Entity resolution, (aka identity resolution) is is an operational intelligence process, typically powered by an identity resolution engine or middleware stack, whereby organizations can connect disparate data sources with a view to understanding possible identity matches and non-obvious relationships across multiple data silos. It analyzes all of the information relating to individuals and/or entities from multiple sources of data, and then applies likelihood and probability scoring to determine which identities are a match and what, if any, non-obvious relationships exist between those identities.

Say you want to learn about Cabernet grapes using Google.  When you search on 'Cabernet' you get millions of links spanning multiple websites.  As you start clicking and reading you find you are reading the same text copied over and over again or worst you waste time reading about something like red wine, which isn't what you wanted. You get frustrated and you quit after learning just a little...but what if the thing you really wanted to know was a combination of what was on three websites, two of which you never bothered to get to? Instead of one big list, wouldn't it be better if those websites were studied and then grouped in a way you didn't have to painstakingly click multiple places to learn a little bit more each time? You wouldn't have to read the exact same text over and over because something else picked the bits and pieces of unique text about Cabernet grapes from the websites and put it in one place for you to read.If you wanted to, you  see the actual websites containing the text about Cabernet grapes to assess their validity. Even better, you see the relationship of your subject (Cabernet grapes) to something similar (Cabernet grape vines).The system already pulled together everything about Cabernet grape vines together into one place like it did for Cabernet grapes, so it is easy to read. Maybe you really wanted to learn how to grow the vine itself. If you could study your subject this way, you would save a lot of time and you wouldn't miss anything important about Cabernet grapes that you would likely miss the other way.We do that not for websites, but for files and records inside a business or across multiple businesses. Customers save loads of time, offer better service because they know everything they need to, or find what they are really looking for like a terrorist or criminal by having our software make sense out of the massive piles of data around them.