Alternative Data Processing features explained
for Data Management
Specialized systems for acquiring, cleaning, normalizing, and analyzing non-traditional data sources such as satellite imagery, web scraping, sentiment analysis, and other alternative datasets.
Every feature we track for Alternative Data Processing products, with a description of what each one means.
Analytics & Insights
Systems for extracting actionable insights, predictive signals, or other analytics from processed alternative data.
- Backtesting Frameworks
- Ability to test investment strategies on historical alternative data.
- Customizable Dashboards
- Interactive dashboards for visualizing key metrics from alternative data.
- Event Detection Algorithms
- Automated identification of significant new events within alternative data feeds.
- Exploratory Data Analysis Tools
- Built-in visual and statistical analysis tools for alternative datasets.
- Multivariate Analysis Support
- Ability to analyze complex interdependencies between variables.
- Natural Language Processing Capabilities
- Built-in NLP tools for analyzing text-heavy alternative datasets.
- Predictive Model Integration
- Ability to build, deploy, and run predictive models on alternative data.
- Signal Latency
- Average time between data update and signal generation.
- Statistical Alert Triggers
- Set alerts when indicators from alternative data cross statistical thresholds.
- Visualization Export Options
- Export visualizations and charts in various formats (PDF, PNG, etc.).
Data Acquisition
Features focused on sourcing and collecting alternative datasets from various structured and unstructured data sources.
- API Integrations
- Availability of pre-built connectors to popular alternative data providers and APIs.
- Automated Data Ingestion
- Support for automated pipelines that regularly fetch and update alternative datasets.
- Data Licensing Management
- In-built tools to track and manage data usage rights and compliance for purchased datasets.
- Data Volume Limits
- Maximum volume of data that can be ingested in a defined period.
- Flexible File Formats
- Support for a broad set of data formats (CSV, JSON, XML, images, video, etc.).
- Geospatial Coverage
- Coverage for geospatial data collection across multiple global regions.
- Historical Data Access
- Ability to access and extract historical alternative data records.
- Real-time Acquisition
- Capability to collect and import data with minimal latency.
- Source Diversity
- Ability to acquire data from a wide range of non-traditional sources (e.g., satellite, social media, web scraping).
- User Access Controls on Data Sources
- Granular permissions to restrict which users can set up/acquire which type of sources.
Data Cleaning
Capabilities to ensure alternative datasets are complete, deduplicated, error-free, and ready for downstream analysis.
- Anomaly Alerts
- Automated notifications when significant data anomalies are detected.
- Automated Outlier Detection
- System automatically flags and corrects extreme or inconsistent values.
- Automated Quality Checks
- Regular, scheduled quality control routines to ensure cleaned data conforms to standards.
- Custom Data Cleaning Rules
- Ability to define and apply user-specified data validation and cleaning logic.
- Data Consistency Validation
- Checks to ensure data conforms to expected formats and relationships.
- Deduplication
- Elimination of duplicate or redundant data entries within or across sources.
- Error Logging and Reporting
- Detailed audit trails and error logs for each cleaning operation.
- Missing Value Imputation
- Ability to identify and fill in missing data using statistical algorithms.
- Scalability
- Capacity to handle cleaning tasks for large volumes of data.
- Version Control for Cleaned Data
- Tracking changes and access to previous versions of cleaned datasets.
Data Enrichment
Enhancement of alternative data with additional context or derived features for more valuable analysis.
- Audit Trails for Enrichment Processes
- Detailed logs of all enrichment actions taken.
- Derived Feature Generation
- Support for constructing custom indicators based on primary alternative data.
- Entity Resolution
- Automatically match and merge records referencing the same real-world entity.
- Event Tagging
- Automatic detection and labeling of significant economic, social, or physical events within the data.
- External Reference Data Access
- API or links to regulatory, financial, or public reference datasets.
- Geospatial Tagging
- Append latitude/longitude and geotags to alternative datasets for use in spatial analysis.
- Industry Classification Mapping
- Ability to map entities to industry standards (e.g., GICS, NAICS).
- Machine Learning-based Scoring
- Automated scoring of entities using trained machine learning models.
- Sentiment Analysis Integration
- Auto-generation of sentiment scores from textual/voice/image data.
- Third-Party Data Joins
- Capability to enrich alternative data by merging with third-party or proprietary datasets.
Data Normalization
Transformation of disparate alternative data sets into standardized, comparable formats.
- Batch Processing Support
- Capacity to normalize large batches of alternative data files.
- Cross-Source Consistency Checking
- Automated validation that normalized fields match across data providers.
- Custom Data Transformations
- Support for user-defined scripts and rules for bespoke normalization.
- Data Linking Across Sources
- Ability to join and merge related records from different alternative datasets.
- Metadata Management
- Tools for managing standardized metadata about normalized data.
- Normalization Performance
- Number of records normalized per minute.
- Ontology Management
- Tools to maintain and apply taxonomy/ontology for alternative datasets.
- Schema Mapping Tools
- GUI or code-based tools to map source fields to internal data schemas.
- Time Alignment
- Adjustment of data timestamps across sources to a common standard.
- Unit Standardization
- Automated conversion of data into consistent units (e.g., metric, currency).
Integration & Interoperability
How well the product connects with existing fund management, trading, research, or risk systems.
- BI Tool Integration
- Built-in adapters for business intelligence/data visualization platforms.
- Batch Data Download Scheduling
- Automate the extraction of new data in regular intervals.
- Cloud Storage Integrations
- Support for uploading or syncing data with major cloud providers (AWS, GCP, Azure).
- Custom API Support
- Provision of a customizable API for bespoke use cases.
- Custom Field Mapping
- Easily map alternative data fields to the internal structures of downstream systems.
- Data Lineage Visualization
- Visual trace of data flow and transformations for downstream users.
- Pre-built Connectors to OMS/PMS
- Out-of-the-box integration with order and portfolio management systems.
- Python/R SDKs
- Official software libraries for interacting with the system programmatically.
- Standardized Data Export
- Ability to export alternative data in standard formats (e.g., FIX, CSV, Parquet, JSON).
- Webhooks and Event Streaming
- Push updates and events to downstream systems via webhooks.
Monitoring & Operations
Capabilities for operational oversight, troubleshooting, and ensuring reliability of alternative data processing.
- API Latency Monitoring
- Tracks response times of API endpoints.
- Automated Failure Recovery
- Automatic restart or rerouting in case of pipeline errors.
- Capacity Planning Tools
- Forecast future system demands using historical trends.
- Data Pipeline Health Monitoring
- Real-time status views and alerts for all active data flows.
- Job Scheduling and Queuing
- Manage concurrent tasks and prioritize urgent processes.
- Manual Job Restart/Intervention
- Allow operators to manually intervene in processing jobs.
- Operational Audit Logs
- Detailed records of all operational activities and interventions.
- Real-time Error Notifications
- Immediate alerts to relevant teams upon failures.
- Resource Usage Analytics
- Metrics and trends on compute, memory, and storage usage.
- System Uptime SLA
- Percentage of time the system is contractually guaranteed to be available.
Scalability & Performance
Characteristics ensuring the solution can efficiently process very large alternative datasets.
- Batch and Real-Time Processing Modes
- Support for both scheduled/batch and continuous real-time data pipelines.
- Data Archival
- Automated, cost-effective archiving of old alternative datasets.
- Disaster Recovery/Rollback
- Systems for rapid restore from backup or rollback points.
- Elastic Compute Integration
- Integration with cloud resources to scale up/down compute usage.
- Load Balancing
- Automatic distribution of processing workloads for optimal utilization.
- Maximum Supported Data Volume
- The largest single dataset size supported for import and processing.
- Parallel Processing Capability
- Ability to process multiple data streams or files concurrently.
- Processing Error Handling
- Automated management of processing failures and retries.
- Processing Throughput
- Speed of data throughput during processing operations.
- Scalable Storage Support
- Expandable data storage to accommodate increasing data volumes.
Security & Compliance
Functionalities for protecting sensitive data, ensuring regulatory compliance, and maintaining auditability.
- Audit Logging
- Immutable logs of user activity and data changes.
- Automated Regulatory Reporting
- Automated generation of reports required by financial regulators.
- Data Encryption at Rest
- Encryption of alternative data stored in all databases and filesystems.
- Data Encryption in Transit
- Encryption for alternative data while in transit between systems.
- Data Masking/Tokenization
- Obfuscation of sensitive fields to protect personal information.
- GDPR Compliance Tools
- Support for compliance with EU GDPR and related privacy regulations.
- Integrated Consent Management
- Tools to track legal consents for data use across sources.
- Role-Based Access Control
- Fine-grained permission management for users and groups.
- User Authentication Protocols
- Supports modern authentication standards (e.g., SSO, MFA).
- Vendor Due Diligence
- Framework to vet and approve external data providers for compliance.
Support & Vendor Services
Services and assistance provided by the software vendor to facilitate adoption and ongoing success.
- 24/7 Technical Support
- Technical helpdesk is available around the clock.
- Custom Feature Development
- Vendor is willing to build bespoke features upon request.
- Dedicated Account Management
- Assigned representative familiar with your implementation and needs.
- Implementation Services
- Availability of vendor-led onboarding and integration projects.
- Knowledge Base and Training Materials
- Comprehensive documentation and self-paced training content.
- Onsite Training
- Vendor offers onsite workshops or training as part of onboarding.
- Regular Product Updates
- Scheduled enhancement releases and security patching.
- Service Level Agreement (SLA) Terms
- Contractually specified guarantees on support response and issue resolution times.
- Third-Party Certification Support
- Vendor compliance with recognized security, privacy, or quality standards.
- User Community and Forums
- Active user groups and forums for community support.
Usability & User Experience
User interface design and features that make the system easy and intuitive to use.
- API Documentation Quality Score
- A rating or score for the completeness and usability of the provided API docs.
- Accessibility Compliance
- Follows accessibility standards for inclusive UI design.
- Customizable User Dashboards
- Users can assemble dashboards tailored to their needs.
- Global Search
- Search across datasets, metadata, and processing logs.
- In-Platform Documentation & Help
- Contextual help and API documentation available within the system.
- Language Localization
- Support for multiple languages in the UI.
- Personalized Notifications
- Users receive alerts for errors or data arrivals relevant to them.
- Point-and-Click Data Pipeline Design
- Visual editors for creating data processing and transformation workflows.
- Process Monitoring UI
- Graphical overview of all ongoing and completed processes.
- Self-Service Data Discovery
- Non-technical users can search and preview available alternative datasets.