Today, data is a big deal, especially for businesses. So big that it has become a crucial part for companies and organizations. There are even Data Podcasts that talk about the latest trends and technology of the data space. But for it to be of use, it first has to be organized and structured. 

And that is where data architecture comes in, the framework your IT infrastructure uses to support your data strategy. Understanding it can get confusing, especially if you’re not a data architect, so it would be best to understand the basics first about data architecture and how it relates to businesses today.

What is Data Architecture?

Data architecture is the process of how organizations collect, transform, use, distribute, and store data in a standard way. The goal is to send relevant data to the people who need them on time and help them understand it. 

Business strategists like to make plans in real-time as much as possible so companies can always stay ahead of the competition. That is why with the help of modern data architecture, they and technical experts can work together at the same table, which, in return, increases the business’s potential to strive forward, source data, and provide essential information for decision-makers.

What Is A Data Architect? 

Data architects are the people that create data architecture, translating business needs into data, and report system requirements. It is a data architect’s job to create a technology roadmap for business objectives to be met. They make the blueprint for the data flow and processes. They also lead the coordination with the decision-makers to create a data strategy.

The Characteristic of an Effective Data Architecture

For a data architecture to be effective, it needs to have the following characteristics:

User-driven: Back then, access to data was limited, and decision-makers can only work on data that was available to them, which often is not what they need or want. Today, they can now define what the business requires and needs in real-time because all the data they need is already stored and easily accessible. This only became possible because of modern data architecture.

Sharing of Data: Good data architecture promotes data collaboration. This means combining data from different parts of the organization with the other external sources and putting them in one place. By doing this, data will not be hoarded and kept but is instead shared.

Automated: Automations make everything easier. Processes that can sometimes take months to complete will now only take a few hours. Today, it is on a different level because of machine learning and artificial intelligence. Both can identify data types and errors, fix them, structure incoming data, and recommend data analytics and sets that relate to whatever data you have, making data processes faster.

Elastic:  Elasticity is essential for every company because it lets them scale up or down when needed. A cloud becomes your best friend in this because it allows on-demand scalability that is fast and affordable, letting your administrators focus on problem-solving and troubleshooting rather than buying extra hardware or calibrating storage capacity to keep up with demand.

Simple: When it comes to data, simplicity is a must because it ensures that whatever data you are trying to gather, you and other people can easily understand them. If things are too complex, processes can become slow. Simple data movement, framework, platforms, assembly frameworks, and analytic platforms will make work faster for everyone.

Secure: Security is of utmost importance in data architecture because it ensures that the data shared is only on a need-to-know basis. It also recognizes the threat of cybersecurity from criminals. As businesses move most of their operations in the digital space because of the pandemic, cybercrime has also surged up and is becoming more prevalent.

That is why good data architecture ensures that security is up to the task when taking on such risks.

Conclusion 

Gathering and understanding data is a crucial part of modern businesses. Without it, they will have a hard time keeping up with new demands and trends. That is why there are Data Podcasts that talk about the latest technologies on data architecture so people can upgrade their utilities and software.

So, ensure that you are using data architecture for your business. You don’t want to be left behind by your competition, especially with the pandemic still happening.