Semprini

BI & analytics loves Data Autonomy and event driven architecture. In the operational side of Semantic Hub / Data Mesh, data is already clean and in business form. Data engineering can subscribe to all significant business object changes and metrics can be automatically calculated live. Dimensional modelling also becomes a much simpler process as canonical data is available near real time.

The data engineering and integration teams can become an active part of data governance and data stewardship. Working closely with the business domain SMEs, everyone is on the same page and reporting is simplified.

Data Autonomy is a collaboration of A Holistic Data Fabric/Mesh, RESTful interfaces, RESTful events and enterprise micro-services. Focused around Resource Oriented Architecture (ROA) rather than Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), its purpose is to provide the ability to change rapidly by keeping the level of dependencies constant across the IT landscape.

Standard event driven integration practice is to take data from a system, transform into a middle model and then transform to each destination. Data Autonomy simply says that while we have the data in the middle form, lets save it.

Each business domain must be free to evolve and mature independently as the view of significant business objects evolves. The data governance group with data stewards and SMEs should be responsible for producing domain aligned data product definitions which are then realized into data products. The features of these data products should cover interfaces and persistence for both operational and analytical data.

Data Autonomy is a holistic data strategy which is based on the rationale discussed in Vestigial Technology. This is an overview of the concepts.

The purpose of Data Autonomy is to counteract increasing costs and loss of flexibility in IT as the business grows and changes. Data Autonomy limits IT complexity by providing loosely coupled, consistent, accessible, and secure information anytime, anywhere, on any device.

Data Autonomy works best in conjunction with modern IT practices like automated regression, DevOps and infrastructure as code. We must embrace change and be good at implementing small changes regularly.

Corporate IT has evolved much like ourselves - as Darwin stated 'we bear the indelible stamp of our lowly origin' and IT has it's fair share of appendixes and male nipples. Also like ourselves, this legacy takes resource to maintain and can cause systemic issues if it breaks down.

I can milk this metaphor even more! Feeding these unwanted parts in the body is our blood flow and data is the lifeblood of any corporate IT system. The energy an organisation or organism uses to pump it's lifeblood is how IT becomes slower at responding to it's needs.

Unlike corporeal beings, however, IT and the demands on IT are changing at at ever increasing pace.

What are we to do? Unsurprisingly, dear reader, I have opinions.