Alation Overview

Alation addresses the challenge of scaling data initiatives by leveraging agentic AI to enhance data intelligence. This platform transforms metadata into a strategic asset, enabling organizations to efficiently manage and utilize their data resources. Alation's capabilities support the advancement of AI initiatives, offering a solution that integrates AI-driven insights into data management processes. With a focus on maximizing data value, Alation is trusted by 40% of the Fortune 100, underscoring its market positioning and potential return on investment. This platform is particularly beneficial for enterprises seeking to optimize their data strategies and drive innovation through AI.

Use Cases

Customers recommend Collaboration, Competitive Intelligence, Workflow Management, as the business use cases that they have been most satisfied with while using Alation.

Other use cases:

  • Communication Management
  • Knowledge Management
  • Training & Onboarding
  • Engagement Management
  • Customer Case Management
  • Social Media Analytics
  • Market Research
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Business Priorities

Improve Visibility and Acquire Customers are the most popular business priorities that customers and associates have achieved using Alation.

Other priorities:

  • Manage Risk
  • Enhance Customer Relationships
  • Enter New Markets Internationally Or Locally
  • Scale Best Practices
  • Grow Market Share
  • Improve Consistency
  • Improve Efficiency
  • Improve Stakeholder Relations
  • Launch New Products
  • Improve Digital And Social Presence
  • Improve ROI
  • Establish Thought Leadership
See all business priorities See less business priorities

Alation Use-Cases and Business Priorities: Customer Satisfaction Data

Alation's features include Personalization, Dashboard, Alerts: Popups & Notifications, etc. and Alation support capabilities include AI Powered, 24/7 Support, Email Support, etc. also Alation analytics capabilities include Custom Reports, and Analytics.

Reviews

"We have such a diverse data ecosystem, so having one application that can connect to Oracle, Hive, Presto and BigQuery, is a huge benefit." - Marcin Cinciala

Peer review evidence (same sources as the product rating summary)

"...The most in-demand collaboration features, like search, annotate and share navigation...." 2021 Dresner Wisdom of Crowds Data Catalog Market Study
"...Pre-built connectors enable the to access data from a wide range of data sources with minimum configuration from cloud data lakes to business intelligence tools. ..." Enterprise Data Catalog Software
"...Create and configure governance workflows right from within the Alation Data Governance App all without coding or invoking other applications...." Data Governance Automation & Application

Alation, Digital Pigeon, eLogger, Cerberus FTP Server, Google Drive, etc., all belong to a category of solutions that help Data Management Platform. Each of them excels in different abilities. Therefore, determining the best platform for your business will depend on your specific needs and requirements.

Alation's Data Catalog maximizes data intelligence by unifying context and deepening data understanding. Empower informed decision-making with a demo.

Popular Business Setting

for Alation

Top Industries

  • Insurance
  • Transportation/Trucking/Railroad
  • Telecommunications

Popular in

  • Enterprise
  • Large Enterprise
  • Mid Market

Alation is popular in Insurance, Transportation/Trucking/Railroad, and Telecommunications and is widely used by Enterprise, Large Enterprise, and Mid Market.

Alation Customer wins, Customer Experiences, Case studies

What solutions does Alation provide for Collaboration?

What makes Alation ideal for Competitive Intelligence?

What makes Alation ideal for Workflow Management?

How does Alation address your Communication Management Challenges?

What makes Alation ideal for Knowledge Management?

11 buyers and buying teams have used Cuspera to assess how well Alation solved their Data Management Platform needs. Cuspera uses 2344 insights from these buyers along with peer reviews, customer case studies, testimonials, expert blogs and vendor provided installation data to help you assess the fit for your specific Data Management Platform needs.

CUSTOMERS TESTIMONIALS
Alation testimonial

Marcin Cinciala

Senior BI Engineer

Allegro

We have such a diverse data ecosystem, so having one application that can connect to Oracle, Hive, Presto and BigQuery, is a huge benefit. Testimonial By Marcin Cinciala
Alation testimonial

Leonard Kwok

Senior Data Analyst

Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC)

We can use manual lineage to perform root cause analysis. This means we can identify problems from our data suppliers in minutes instead of hours or days. Testimonial By Leonard Kwok
Alation testimonial

Michael Lempner

Head of Data

Mission Lane

We are really starting to tap into the potential of how we can leverage Alation within Mission Lane. Alation is a great way for our users to not only explore and discover the information, but also use it and collaborate in a more efficient way to make decisions that impact the business. Testimonial By Michael Lempner
CUSTOMERS TESTIMONIALS
Alation testimonial

Marcin Cinciala

Senior BI Engineer

Allegro

We have such a diverse data ecosystem, so having one application that can connect to Oracle, Hive, Presto and BigQuery, is a huge benefit. Testimonial By Marcin Cinciala
Alation testimonial

Leonard Kwok

Senior Data Analyst

Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC)

We can use manual lineage to perform root cause analysis. This means we can identify problems from our data suppliers in minutes instead of hours or days. Testimonial By Leonard Kwok
Alation testimonial

Michael Lempner

Head of Data

Mission Lane

We are really starting to tap into the potential of how we can leverage Alation within Mission Lane. Alation is a great way for our users to not only explore and discover the information, but also use it and collaborate in a more efficient way to make decisions that impact the business. Testimonial By Michael Lempner
 

How Georgia-Pacific Saved $25M with Alation Data Intelligence

Georgia-Pacific saved $25 million by using Alation's data intelligence platform, GP Data Pulse, to improve data trust and quality. This platform helped streamline spare parts inventory management acr...oss 200+ sites, reducing duplicate orders and enabling efficient intercompany transfers. Alation's solution enhanced data governance and decision-making, positioning Georgia-Pacific for future AI-driven initiatives.

Read on →
 

Alkermes - Pharmaceuticals - Large

Dublin, Ireland

Alation helped Alkermes, a global biopharmaceutical company, centralize and organize hundreds of internal and external data feeds. Before Alation, data was scattered and hard to find, slowing down bu...siness decisions. With Alation’s data intelligence platform, Alkermes improved data quality and consistency for reporting. Data discovery time dropped from days to minutes. The platform made data more accessible, boosting data literacy and freeing IT teams to focus on higher-value work. This enabled Alkermes to support its commercial strategy and improve patient outcomes in neuroscience.

 

Sallie Mae - Financial Services - Large

Newark, USA

Alation helped Sallie Mae build a strong data culture. Over 500 data users needed fast, trusted access to customer information. Alation's platform unified data governance, making it easier to find an...d use data. Sallie Mae cataloged 350,000 database fields and managed 250 TB of data. The solution reduced search time and improved collaboration across teams. Leaders now use Alation as the main source for data insights.

 

NTT DOCOMO - Telecommunications - Large

Tokyo, Japan

Alation helped NTT DOCOMO boost analyst productivity by 10X. The company struggled with complex data assets and slow data search. Alation's data intelligence platform enabled fast, accurate data disc...overy and improved data governance. Analyst workloads dropped by 30%. Over 7,000 users now access governed data for AI and business insights. NTT DOCOMO increased trust in data for AI modeling and improved customer experience.

 

VillageCare - Hospital & Health Care - Medium

New York, USA

Alation helped VillageCare, a New York healthcare provider, break down data silos and fix reporting issues. In just 18 months, VillageCare reached 15,000 catalog views per month and cataloged 67% of ...their Redshift and MySQL datasets. Alation created a single source of truth, boosting trust in data and improving collaboration between business and IT. Teams now use a shared business lexicon, and analyst productivity increased by reducing duplicate reports. VillageCare saw value from Alation within three weeks of deployment.

 

US Federal Government Agency - Government Administration - Very Large

Washington, D.C., USA

Alation helped a US federal government agency improve login speed by 98%. Analyst onboarding time dropped by 95%, letting new users start in under an hour. The agency now runs queries in seconds inst...ead of minutes. Alation’s TrustCheck feature flags deprecated data, boosting trust in reports. Alation University made training fast and easy for 300 users. Three departments now use Alation for secure, browser-based data access and analytics.

Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ)

for Alation

What is Alation used for?

Alation is a Data Management Platform Software mainly used by its customers to Improve Visibility and Acquire Customers by Collaboration, Competitive Intelligence and Workflow Management .

What are the top features of Alation?

Personalization, Dashboard and Alerts: popups & Notifications are some of the top features of Alation.

Who uses Alation?

Alation is used by Insurance, Transportation/Trucking/Railroad and Telecommunications among other industries.

What are Alation alternatives?

Digital Pigeon, ELogger, Cerberus FTP Server and Google Drive are popular alternatives for Alation.

Where is Alation located?

Alation is headquartered at 3 Lagoon Dr, #300 Redwood City, CA 94065.
lightning

Peers used Alation for collaboration and competitive intelligence

Alation Features

  • Low
  • Medium
  • High
FEATURE RATINGS AND REVIEWS
AI Powered

4.34/5

Read Reviews (86)
Custom Reports

4.19/5

Read Reviews (429)
Analytics

4.18/5

Read Reviews (508)
CAPABILITIES RATINGS AND REVIEWS
AI Powered

4.34/5

Read Reviews (86)
Custom Reports

4.19/5

Read Reviews (429)
Analytics

4.18/5

Read Reviews (508)

Software Failure Risk Guidance

?

for Alation

Overall Risk Meter

Low Medium High

Top Failure Risks for Alation

Alation News

Product

Alation Launches Data Products Builder Agent to Power AI-Ready Data

Alation has launched its Data Products Builder Agent, an AI-powered tool designed to automate the creation of trusted, reusable data products. This new agent aims to streamline data product lifecycle management, enhancing compliance and decision-making by transforming raw data into AI-ready assets. The tool will be generally available in Q3 2025, supporting Alation's commitment to open, interoperable data ecosystems.

Product

Alation intros AI governance suite to ensure compliance

Alation has introduced AI Governance, a suite designed to help enterprises ensure regulatory compliance as they deploy AI tools. The suite includes features like an AI Asset Registry, Model Cards, and a compliance dashboard, addressing the need for consistent governance in AI initiatives. This addition strengthens Alation's data intelligence platform by providing a comprehensive compliance layer for AI models and applications.

Product

Alation AI Governance Simplifies Enterprise AI Compliance

Alation introduced Alation AI Governance, a new solution designed to streamline AI compliance for enterprises. This offering provides a comprehensive system of record for AI models, agents, and tools, ensuring real-time compliance with regulations like the EU AI Act and NIST AI RMF. Key features include an AI asset registry, regulation-aware workflows, and an executive dashboard for live compliance posture.

Product

Alation AI Governance creates a system of record for AI oversight

Alation has launched Alation AI Governance, a new solution that provides enterprises with a comprehensive system of record for AI compliance. This offering addresses the challenges of AI oversight by registering AI models and tools, mapping them to regulations, and generating evidence-backed model cards. It supports key frameworks like the EU AI Act and NIST AI RMF, offering a live compliance dashboard for executives.

Alation Profile

Company Name

Alation

Company Website

https://www.alation.com/

HQ Location

3 Lagoon Dr, #300 Redwood City, CA 94065

Employees

101-250

Social

Financials

SERIES C