit information. By visualising complex data sets in the form of interactive, accessible maps, this approach makes information intelligible to a wide range of users, whether experts or not.

Modern data mapping platforms make it possible to superimpose layers of varied information, such as demographic, environmental or economic data, to reveal trends and correlations that are invisible in conventional tables or graphs.

This increased accessibility fosters more informed decision-making, encourages collaboration between different stakeholders and opens up new opportunities for innovation, whether in the public, private or academic sectors. By making data more transparent and understandable, mapping plays a key role in the emergence of a more participative, data-driven society.

The benefits of data mapping

Data mapping is an essential tool for organisations wishing to exploit the full potential of their data. By providing a clear representation of data flows and their interconnections, it helps to improve data quality, optimise operational processes, enhance security and ensure regulatory compliance.

It also encourages innovation and facilitates informed decision-making, by providing greater visibility and a deeper understanding of the information resources available.

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Gain de temps et de productivité

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Better performance management

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Improved decision-making

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Easier access to data

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Improving internal collaboration

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Identifying risks

How do you set up and use data mapping tools?

Data mapping is the process of identifying, inventorying and visually representing data flows, sources and interactions within an organisation. It aims to create a clear and structured overview of data ecosystems, highlighting where and how information is collected, stored, processed and shared. This process connects raw data to its specific uses, taking into account its context, origin and dependencies between systems and applications.

By mapping data, organisations can better understand their information assets, detect duplicates or gaps, ensure more rigorous regulatory compliance, and optimise the use of data to support strategic and operational decision-making.

1st advice

The stages involved in cataloguing and mapping data

Setting up and using data mapping tools requires a structured approach and appropriate tools to ensure efficiency and accuracy:

  1. Data identification: determining what data is available, where it is stored and its life cycle.
  2. Data documentation: automatic retrieval of detailed data descriptions (format and structure) and content analysis (data classification using algorithms and AI learning models).
  3. Attribute metadata: add metadata to data descriptions to provide additional information.
  4. Catalogue information storage: centralising and sharing catalogue information to make it easier to access and search data.
  5. Continuous catalogue updating: automatically update the data catalogue by adding new data, synchronising deleted data and updating existing descriptions and metadata.
2nd advice

Automate analysis

The automation of data analysis using tools such as probes is revolutionising the management and exploitation of information by offering real-time collection and analysis capabilities. Deployed in physical or digital environments, probes capture continuous streams of data from various sources, such as networks, machines or IoT sensors. This data is then automatically analysed using advanced algorithms, often incorporating artificial intelligence or machine learning, to detect trends, identify anomalies or generate alerts.

This approach reduces the time needed to transform raw data into actionable insights, improves responsiveness to critical events and enables informed decision-making, while lightening the load on human teams. Probe-based automation is particularly valuable in areas such as cybersecurity, predictive maintenance and infrastructure management, where the speed and accuracy of analysis are essential.

3nd advice

Data mapping deliverables and representation

Data mapping deliverables are products that provide a clear, structured representation of the flows, sources and relationships between data within an ecosystem. These deliverables often take the form of :

  • Diagrams
  • Interactive visual models
  • Detailed tables

Among the most common formats are relational maps, which show the interactions between databases and systems, and data flow diagrams, which illustrate the paths taken by data from collection to end use.

These representations can be enriched by digital tools, incorporating interactive functionalities for exploring data layers, identifying dependencies and filtering out relevant information. They serve to align stakeholders around a common vision, facilitate data governance, and meet regulatory requirements by providing a comprehensive view of data movements and the data lifecycle.

Data Quality: guaranteeing the consistency and reliability of data to optimise performance

Choose MyDataCatalogue
to map your data

MyDataCatalogue is the Phoenix platform module dedicated to cleansing and mapping your data assets.

The MyDataCatalogue module natively integrates data mapping functionalities to improve understanding of data, optimise its use and reduce the risks associated with its management. With MyDataCatalogue, you can identify, understand and visualise your data within a data catalogue, efficiently and collaboratively!

Our strengths in mapping your data assets

Data access policy

With its Data Catalog and Data Cleaning functions, MyDataCatalogue lets you define data access policies to ensure that only authorised people can view or modify sensitive information.

Compliance and data protection

With regular, automated audits, ensure your compliance with data protection regulations, such as the RGPD, by easily identifying and documenting data sources.

Traceability and transparency

Modifications and accesses to data are traced, facilitating internal and external audits and ensuring complete transparency of data operations.

Data Discovery

Data Discovery features automate the extraction and analysis of metadata, enrich data using AI, and offer an intuitive search interface for a 360° view of information assets.

Collaboration and decision-making

You create a common knowledge base, enriched and accessible to all, to ensure uniformity of the data used throughout the organisation. You base your strategic decisions on controlled information, and reduce the risk of misinterpretation.

… and beyond, take advantage of the complementary nature of ESB, BPM, MDM, APIM and Data Catalogue with the Phoenix platform.

At Blueway, we are convinced that freeing yourself from technical constraints is a prerequisite for putting your Information System at the service of business processes and corporate strategy, now and in the future.

That’s why our Phoenix Data Platform unifies BPM, MDM, ESB, API Management and data mapping practices. This approach, focused on your business and human challenges, contributes to the flexibility and scalability of your IT architecture and infrastructure.

The functions of MyDataCatalogue can be combined with the other modules of the Phoenix platform to provide a solution for the entire data cycle, from identification to urbanisation, governance and movement through processes.

Would you like to discuss your data mapping challenges?

Our speeches on data mapping

Our FAQs on data mapping

Data mapping is the process of creating detailed visualisations of data flows, showing how data flows between different systems, applications and databases. This includes identifying data sources, transformations and destinations.

  • Data sources: Origin of data (databases, files, APIs, etc.).
  • Data transformation: Processes and rules applied to data as it travels through the system.
  • Data destinations: Where the data is stored or used after transformation.
  • Data flow: the path that data follows between sources, transformations and destinations.
  • Metadata: Information about data, such as structure, format and management rules.
  • System complexity: The diversity and complexity of data systems can make mapping difficult.
  • Volume of data: Managing large amounts of data can be time-consuming.
  • Frequent updates: Data systems and processes evolve, requiring continuous mapping.
  • Heterogeneous data: Integrating data from different sources and formats can pose problems.
  • Systems modernisation: Provides a clear view of data flows, facilitating migration to modern systems.
  • Innovation: Identify opportunities to improve and develop new products and services based on data.
  • Strategic alignment: Align digital transformation initiatives with a clear understanding of data and its interconnections.