Data Factory Inventory Mastery: Optimizing Stock with Enterprise Session Monitor

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Let’s start by talking abut the data factory that we looked at in my previous blog (insert link to lineage blog). Many of you will have well oiled machines in your factory which are producing great insight. If you have strong governance and lineage then you will be operating at a high level. If you have read Cracking the Code: Unlocking Data Lineage in Your Data Factory - SAS Support Communities about lineage you will understand what is needed to make your data factory work effectively.

We now need to start talking about the level of inventory that you hold. As we know in a factory lean and just in time are keywords. A factory does not want to hold too much inventory; it wants the materials when it needs them to meet the order. If you are thinking about growing data volumes, then your inventory is increasing, and you are probably thinking about buying more storage for the inventory. This becomes costly, especially when you consider only a small amount of the data drives the business processes. The rest is just stored data.

In manufacturing, inventory is a balancing act. Stock too much, and you waste space and capital. Stock too little, and production grinds to a halt. In your data factory, the same rules apply — but the consequences are often hidden behind layers of logs, legacy code, and sprawling storage.

Let’s explore how Enterprise Session Monitor (ESM) helps you manage your data inventory like a lean supply chain — identifying what’s used, what’s dormant, and what’s just taking up space.

The Data Inventory Problem: When Stock Goes Rogue

Picture your analytics environment as a factory fed by a massive warehouse of data. Over time, that warehouse grows:

• More tables created “just in case”
• More duplicates from ad hoc extracts and sandbox experiments
• More outdated inputs that no longer serve any business purpose

And as the warehouse grows, so does the factory. You need:

• Bigger servers
• More cloud storage
• More governance overhead

Eventually, you're not just expanding shelves (creating more folders / spaces for data) — you're building entirely new warehouses to house data that may never be used. That’s not scale — that’s sprawl.

Diagnosing the Problem with ESM: Active vs Dormant Data

To optimize your data inventory, you need visibility — not just into what exists, but what’s actually used.

SAS Enterprise Session Monitor (ESM) provides that visibility by tracking SAS session activity across environments. You can configure DATA-MON or the loggers with Logger Configuration, so that ESM can:

• Capture DATA and PROC steps as they execute
• Log dataset access events, showing which tables are actively read or written
• Measure step durations, helping you pinpoint performance bottlenecks

This turns your data warehouse from a black box into a transparent supply chain. You can see:

• Which datasets are actively powering analytics
• Which ones are dormant or obsolete
• How long each step takes — and whether it’s worth the cost

Observability That Drives Decisions

ESM goes beyond traditional monitoring. It enables observability — the ability to correlate session behavior with business processes. You can:

• Map data usage to teams and workflows
• Identify zombie sessions that consume resources without delivering value
• Manage unused data

And with real-time log monitoring and custom event parsers, you can tailor ESM to your environment — capturing exactly the insights you need.

Operational Efficiency: The Right Stock, in the Right Place, at the Right Time

Just like a lean manufacturing operation, your data factory thrives when inventory is:

• Accurate: No duplicates, no outdated inputs
• Optimized: Only what’s needed, when it’s needed
• Governed: Clear lineage, ownership, and usage policies

With ESM, you can:

• Reduce infrastructure costs by retiring unused data
• Improve pipeline performance by streamlining inputs
• Strengthen compliance with auditable usage patterns
• Enable faster, more confident decision-making

Final Thoughts: From Chaos to Clarity

If you keep everything, you’ll need to build everything — and that’s a recipe for inefficiency. ESM helps you right-size your data inventory, align it with business value, and run your analytics factory like a precision operation.