Vertical slicing

When delivering on a large project (data contracts, data mesh, or any large project) you need to realise value early and often.

If you don’t:

You’re not validating your designs
You’re not collecting timely user feedback
(Eventually) You’re going to lose the backing and investment you need to complete the project

That means you can’t spend the first 6 months building a perfect contract-driven data platform, then another 12 months supporting the rollout of decentralised data products, before finally delivering some business value through analytics, AI, or some other data-driven application.

Instead, you need to deliver a vertical slice of the project that delivers business value through the minimal foundations required.

A diagram showing a vertical slice over Contract-driven data platform, Decentralised data products, with Analytics, AI, and Apps at the top.

Now, each time you deliver something you’re testing your capabilities, collecting feedback from users in real-world applications, while building out a bit more of the foundation layers.