Understand a Data Product

Alation Cloud Service Applies to Alation Cloud Service instances of Alation

A data product is a collection of data assets designed, packaged, and delivered together. It can be used and reused by users, AI systems, and applications; and it plays a key role in delivering reliable, governed data across the organization.

At its core, a data product is a purpose-built, managed unit of data that includes the assets, metadata, and instructions needed to make the data usable. A data product is:

• Designed for reuse — It exists to solve a problem or serve a purpose, not just as a byproduct of a system.

• Accessible — A consumer should be able to acquire or connect to the product through a known delivery system.

There is an owner foe every data product who is accountable for the product’s definition, quality, and evolution.

Data Products Vs Catalog

Following are the advantages of building data products over cataloging:

• Makes data ready for AI consumption

• Allows organizations to measure value and ROI for specific data assets

• Helps data teams deliver the right data for the right use case, clearly and repeatedly

• Improves data discoverability, keeps it precise and the groups data together based on your purpose

Unlike the traditional approach of creating a catalog with thousands of uncurated assets, a data product is curated, scoped, and maintained. You don’t have to curate every single asset you own; a good data product solves a specific problem such as Who can I contact for a marketing campaign? or What’s our quarterly churn rate?.

Data Products vs. Data Sets

• A data set is just a structured collection of raw data. It may be useful, but it’s often undocumented, ownerless, and unstable.

• A data product is purposeful. It defines the why and the how of using the data. It comes with metadata, access instructions, and a clear contract for use.

Think of a data product as the API to your data. It may be made up of tables, APIs, or files—but it always includes the structure and context needed to make it usable.

Data Products vs. Dashboards

Dashboards visualize insights. They’re important, but they are not data products.

• Dashboards are outputs of data products.

• Mostly, dashboards answer a specific question, for a specific audience.

• Data products are building blocks—they contain structured, reusable data that dashboards (and AI agents) depend on.

Alation may eventually let you link dashboards to the data products they use, but they remain distinct concepts.

Data Products vs. Data Catalog

Feature	Data Catalog	Data Product Marketplace
Purpose	Index all data assets.	List and deliver reusable data
Audience	Data stewards, engineers	Data consumers and producers
Visibility	Broad (millions of assets)	Curated (products that meet
Value Delivery	Metadata capture	Structured delivery and reuse
Governance	Asset-level controls	Product-level standards and certification)
Usage	Organize, govern, find raw data	Find, access, and use ready-to-consume data

The catalog remains essential. It gathers the metadata, and supports global governance. But the marketplace is where value is delivered to business users, AI agents, and applications.