Glossary / Data & databases

ETL (data pipeline)

ETL — extract, transform, load — is the pipeline that moves data between systems: pulling records from sources, reshaping and cleaning them, and loading them where they're needed, on schedule and with error handling. It's the plumbing behind reports that are actually current and integrations that don't need a human re-keying rows. Unglamorous, and the difference between connected systems and disconnected ones.