Data Architecture: The Forever Quest for Data Perfection

Data analytics, Data engineering, Data Integration, DataOps, Technology /

Data Architecture: The Forever Quest for Data Perfection

Often when I ask companies about their data architecture, they show me their tech stack. We are on Snowflake or GCP. We use Fivetran for ingestion and dbt for transforms. We use Looker or PowerBI for dashboards.

OK, but show me your data architecture? I get a puzzled look.

Data architecture is not just a tech stack. In fact, the tech stack is just about irrelevant. It can be anything.

Let’s look at what data architecture is and why the distinction matters.

What is data architecture?

Data architecture is a structured framework and policies that govern how data is collected, stored, managed, and used. It describes the entire lifecycle of data, from its acquisition to the final disposal. Data architecture encompasses the design of databases/data warehouses/data lakes. Data integration is another crucial part of it to make that data flow efficiently across all parts of the business. Data architecture ensures that data is handled in a way that supports the organisation’s objectives, enabling informed decision-making.

The tech stack is then selected to deliver the chosen architecture in a most effective manner. Not the other way around.

Data architecture is not a tech stack

Data architecture is a blueprint for managing data assets. It includes data models, policies, rules, and standards that govern which data is collected, how it is stored, how it is accessed, and how it is used. It covers databases, data warehouses, data lakes, and the integration and interaction between these components.

Data governance: Establishing policies and procedures for data management to ensure data quality, privacy, and compliance.

Data management: Facilitating the efficient processing, storage, and retrieval of data.

Data integration: Enabling the merging of data from disparate sources, providing a unified and coherent view.

Data analytics and BI: Supporting the analysis of data to generate insights that inform business decisions.

The key is your organisation creates a suitable data framework and associated processes to support your core business activities. The tech bits come after and can (and should) be swappable to allow scaling and use of new technologies.

What to consider

The tech stack should never drive your data architecture. It often does, unfortunately. That’s why businesses struggle to create data architectures that are most optimal for their operations. Fitting a square peg onto a round hole, and all.

Designing and implementing an effective data architecture is not straightforward and requires a deep understanding of the business. Ideally, you need a clean sheet design, starting from the very beginning. This rarely happens, however. You have to deal with existing organisational complexities, the rapidly evolving nature of data and technological limitations.

Yet, you must never design your data architecture to fit within the existing limitations. Your current state is likely the very bottleneck that strangles the business. You should design with the future in mind. And create a delivery path to get there at the right pace and sufficient investment.

There are a lot of data considerations that the architecture must address, a combination of which you might be facing already. Let’s look at some of them.

Handling volume, velocity, and variety

The three Vs of big data—volume (the amount of data), velocity (the speed of data in and out), and variety (the range of data types and sources)—pose significant challenges. You must design data architectures that can scale to accommodate growing data volumes, handle data streaming in real-time, and integrate diverse data formats from multiple sources.

Ensuring data quality and consistency

Maintaining high-quality, consistent data across different systems is a daunting task. Data architecture must include robust data governance and management practices to ensure data accuracy, completeness, and reliability – critical for effective decision-making.

Data security and compliance

Data architectures must incorporate comprehensive security measures and comply with legal frameworks, adding extra layers of complexity to their design and maintenance.

Integrating legacy systems

Many organisations still rely on legacy systems that may not integrate well with newer technologies. Migrating data from these systems without disrupting business operations or losing critical data requires careful planning and execution. And usually big money. Businesses often “dig their heads in the sand” and pray it won’t be a problem for the foreseeable future.  

Managing data silos

Data silos occur when data is isolated within departments or systems, making it difficult to access and analyse holistically. Breaking down these silos to create a unified data architecture that facilitates data sharing and collaboration is a significant challenge. Both from a technological point of view and cultural.  

Adapting to technological changes

The rapid pace of technological advancement means that data architectures need to be flexible and adaptable. Organisations must continuously evaluate and integrate new technologies to enhance their data capabilities, which can be both costly and complex.

Say, you need to add real-time streaming ingestion. The businesses will often retain existing tech, even if the new tools supersede it. They will look to add a standalone real-time ingestion tech and run both tools side-by-side. It adds complexity.

A good data architecture must incorporate modularity of data tech components, so they can be swapped as needed. It must aim to reduce complexity, duplication and cost wherever it can.  

Skills shortage

The development and administration of data architecture typically fall to data architects, who work closely with business leaders, IT teams, and data scientists. These professionals possess a deep understanding of both the technical and business aspects of data management, enabling them to design architectures that meet the business needs.

However, there is a global shortage of professionals with the expertise required to design, implement, and manage sophisticated data architectures. If you want to benefit from working with data effectively, you should consider making a long-term investment in this area.

Balancing performance and cost

Designing a data architecture that delivers high performance while keeping costs manageable is a delicate balancing act. Businesses must make strategic decisions about data storage, processing, and analysis technologies that align with their budget and performance needs.

On top of that, the pace of technological change can quickly render existing data architectures obsolete, requiring continuous adaptation. They need to redesign work practices to maximise the value of the new capabilities (e.g. cloud, GenAi).

The “forever quest” for the optimal data architecture

Many companies fall victim to the “tech first” approach. They spend a lot of time and money working around the self-imposed constraints.

A company might implement a state-of-the-art data lake without adequate governance, resulting in a “data swamp” where data is stored but cannot be effectively accessed or used. Or a company uses a single, massive database for all its operations, from sales and marketing to HR and finance. This monolithic design creates a bottleneck as all departments compete for resources. But they are unable to rearchitect it because the business fears disruption, so they manage multiple workarounds.

It’s understandable. It can be a hard sell internally to put in place a data architecture that will disrupt the well-established BAU. It will require change. And change is often seen as painful. Too risky. Data architects usually face an uphill battle when pushing for improvements.

Best practices for successful implementation of a data architecture

Data architecture can be a sizable undertaking and requires several things to fall in place. Successful implementation of a data architecture requires careful planning, strategic decision-making, and adherence to best practices that ensure scalability, efficiency, and alignment with business goals.

  • It’s crucial to align the data architecture with the business strategy. Data architecture must support the organisation’s goals and provide a competitive edge. It must be clear to all the stakeholders what will happen and why and how it will change their work. It requires the buy-in from across the business and, especially, the very top. Else your data strategy will fail.
  • Adopt a modular, flexible approach to data architecture, which can accommodate new technologies and data sources without extensive overhauls. Smaller, incremental changes but part of a bigger plan.
  • Implement automation. Everywhere you can practically put one in place. The less manual wrangling you have to do with production data, the more efficient your business will be. This area is often the biggest suffocating factor in data management and a good architecture must aim to address it.
  • Listen to your stakeholders and adapt the architecture to address their needs best. If they require low-latency, real-time capabilities, then your architecture needs to take their use case into account. If they tell you they work most effectively with the older technology, leave them be.
  • Keep sight of the bigger picture – data follows the same principle as all other business functions. It must add value. Data architecture supports that principle. If your architecture costs more than the value your data helps to generate, it’s time for a rethink.
  • Conduct a formal review of your data architecture at regular intervals to assess if and what changes are needed. It’s also wise to reassess your architecture following significant business events, such as mergers, acquisitions, new regulation, or the launch of new business units.

Data architecture is a critical component of modern business strategy, enabling organisations to leverage their data assets effectively. Despite the challenges, by adhering to best practices and investing in skilled professionals, you will develop robust data architectures that support your business goals and adapt to the evolving data landscape. Those businesses that gain the highest value from their data assets and do it faster than the competitors will win.

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