The goal has always been accessible data

The goal of every data architecture has always been to provide accessible data to the organisation.

But having that as a goal and achieving it are two different things…

That’s why new approaches such as data mesh, data contracts, data products, etc are getting so much attention.

Most of us so far have only been able to make a small amount of our data accessible, at great cost, by having a lot of data engineers writing a lot of ETL to “refine” source data until it is somewhat accessible.

Where these new approaches differ is they explicitly move to a more decentralised model, and that do that by:

Providing the right platform and tools so you can decentralise and give up central control whilst still maintaining good data governance
Enabling data producers all over the business to produce data for any data consumer, without central support, which increases the amount of data that is accessible
Creating a culture where people understand the value of data, and therefore are willing to invest a bit more in the production of data, to create better outcomes for the business at reduced costs