Alation Earns Top Ranking in First End-User Study of the Data Catalog Market

San Francisco — June 20, 2017 — Alation Inc., the data intelligence company, today announced it has been named the top-ranked data cataloging solution in Dresner Advisory Services’ inaugural 2017 Wisdom of Crowds® Data Catalog Market Study. In the independent, survey-based study, Alation ranked higher than all competitive offerings in both categories evaluated: collaborate analytics features and governance features. The study is the first to rank vendors in data catalogs specifically for business intelligence (BI), an area where Alation has shown rapid innovation. Alation offers collaborative analytics and information governance solutions that catalog data assets used in BI and analytics projects, improving the productivity of self-service analytics.

For 2017, Dresner Advisory Services expanded its research to include for the first time coverage of the data catalog market. The inaugural Data Catalog Market Study focuses specifically on “those requirements for creating, governing and locating relevant content for analysis within business intelligence solutions.”* In rating the vendors, Dresner considered all collaborative and governance features as reported by suppliers and weighted by users, with Alation receiving the top ranking among vendors.

“We congratulate Alation on its leading position in our first annual market study on data catalogs,” said Howard Dresner, president, founder and chief research officer, Dresner Advisory Services. “Data catalogs are a top priority for organizations today, ranking in the top half of all the technologies and initiatives we research. As data complexity continues to increase, we expect data catalogs to grow in importance as critical components of organizations’ BI and analytics initiatives.”

The study is the latest industry recognition for Alation, which has been named to the Constellation ShortList™ for Data Cataloging in Q1 2017, a Gartner Cool Vendor in Data Integration and Data Quality in 2016 and a World Economic Forum 2015 Technology Pioneer.

“As enterprises strive to become data-driven, data catalogs are playing an ever more critical role in their BI and self-service analytics strategies. We’re honored to be recognized by users as the best solution in this expanding market,” said Stephanie McReynolds, vice president of marketing, Alation. “This report validates data catalogs as a market category, and ranks Alation as the preeminent solution for collaborative analytics and information governance.”

According to the Dresner report, locating relevant content for analysis is a substantial challenge facing organizations of all sizes, industries and geographies, with industry sentiment exceeding that of users. Respondents overwhelmingly indicated that governing content creation and sharing is very important to organizations in 2017.* Alation addresses these challenges head-on with a collaborative data catalog that brings data discovery and governance to a wide set of business users, allowing them to realize the benefits of self-service analytics and increase the value derived from data and BI investments.

Wisdom of Crowds® research is based on data collected on usage and deployment trends, products, and vendors. As with all of its Wisdom of Crowds® Market Studies, Dresner constructed a survey instrument to collect data and used social media and crowdsourcing techniques to recruit participants.

Learn more:

• Download a complimentary copy of Dresner Advisory Services’ 2017 Wisdom of Crowds® Data Catalog Market Study from Alation

• Read Alation’s blog post: “A New Market Is Born: The Data Catalog Market Study”

• Register for Alation’s BI Governance for Self-Service Analytics webinar

For more information, please visit alation.com/about-alation/.

About Dresner Advisory Services

Dresner Advisory Services was formed by Howard Dresner, an independent analyst, author, lecturer, and business adviser. Dresner Advisory Services, LLC focuses on creating and sharing thought leadership for Business Intelligence (BI) and related areas.