Distributing Data Governance: How Unity Catalog Allows for a Collaborative Approach

In this presentation, we will discuss how Akamai, as a leading provider of content delivery network (CDN) and security solutions, effectively manages its vast data assets using Unity Catalog. With thousands of data assets, ranging from small to multiple petabytes in size, Akamai faces the challenge of maintaining a unified governance model across its numerous Databricks workspaces.

By leveraging Unity Catalog, Akamai has been able to distribute the administration burden among different departments while still ensuring centralized governance. This approach allows for efficient management of shared assets and those specific to each product.

One of the key benefits of using Unity Catalog is increased visibility into the organization’s data assets. It provides a comprehensive view of all the data assets available, enabling better understanding and utilization of these resources. Additionally, Unity Catalog allows Akamai to identify and potentially eliminate duplicate data workloads across different departments, streamlining operations and reducing redundancy.

Another advantage of utilizing Unity Catalog is the elimination of boilerplate code for accessing external sources. This feature saves time and effort for data teams by providing a standardized and simplified way to access data from external sources, reducing the need for repetitive code development.

Furthermore, Unity Catalog enhances innovation within Akamai’s product teams. By exposing data assets in a more efficient manner, product teams can easily access and utilize these resources, fostering innovation and enabling faster development cycles. This improved accessibility and exposure of data assets lead to increased productivity and creativity among the product teams.

In conclusion, the implementation of Unity Catalog at Akamai has provided numerous benefits beyond access management. It offers enhanced visibility, eliminates duplicate workloads, simplifies external data access, and drives innovation within the organization. Akamai’s experience serves as a testament to the value of Unity Catalog in effectively managing and leveraging data assets in a large-scale enterprise environment.