“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again,
this time more intelligently.”
~ Henry Ford ~

There’s a lot of energy and optimism when a data catalog project kicks off. The vision is clear: help people find the data they need, understand what it means, and use it confidently. But somewhere between kickoff and rollout, something gets lost.

People stop creating content. Or worse, they never start. Excitement fades. Progress flatlines. And what was supposed to be a strategic asset becomes "shelfware."

So, what went wrong?

Here are some of the most common reasons data catalog projects fail—and what you can do to avoid them.

Progress is too slow—and people move on

You’re three months in;
the team has a beautifully refined taxonomy
and a rock-solid definition for “customer.”

But there’s still nothing in the catalog anyone can use.

Even with the best intentions, slow progress can kill momentum. If your catalog sits in “setup mode” for too long, people get distracted. Priorities shift. The window of enthusiasm closes.

A common trap is over-planning: defining standards, refining taxonomies, and debating governance policies—before anyone’s seen the value.

Start small. Deliver something useful early. Get it in front of real users. When people see progress, they stay engaged. When they don’t, they move on.

No one documents anything

You granted access. You made the assignments.
You taught your editors how to create content.

And nothing happened.

Let’s be blunt: the hardest part of a data catalog isn’t standing it up—it’s filling it in.

People aren’t lazy—they’re uncertain. They don’t know what counts as 'good enough,' or who should go first. And without early examples, they hesitate.

If no one is creating content, it doesn’t matter how polished the platform is. A catalog without documentation is just an empty shell. And yet, that’s exactly where many projects stall.

Sometimes it’s because ownership is unclear. Sometimes it's because people don’t know what to document or where to start. Either way, the result is the same: silence.

The solution? Start by documenting something. The most-used dashboard. The one confusing report name. The top five tables in your master data management (MDM) system. Make the process visible, easy, and worth the effort.

Momentum builds when people see progress—and see that their contributions matter.

There’s too much focus on completeness, not usefulness

“We only have 30,000 more columns to define, and then we can roll the catalog out to our users.”

It sounds like a joke—but it’s not far from what some teams aim for.

Perfection is tempting. But while teams debate glossary standards, a dashboard with 100 daily users still isn’t documented. And no one knows which of the two "Revenue" reports to trust.

Some teams delay rollout until everything is documented. That sounds reasonable—until the catalog becomes a private project that no one ever sees.

You don’t need to catalog the universe before you launch. Start with the most-used reports. The most confusing definitions. The systems people ask about every day.

Success grows from use, not from volume.

It never earns trust

Someone opens the catalog and they search for a glossary term.
They find it—labeled TBD.

That’s the moment trust dies.

If users open the catalog and find outdated definitions, missing context, or a broken search experience, they’ll bounce. And they won’t come back.

A catalog is only as good as the confidence people have in it. That confidence has to be earned—and maintained.

Prioritize quality over quantity. Fix the things that break trust, even if they seem small.

It’s treated as a tool, not a system

You created the perfect catalog but no one is using it.

What happened?

Installing a catalog is like buying a hose and expecting a garden. It might help—but only if you do the work to cultivate something.

You can’t just install a tool and expect behavior to change. Tools don’t create alignment—people do. And behavior doesn’t change unless the catalog becomes part of how people actually work.

That’s where so many teams stumble. They focus on standing up the platform but forget to integrate it into real workflows. They overlook the conversations, habits, and decisions that give the catalog meaning.

If it’s not where people go to answer questions, it won’t be used. If it's not supported by stakeholders who promote its use—not just fund it—it won't grow. And if it’s not genuinely useful, it won’t matter how well it’s configured.

Implementation must be intentional. It needs workflow integration, habit-building, visible support, and early wins. Because usefulness drives engagement—when people see that the catalog helps them do real work, they’re far more likely to contribute, trust it, and come back to it.

Your Project Isn't Doomed

Maybe you saw yourself in one of these examples. That’s okay. Most teams do. The good news? You can turn it around.

If you recognized something in this list—don’t worry. You’re not alone, and it’s not too late.

Most catalog projects don’t fail all at once. They stall. They drift. But that also means they can be restarted.

Remember the energy you had at the beginning? Revisit the vision. Reengage your stakeholders. Commit to taking the next step, not every step. Enlist a few colleagues. Ask for help. Share progress, even if it’s small.

A successful catalog doesn’t come from perfection. It comes from momentum. And momentum is something you can rebuild.

Start now. Start where you are. You might be closer than you think.

Feeling stuck? Download our Data Catalog Reboot Checklist for practical steps to get things moving again.