Data Architecture: Rich + Happy = Fat Data Stacks?
7 Lessons to build lean, simple, and agile data stacks, not fat ones.
Data architecture, it’s that time of the year again. For some reason, whenever it is dark outside, so are the thoughts about your own data architecture, outdated, too complex, something is missing.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. The solution is not to hire dedicated data architects that solve problems by being super smart. Instead, I believe there are a few fundamental lessons every data engineer can apply to always have a data stack you’re happy with, even when the winter just won’t go away.
In 2016, Nike introduced two sneakers in China. With the Chinese words “rich” and “happiness” written on the heels. The problem? When putting the two together, they read “get fat” in Chinese. A huge backslash ensued within China, with thousands of comments on the initial announcements of these shoes.
Nike missed a key lesson here: To start with your final outcome and then work your way backward. So let us not do that. Let us start with the goal in mind: A data stack that is able to adapt, that is lean, and that feels simple, no matter how your team composition changes or how your deliverables change.
