Unified Data Catalog

As part of a broader data modernization strategy, a large U.S. multi-line insurance carrier needed a scalable way to help business and technical teams understand, trust, and use enterprise data. Despite investments in cloud platforms and analytics tools, metadata and stewardship capabilities were fragmented, limiting self-service analytics and slowing decision-making.

The organization partnered with PremiumIQ to transition from legacy metadata and stewardship tools to a unified enterprise data catalog built on Alation.

The result is a single, governed system of record for enterprise data assets that improves discovery, accountability, and confidence in analytics across thousands of users.

The Challenges: Fragmented Metadata and Limited Trust

While data volume and demand continued to grow, the insurer struggled to operationalize metadata and governance at scale. Core challenges included:

•No comprehensive inventory of enterprise data assets

•Fragmented metadata spread across tools, teams, and documentation

•Inconsistent stewardship ownership and accountability

•Limited visibility into data lineage, sensitivity, and criticality

•High effort required to find, validate, and consume trusted data

•Difficulty extending governance and metadata capabilities beyond technical teams

The organization needed a unified approach that supported both governance rigor and broad data accessibility.

The Solution: A Unified Enterprise Data Catalog

PremiumIQ led the design and implementation of a unified metadata and stewardship solution using the Alation Data Catalog, supported by advisory services, execution leadership, and change management.

Key capabilities delivered included:

•A comprehensive inventory of enterprise data assets across databases, applications, and reports

•Automated harvesting of technical metadata from data platforms and reporting tools

•Ingestion and enrichment of business glossary metadata

•End-to-end data lineage visibility

•Assignment and propagation of Business and Technical Stewards across assets

•Authorized Data Source designation to guide trusted consumption

•Flagging of Critical Data Elements and Sensitive Data

•Data retention metadata to support regulatory and risk requirements

•Report certification metadata linking reports, fields, and measures to underlying data

PremiumIQ also supported parallel testing to validate governance controls and ensure a smooth cutover from legacy tools.

The Impact: Faster Discovery and Scalable Governance

The unified data catalog reshaped how the organization manages and consumes data across the enterprise.

Key outcomes include:

•A single, trusted inventory of enterprise data assets

•Reduced time and cost to find, understand, and use data

•Faster data discovery and more confident decision-making

•Simplified and scalable data stewardship

•Broader access to trusted data for analysts, data scientists, and business users

•Improved governance visibility without slowing analytics

•A secure, cloud-based foundation for future analytics and AI initiatives

The initial rollout successfully supported more than 4,000 users, with adoption continuing to expand.

Why It Matters

Analytics, AI, and digital transformation depend on trusted data. By unifying metadata, stewardship, and governance into a single enterprise platform, the insurer moved from fragmented knowledge and manual validation to a scalable, self-service data capability.

The result is not just better metadata. It is faster insight, reduced risk, and a foundation that allows analytics and innovation to grow without losing control.

“Modern insurers don’t struggle because they lack data. They struggle because people don’t know what data to trust or how to use it confidently. A unified data catalog changes that equation by making governance visible, usable, and scalable across the enterprise.”