What is a data pipeline?

A data pipeline is a series of actions that combine data from multiple sources for analysis or visualization. It consists of three components: a source, a data transformation step, and a destination. Data pipelines enable businesses to centralize data from disparate sources into one place for analysis, ensuring consistent data quality and improving business intelligence. The modern data stack includes an automated data pipeline tool, a cloud data destination, a post-load transformation tool, and a business intelligence engine. Automated data connectors are the most effective way to reduce the programmer burden and enable data analysts and data scientists. Fivetran offers prebuilt and preconfigured data connectors that support over 150 data sources and manage normalization for ready-to-query data assets.