John O’Connell authored this article for Advisor Perspectives by VettaFi, covering how smaller firms can achieve data lineage with simple agents. The data lineage conversation in wealth management has been dominated by enterprise software vendors promising sophisticated tracking systems that cost six figures and require dedicated IT teams. But here’s what the sales presentations miss: Smaller firms can achieve meaningful, defensible data lineage using tools they already own — if they understand what lineage actually means in practice.