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In today’s fast-paced data world, traditional centralised architectures are falling short for organisations, particularly in regulated sectors, such as financial services and healthcare. As data complexity grows, it’s clear that businesses need more agile and adaptable solutions to stay ahead.
Businesses are producing more data than ever, making it challenging to manage effectively. Statista forecasts that global data creation will surpass 180 zettabytes by next year—equivalent to 6.8 billion years of continuous Netflix streaming. To navigate this data deluge, C-Suite executives must adopt a strategic approach to govern and leverage data effectively.
Enter data mesh architecture, a decentralised approach that offers significant advantages over traditional models. This architectural style is particularly beneficial for industries facing stringent regulatory compliance requirements, such as the finance sector which must manage IT security risks related governed by CPG235. Due to these and other gains, the adoption of data mesh is growing.
MarketsandMarkets has uncovered that the data mesh market is forecasted to spike from USD$1.2 billion in 2023 to USD$2.5 billion by 2028. This projected growth emphasises how interest in data mesh architecture is soaring – but what is it exactly?
What is data mesh architecture?
According to Deloitte, the data mesh architecture disperses data ownership and management and can take organisations from a data mess to data success. McKinsey and Co. defines data mesh as being built on four key principles:
- Domain-based data management: This principle structures data around specific business purposes and lets teams own and tailor it to their domain expertise.
- Data as a product: Treats data as self-contained products designed to support various business applications with clear ownership, quality standards, and user-centric design.
- Self-serve data infrastructure: Provides a centralised platform that allows users to find and access data easily without relying on a central data team.
- Federated governance: Employs a “hub-and-spoke” model where a central team dictates standards, safeguarding compliance and quality across decentralised data products.
Benefits over traditional architectures
If performed effectively, data mesh has the power to deliver compelling advantages. Businesses harness data as a fundamental tool for success, and data meshes equip executives with valuable insights. Using data mesh, executives can drive informed decision-making and strategic growth. Below, we explore the data mesh gains over legacy architectures:
1. Enhanced compliance and governance
Data mesh’s federated governance model is particularly advantageous for regulated industries. Based on a JPMorgan Chase case study, their data mesh model allowed for the financial institution to share data from the product lakes restricting visibility, thereby supporting compliance and governance objectives. Centralised oversight allows small teams to set controls and ensure data quality monitoring, supporting risk management and aligning well with regulations.
2. Improved agility and innovation
By decentralising data management, data mesh empowers individual business units to innovate and adapt quickly to market changes. This is crucial for industries where regulatory landscapes are constantly evolving, as it allows organisations to implement changes swiftly without waiting for central approval.
3. Scalability and flexibility
Traditional centralised data architectures often become bottlenecks as organisations scale. Data mesh, however, distributes data management across domains, allowing for parallel processing and scalability without the limitations of a central data repository. This flexibility is essential for handling the complex data needs of large, regulated entities.
4. Cost efficiency
By reducing the need for a large central data team and infrastructure, data mesh can lead to significant cost savings. It promotes real-time data processing and resource optimisation, crucial for maintaining cost-effective operations in compliance-heavy environments. When Intuit deployed data mesh, team productivity and improved security increased by 26 per cent, which also boosted cost efficiency.
5. Enhanced data security
Data mesh architectures enforce robust data security policies across domains, providing centralised monitoring and auditing capabilities. This is critical for regulated industries that must adhere to strict data protection standards, ensuring that data access and usage are transparent and traceable.
Challenges of a data mesh architecture
Despite the advantages of data mesh, implementing this architecture brings challenges. For seamless integration, businesses need to maintain high-quality data across decentralised domains. Without this, shifting data ownership to individual teams can cause inconsistencies. Robust data governance frameworks and tools like Azure Purview are essential for managing data quality.
Additionally, the transition requires significant changes in people, processes, and organisational structures. Organisations must foster a culture of treating data as a product and encourage collaboration among teams. Training and establishing clear data stewardship processes are vital for maintaining compliance. By tackling these challenges, organisations can maximise the benefits of data mesh while ensuring data integrity and regulatory adherence.
The benefits of Microsoft Azure and the future of data mesh
As executives in regulated industries seek innovative solutions to govern and optimise data, implementing a data mesh architecture can be a powerful solution. Integrating Microsoft Azure into a business’s legacy architecture provides a comprehensive suite of tools and services that align well with data mesh principles. Azure’s data services with Azure Purview, provide the necessary infrastructure for building a decentralised, compliant, and scalable data mesh architecture. Azure’s robust security features and compliance certifications further ensure that organisations can meet regulatory requirements while leveraging the benefits of a data mesh.
In conclusion, executives in regulated industries who adopt a data mesh architecture can transform how data is managed and utilised. By fostering innovation, enhancing compliance, and reducing costs, data mesh offers a compelling alternative to traditional data architectures. Leveraging platforms like Microsoft Azure can further streamline the transition and maximise the benefits of this modern approach. Please contact us to learn more about how Experteq can aid you on your data architecture journey.
