revAlation · Chicago 2026
Data governance · Alation · September 16 to 17, 2026

Make Alation the way your company works.
From the first week.

You chose Alation for a reason. Archetype helps you get all of it: stewards who steward, definitions leaders trust, and a program your team runs.

Archetype Consulting × Alation
Your Archetype contacts at revAlation
Halley Peddle
Manager | Business Development
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Greg DiLullo
Senior Director | Digital Advisory
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Real questions · from our clients

Sound familiar?

"We wrote the policies. I'm not sure anyone's read them."
"I have two teams with two different numbers, one of which is public."
"Our enterprise data warehouse spend is growing, but nobody trusts the data it holds."
"Critical reporting is maintained by hand, and only one person knows how it works."
"Their first question was where the training data came from. We didn't have an answer."
"I couldn't tell you today who has access to our customer data."

Governance problems,
not technology problems.

Data excellence is the goal. Governance is how you get there.
Our approach · tap to expand

Governance sized to the problems you actually have.

Start with why you need it and what it should fix. Decide how it runs once the first win is in hand.

Why

Why are we governing the data?

Start with the challenges and opportunities driving the interest.

Ensuring trust and compliance

Establish ownership and accountability for data. Meet regulatory requirements and mitigate risk.

Enabling business insights and AI

Uncover insights and drive data-driven decisions. Democratize data, increasing usage and trust.

Supporting strategic goals

Enable data to serve high-level business objectives. Bridge the IT gap and make data actionable.

How

How will governance operate?

Three pillars. Alation carries the third one.

Operating model

Structure with groups, roles, and clear responsibilities, tiered from strategic leadership to working groups.

Policy and process

Established policies for organizational consistency. Repeatable, scalable workflows to manage data.

Tools and technology

Modern tools that streamline governance and increase engagement. Integrate, centralize, and automate the key initiatives.

What

What is the focus of governance?

Initiatives integrated with the business and the data lifecycle.

Data cataloging and knowledge management

Documented metadata for discoverability. User guides and shared knowledge that enable the organization.

Data quality and monitoring

Defined rules for completeness, accuracy, and reliability. A monitoring and support process for new issues.

Data security and compliance

Classification and protection of sensitive data. Policies aligned to regulatory requirements.

Data landscape and architecture

Oversight of data assets and infrastructure. Scalable architectures with standards that enable every user.

Alation capabilities · and how Archetype supports each one
Archetype×Alation

Alation does the heavy lifting. We make sure it lands.

AlationArchetypeYour impact
Catalog and search
AlationAutomated discovery and search across every source, with usage signals that surface what matters
ArchetypeDomain standards, curated first assets, steward onboarding
You getA catalog people use in week one
Lineage and impact analysis
AlationColumn-level lineage and impact analysis, generated automatically
ArchetypeLineage wired into change management and issue workflows
You getConfidence before anyone touches a pipeline
Glossary and trust flags
AlationBusiness glossary with endorsements, warnings, and deprecations
ArchetypeDefinition workshops, metric ownership, approval workflow
You getOne number everyone agrees on
Policy and compliance
AlationPolicy center, classification, and governed access
ArchetypePolicy authoring mapped to your regulations and controls
You getAudit evidence without the scramble
Data quality
AlationQuality signals surfaced where people already look
ArchetypeRule design, monitoring cadence, remediation process
You getIssues found before executives find them
AI readiness
AlationTrusted, governed context for agents through AIOS
ArchetypeUse-case selection, guardrails, and the steward feedback loop
You getAgents you can put in front of the business
Where Alation sits · and where the operating model wraps it

Alation connects the stack. The operating model keeps it trusted.

Alation catalogs what you have, traces where it came from, and puts definitions and policies next to the data. Archetype supplies the people, rules, and rhythm around it.

ARCHETYPE OPERATING MODEL ROLES · POLICY · STANDARDS · TRAINING · KPIS SOURCES Enterprise warehouse ERP and finance CRM and operations Files, APIs, pipelines ALATION Data intelligence platform Catalog Lineage Glossary Policies Data quality AI agents Stewards enrich it. Everyone searches it. CONSUMERS BI and reporting Analysts and science AI and agents Compliance and audit Stewardship programowners, workflows, cadence Standardsmetadata, domains, tagging Enablementtraining, playbooks, comms Measurementadoption KPIs, roadmap

Tap a capability to see what it does.

Illustrative. Systems vary by client; the platform and the four practices do not. Swipe to see the whole diagram.

How we implement · tap a step

Prove it once. Then design for everywhere.

Step 1

Align and target

Agree on what governance is for before deciding what it looks like. Strategic objectives, executive sponsorship, and the measures of success.

Step 2

Assess and scope

Understand what exists and what needs to be built: current practices, tooling, and organizational readiness. Bound the MVP.

Step 3

Prove, then design

Run a high-impact use case first. What we learn from making governance work in one place determines how we design it everywhere.

Step 4

Adopt and evolve

Extend the practice beyond the pilot. Communications, training, and enablement to embed it. Measurement to show it's working.

What success looks like · Alation plus an operating model

Alation gives your teams the tools. The operating model turns them into habits.

Alation with the Archetype operating model
  1. Rapid alignment, defined governance from day one
  2. Prioritized use cases driving real business value
  3. Trained, enabled stewards actively enriching data
  4. Catalog embedded in everyday workflows
  5. Documented playbook for long-term independence
A rollout without one
  1. Slow onboarding, unclear roles
  2. Generic use cases, low adoption
  3. Stewards in name only
  4. Catalog sits unused after launch
  5. No clear path to self-sufficiency
Faster value. Stronger adoption. Lasting impact.
Proof · what we have done

Catalogs that run. Programs that outlast the project.

State government
EOTSS
Alation Data Intelligence Platform

A statewide Alation deployment, standardized so every executive office can onboard the same way.

The Commonwealth needed a common Data Intelligence Platform so agencies could find and share data across a federated landscape. Archetype piloted and standardized the Alation rollout, and today supports the platform's health, standards, and stewardship community.

Background. A strategy of using data to improve constituents' lives through an interconnected government: shared data, consistent processes, common technologies, and best-of-breed tools as a foundation for agencies to collaborate and innovate.

Approach. Network and security configuration, operations and standardization, a real-world proof of concept with data teams, a deployment package for future offices, and a roadmap for cross-charging and program expansion.

Fully deployed platform with approved, documented security and networking configuration, including SSO.
Two executive offices onboarded with stewards actively using the tool; more agencies engaged through a standard onboarding program.
Agreed metadata standards for catalog content, domains, and tagging, with training and documentation embedded in the platform.
Ongoing: data discovery and access module support, Alation platform health and advisory, and stewardship community support through FY27.
Healthcare
Academic medical center
Data catalog program design

A year after buying a catalog, adoption had stalled. Sixty pages later, it had a plan tied to a real go-live.

Hundreds of systems, dozens of consumer groups, and highly distributed analysts. Archetype delivered an immediate plan for a catalog capability in support of a major system go-live, plus the longer-term program and governance recommendations.

Approach. Preparation with key leaders to identify stakeholders across the data community; rapid assessment through interviews and system review; synthesis of where the catalog could be most effective; planning; and executive-level recommendations.

Demand assessment naming the key business needs, and a target catalog feature set aligned to the program.
Recommended approach and minimum standards, a short-term adoption plan aligned to the go-live, and a prioritized roadmap for expansion.
Renewed enthusiasm for the catalog among stakeholders; stewards capturing their knowledge in one searchable place.
Healthcare
Data Governance 2.0
Operating model design

Governance had been tried before. This time the Director of Data Governance stood up a team and ran it.

Archetype interviewed most of senior leadership and the previous governance council, then designed the charter, organizational design, operating model, and implementation roadmap for Data Governance 2.0.

Output. An 85-page, 14,000-word operating model design: an approved charter setting vision, mandate, and objectives; groups and individual roles; the processes of governance; a full set of roles and responsibilities; and a roadmap and communication plan for standing it up.

A comprehensive operating model complete with mandate, objectives, and organizational design.
A practical plan the client used to establish the team and implement a renewed program.
Public sector
New England
Data quality automation · Snowflake

Two months a year of manual checking became a daily engine with a dashboard.

A CRM presented health plan options to residents, and occasional inconsistencies meant potentially incorrect options. Archetype coded the failure scenarios into repeatable tests running daily against the Snowflake warehouse, with drill-down to each issue.
Time spent resolving issues significantly reduced and spread across the year instead of a pre-renewal crunch.
Administrators gained time to fix root causes in process, training, and public guidance.
Issue volumes tracked over time to demonstrate improvement in quality and public experience.
Questions to get started · bring these to our call

Don't know where to begin? Start with these.

If you lead the business

1

Do we trust the numbers we run the business on?

2

Is our data foundation ready for AI, or are we hoping it is?

3

Who owns the definitions behind the board deck?

4

Could we show a regulator where a number came from, tomorrow?

5

What would change if every team could find and trust the same data?

If you lead the program

1

Under what authority will data governance operate?

2

Who will lead data governance?

3

What is going to be better as a result of data governance?

4

In practice, what will the data governance team actually do?

5

How will you measure success?

Who we are · Archetype Consulting

A consulting firm with a dedicated data governance practice.

Archetype Consulting was founded in 2006 in Boston. We work across analytics, business intelligence, data management, and performance management, and our governance team sits inside that full data practice. That means an Alation catalog connects to the warehouse, the pipelines, and the reports people already use. Alation partner since 2022.

20+
years helping enterprises trust their data
Founded 2006
85
pages in one client's approved operating model
Boston Children's, DG 2.0
500+
glossary terms and metric definitions captured with stewards on one catalog rollout
Catalog-enabled governance case study
2→
executive offices live on a statewide catalog, with a package for the next ones
Commonwealth of MA, EOTSS

“Alation is in place.
We make sure it gets used.”

At Archetype, forward is not just a direction. It is a decision. We partner with leaders who are ready to move, with precision, with speed, and with purpose. We bring clarity to complexity. We turn strategy into systems. We activate technology that is not just smart, but scalable.

Leaders do not just need answers. They need outcomes. So we do not just consult, we lead. We do not chase trends. We build infrastructure for tomorrow. And we do not wait for the future to arrive. We make our clients ready for it.

Forward Ready.
Measurable · Strategic · Scalable · Actionable · This is consulting that activates
Archetype×AlationAlation partner
Email Halley and Greg to set up a discovery call Read the stories
Your Archetype contacts at revAlation
Halley Peddle
Manager | Business Development
TextCallEmail
Greg DiLullo
Senior Director | Digital Advisory
TextCallEmail
Talk with Halley or GregSet up a discovery call
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