Frequently askedquestions

We offer a Business Intelligence tool, optionally with dashboards set up for you. Business Intelligence (BI) helps you turn data from different systems into useful insights. Think of an overview of your finances, staffing or sales, so you can see what is happening and make informed decisions.

With DataOwn, you bring that data together, turn it into clear charts and dashboards, and explore it yourself. Your own data team can get started, or we can connect your data sources and set up the dashboards for you.

Explore the data yourself

Our platform makes it easy to investigate data yourself. See an unusual number? Click it and break it down by department or cost category, for example. Creating your own analysis takes just a few clicks: select the dimensions and metrics you want to see and you have a chart. You can go beyond a dashboard to find the story behind the numbers.

From data to dashboard, fast

A BI platform should deliver results quickly. You do not want to spend days arranging accounts or connecting tools, even when they come from the same supplier. DataOwn brings loading, transformation and dashboards together in one platform. You write your data logic in SQL: a widely used language that data analysts know and that you can keep using outside our platform.

Scalable and portable

You build a data warehouse with one semantic layer: a central place for the definitions of your metrics and dimensions. A number therefore means the same thing in every dashboard, without maintaining a separate data model with its own code for each dashboard. You can reuse visuals across dashboards. Want to host it yourself later? Take your data, logic and dashboards with you.

Digital autonomy included

DataOwn is a Dutch company with hosting in the Netherlands and a platform based on open source tools and open standards. You keep control of your data and everything you build with it.

Explore the data yourself

Our platform gives users many more ways to explore data themselves. A user with the right permissions can automatically drill down from any visual to any dimension. Data exploration is easy too: a few clicks are all it takes to create your chart. We also offer an easy-to-use, accessible MCP server for use with your own AI models.

From data to dashboard, fast

Building for the future in Power BI means combining several components yourself. They do not always work well together, often have different licensing terms and use different languages or interfaces. With us, you get a fully configured architecture from the moment you sign up.

No vendor lock-in

We are steward owned and always put our customers’ interests first. We build with open source tools and use open standards wherever possible. If you do decide to leave us, you can take your logic and dashboards with you, without having to rebuild them.

We also offer digital autonomy. Your data is fully under Dutch control. Our steward ownership structure prevents us from being acquired by a foreign party.

Combine data from multiple sources

Odoo does have built-in dashboard functionality, but it also has limitations. With us, you can combine data from multiple sources, enriching your Odoo data with information from other systems and/or public data, such as Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

Apply more complex logic

You can also apply more complex logic. For example, an analysis that shows how certain changes would affect next year’s budget. This lets you use your data both to review past results and to explore future scenarios.

Room for more data

Our platform is designed to process larger volumes of data. Are your Odoo dashboards slowing down? That can be a reason to move your analytics to a separate BI platform. We review your data and setup together to determine what this could offer in your situation.

A complete BI platform

Great that you already use an open source dashboard tool! The difference is that we offer a complete BI platform built for the future. We have a separate tool for loading data, including data behind APIs or data that needs to be combined from multiple sources.

Reuse definitions beyond your dashboards

At DataOwn, we maintain definitions and data logic in a separate tool: dbt. They are independent of your dashboards. This means you can use the same definitions in other tools, for example to ask questions about your data using AI.

Explore data yourself, faster

The open source dashboard tool we use, Lightdash, offers many ways to explore data that has already been modelled. Users with the right permissions can drill down and create their own charts in a few clicks. This helps you explore your data quickly and find the story behind the numbers.

Your own AI assistant can already do a lot

AI offers many ways to work with your data. Through our MCP server, you can use your own AI assistant to create dashboards and your semantic layer, and ask questions about your data. This lets you work with your data in everyday language. We will also offer an integrated AI assistant soon.

But what do your numbers mean?

For a question like ‘How many active customers do we have?’, you need to define active. An order in the past month? A current contract? Or anyone who has ever been a customer? If AI interprets that definition afresh for every analysis, you can get different answers to the same question.

One central place for your definitions

That is why DataOwn focuses on the semantic layer: the place where you maintain definitions and relationships. You agree on how to calculate revenue, customer counts or absenteeism, for example. You can then reuse those definitions in dashboards and questions asked through AI. AI can help build that layer, but your organisation ultimately needs to stand behind it and be able to explain the calculations.

The way you get answers will change, and AI will play a bigger role. A shared foundation helps you get consistent answers to the same question, whether you open a dashboard or ask your AI assistant.

DataOwn combines open source tools in one configured BI platform. We use Meltano to load data from source systems, dbt to transform it with SQL and maintain data logic, and Lightdash to create charts and interactive dashboards. PostgreSQL is the database that stores your data.

We also use tools including Keycloak for accounts and access, Graylog for logging and Zabbix for monitoring. We make the components work together and manage the platform, so you can focus on your data and insights.

1. Dutch control

Your data is hosted in the Netherlands and remains fully under Dutch control. DataOwn is a Dutch company and is steward owned. This structure prevents us from being acquired by a foreign party, keeping control of your data in Dutch hands over the long term.

2. Standards & open source

You also keep control of the technology. We build with open source tools and widely used standards such as SQL. This means your data, logic and dashboards do not depend on a single supplier. Want to switch providers or host the platform yourself? Take what you have built with you and continue maintaining and developing it yourself or with another service provider.

Yes. We can guide you from the first question to dashboards people actually use. Together, we identify the insights you need and the data available. We then connect and structure the data and build the dashboards.

We help your colleagues get started with adoption sessions and a monthly check-in. Viewing dashboards and creating your own analyses does not require SQL: you select the available dimensions and metrics in the interface.

DataOwn uses more than 600 Singer connectors to load data from databases and APIs. You can bring together information from different systems, such as your CRM, ERP or public data sources like Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

You then transform that data using SQL into reusable datasets for analysis. The right connector depends on your source and the access it provides. Tell us which systems you use so we can work out what is needed.

Yes. You manage accounts and roles and share spaces and dashboards with the right users. This gives colleagues access to the insights intended for them.

Access management capabilities differ by variant. In Small, you add users manually. Compare the variants for the capabilities in each package and read the documentation for guidance on setting up users and sharing dashboards.

Create an account on the account page and choose a free demo or the Small variant. The demo is equivalent to Small, but you cannot add extra users.

You do not need to build everything at once: start with the data sources and insights that matter most to you. The variants page lists current packages and prices. The roadmap shows what is available and which additions are planned.