Data Mesh TV: A CDO Discussion on the Data Mesh Journey

Imagine with us, you are the CDO and you’re building strategic alignment to start a Data Mesh program. Executives have read the business case and are excited to work in this new data product world. The architecture team is beginning to shift to a decentralized design, realizing that fast analytics does not require data migration. Your agile teams are ready to replace the backlog of long migration activities with a series of fast data integration sprints. You are almost primed to start your journey. Almost.

As a CDO, you appreciate that a sustainable data supply chain must sit on an effective data management foundation. We need to elevate data quality, accountability, and culture to fully exploit the capabilities of the Mesh. We propose that the Data Mesh offers some unique advantages for improving the data foundation and for driving the broader CDO agenda.

In the latest episode on Data Mesh TV, we discuss three areas that are key for your Data Mesh journey:

(1) Data Governance with Data Mesh

Enterprise data governance is one of the most difficult aspects of a CDO’s role. Data quality and stewardship are familiar concerns. We are asked to manage incredible amounts of data with processes and accountability models that were designed in an application-centric world.

What if we rethink our approach with some new ideas? Data Mesh offers some advantages for how we undertake governance and data management. The focus shifts to data products that are designed for the data consumer. The product owners are closer to the business, they have a vested and personal interest in the data. Imagine data consumers voting transparently on data quality, enabling the product owners to focus their quality efforts in the areas that matter the most.

(2) Business Value, By Design

The most important principle in your Data Mesh Program is to focus on business outcomes. To fully exploit this principle, we need data product owners that understand the business and data consumers or business teams that know how to use data products. Data products that can be easily understood and consumed will accelerate the time to value.

Start by developing a Data Mesh literacy program to teach teams how to work in this new data product-centric world and thereby how to get the greatest value out of their Data Mesh. Executed smoothly, this will be a huge win in simplifying analytics for your business teams. With a strong Data Mesh literacy program in place, you’ll soon embrace how a self-service world can generate business value for the organization, by design.

(3) Accelerating the Biggest Digital Opportunities

Pause for a moment and appreciate the capabilities that we are about to enable with Data Mesh. There is a lot of work to do, think big, but start with a simple use-case and set the right pace for your organization. Remember, this is a change journey that will require both your organization and the enabling technology to mature. Start experimenting, apply learnings, set your targets, and scale-up.

Let’s reimagine how a Data Mesh might solve some of the big digital transformation initiatives in healthcare, in energy, or in banking. Many digital transformation strategies are hindered by data integration challenges, but what if we could solve those now?

Watch and listen to our discussion on Data Mesh TV, as we discuss what Data Mesh can do for your organization today and remain resilient through today’s accelerating pace of change. Stream it here: