Question 1

What problem does gridmap solve?

Accepted Answer

It replaces the scattered Excel files, hardcoded SQL, and tribal knowledge your reports depend on with one governed, versioned, auditable registry — so mappings and reference data stay correct and traceable.

Question 2

How is gridmap different from managing data in Excel?

Accepted Answer

Excel has no version history, no row-level access control, and no API. gridmap gives you typed columns, a full audit trail, granular permissions, and a lookup API — purpose-built for reference data instead of improvised in a spreadsheet.

Question 3

What happens when a new source value appears that isn't mapped yet?

Accepted Answer

Delta sync detects it automatically and flags it as unmapped, or AI-suggests a mapping on arrival. It surfaces on your dashboard and in notifications instead of silently breaking a report.

Question 4

Who in my organization should use gridmap?

Accepted Answer

Controllers and data managers who own the numbers, and the data engineers who consume reference data downstream. Access control lets each group manage only what they should.

Question 5

How does row-level security work, and why does it matter for reference data?

Accepted Answer

Each user only sees the rows they are authorized for, even within the same registry — finance sees cost center codes, operations sees product codes. Access is enforced at the data level, not by creating separate files or tabs that drift out of sync. You link a control registry and gridmap derives each person’s allowed rows from it, and those permissions can be synced automatically from your data warehouse and kept current on a schedule.

Question 6

Can we track changes for compliance and audit purposes?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every create, update, and delete is logged with the old value, new value, user, and timestamp. Soft delete means nothing is permanently lost, and the audit log is searchable and exportable for compliance reviews.

Question 7

Does gridmap replace our data warehouse?

Accepted Answer

No — gridmap works alongside it. It connects to Snowflake, SQL Server, BigQuery, PostgreSQL, Databricks, and Microsoft Fabric to read source values and detect changes, then serves approved mappings back via REST API to your pipelines, BI tools, and ETL jobs.

Question 8

How quickly can we get started?

Accepted Answer

The free tier needs no credit card. You can create your first mapping, import an Excel file, or connect a database in under 10 minutes. AI mapping suggestions and scheduled sync are available from the Basic tier.