In the age of Big Data, software companies are managing colossal volumes of information scattered across countless databases, cloud resources, and internal systems. But for many organizations, a hidden challenge remains: dark data. This data lies dormant — untapped, unanalyzed, and often unknown — posing security risks and consuming resources without delivering value. To combat this issue, forward-thinking companies have begun combining data governance platforms like Collibra with advanced automated data discovery tools to unlock insights and visibility while enhancing quality and compliance.
TL;DR
Software companies have been facing an uphill battle against dark data — vast amounts of unknown and unused data lurking within their systems. To address this, they are integrating Collibra, a leading data governance platform, with modern automated discovery tools that can rapidly scan and classify data across environments. The result? Enhanced data visibility, better compliance, and improved decision-making powered by clean, organized, and accessible information.
Understanding Dark Data: What Is It and Why Does It Matter?
Dark data refers to all the information that organizations collect, process, and store during regular business activities, but fail to use for deriving insights or decision-making. Think of archived customer service logs, forgotten backup tapes, or redundant copies of files — all of which sit in your infrastructure and consume storage, add costs, and increase exposure to compliance risks.
According to Gartner, dark data can account for over 80% of the total data in organizations. This data may hold potential value, but without proper visibility and classification, it remains disconnected from business intelligence workflows.
Why is this a problem? Unmanaged data leads to:
- Higher storage and maintenance costs
- Increased security and compliance liabilities
- Inconsistent data quality and duplication
- Missed opportunities in data analytics and monetization
Collibra: A Modern Solution for Governance
Collibra is a data governance and catalog platform that helps organizations create a well-structured, curated view of their data ecosystem. It provides capabilities such as data lineage, policy management, data stewardship, and metadata management that are critical in maintaining a single source of truth.
However, while Collibra excels at managing known data and applying governance controls, it doesn’t automatically discover new or hidden datasets — and this is where automated discovery tools come into play.
The Synergy of Collibra and Automated Discovery
By bringing together Collibra and automated discovery solutions like BigID, Informatica, or Alation, companies bridge the gap between passive governance and proactive exploration. These discovery tools use machine learning, pattern recognition, and AI algorithms to scan entire IT environments and pinpoint data assets that were previously unknown or poorly tagged.
Once discovered, these data assets can be automatically cataloged and tagged within Collibra. The result is a dynamic, continuously updated library of an organization’s complete data landscape. This combination empowers organizations to:
- Identify and classify all data — structured and unstructured
- Apply retention policies consistently across the data lifecycle
- Support privacy laws like GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA with ease
- Visualize data lineage from source to consumer
Key Benefits Realized by Software Companies
When software companies tackle dark data by integrating Collibra with discovery tools, they see transformative benefits. Here are some outcomes observed across the industry:
1. Boosted Data Quality and Trust
The integrated solution continuously identifies duplicates, outdated entries, and poor-quality data. Automated tooling surfaces issues that were previously buried, while Collibra’s stewardship workflows ensure discrepancies are resolved and documented. With higher confidence in their datasets, companies can perform more reliable analytics and machine learning projects.
2. Instant Readiness for Compliance Audits
Regulatory compliance is today a business-critical necessity. Whether it’s proving data origin (lineage), demonstrating retention policies, or facilitating data subject access requests, Collibra offers a structured audit trail. The discovery tools guarantee that no pocket of sensitive data escapes oversight — even if it’s sitting in a legacy server forgotten years ago.
3. Reduced Operational Costs
Storage costs climb as organizations collect more data than they discard. By identifying redundant or obsolete data through automated scans, IT teams can decommission unused assets and archive responsibly. This not only saves on infrastructure but also reduces data complexity which, in turn, accelerates innovation.
4. Accelerated Data Democratization
Dark data inhibits self-service analytics because users simply don’t know what data is available or trustworthy. By illuminating and cataloging all data, Collibra fosters a culture of transparency. Teams across product development, marketing, and customer service can make better data-driven decisions — without relying solely on the data engineering team.
Real-Life Use Case: A Global SaaS Leader
A prominent global SaaS provider faced severe challenges stemming from data silos and inconsistent metadata usage. Their data engineers spent weeks tracing data lineage and responding to internal data access requests. By integrating Collibra with BigID for automated discovery, they redefined their data governance framework in under 6 months.
The results were significant:
- 90% reduction in time spent on locating sensitive data
- 30% cost savings on cloud storage after identifying redundant assets
- 100% visibility into regulated data for GDPR and SOC 2 compliance
More importantly, the entire organization got better at understanding and respecting data. Developers documented APIs more thoroughly. Marketers relied on clean customer segments. Executives asked sharper questions because they trusted the answers sourced from governed data.
How to Start the Integration Process
For software companies interested in adopting this powerful combination, here’s a basic roadmap:
- Assess Your Current State: Inventory your current data tools, cataloging efforts, and existing governance workflows.
- Choose a Compatible Discovery Tool: Popular options like BigID, Informatica, or IBM Watson can integrate with Collibra via API connectors and third-party plugins.
- Automate Metadata Ingestion: Configure automated pipelines to feed discovered metadata, classifications, and tags directly into Collibra repositories.
- Implement Governance Policies: Create data dictionaries, define sensitivity levels, and assign ownership roles in Collibra.
- Engage Stakeholders: Train key employees, from devops to C-suite, on accessing and consuming governed data efficiently.
Conclusion: From Darkness to Data-Driven Brightness
Dark data once loomed as a formidable threat — silently growing, unmeasured, and untapped. But by leveraging cutting-edge discovery tools in tandem with a governance powerhouse like Collibra, software companies are finally switching on the lights. These integrations offer more than just visibility; they provide control, compliance, and clarity in a data-saturated world.
In the competitive digital economy, the businesses that succeed are the ones that don’t just hoard data, but actually use it wisely. And that begins with discovering what you already have, then governing it wisely. Thanks to the convergence of automated discovery and Collibra, the era of dark data is finally coming to an end.