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What Is Data Architecture - A Framework For Managing Data - CIO

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What Is Data Architecture - A Framework For Managing Data - CIO

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GabrielGarciaOrjuela
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© © All Rights Reserved
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UNITED STATES 

FEATURE

What is data architecture? A framework for managing data


Data architecture translates business needs into data and system requirements and seeks to manage data and its flow
through the enterprise.

By Thor Olavsrud
Senior Writer, CIO
NOV 4, 2020 3:00 AM PST

Data architecture de nition


Data architecture describes the structure of an organization's logical and physical data assets and data management
resources, according to The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF). It is an offshoot of enterprise architecture
that comprises the models, policies, rules, and standards that govern the collection, storage, arrangement, integration,
and use of data in organizations. An organization's data architecture is the purview of data architects.

Data architecture goals


The goal of data architecture is to translate business needs into data and system requirements and to manage data
and its flow through the enterprise.

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Data architecture principles


According to Joshua Klahr, vice president of product management, core products, at Splunk, and formerly vice
president of product management at AtScale, six principles form the foundation of modern data architecture:

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1. Data is a shared asset. A modern data architecture needs to eliminate departmental data silos and give all stakeholders a
complete view of the company.
2. Users require adequate access to data. Beyond breaking down silos, modern data architectures needs to provide
interfaces that make it easy for users to consume data using tools fit for their jobs.
3. Security is essential. Modern data architectures must be designed for security and they must support data policies and
access controls directly on the raw data.
4. Common vocabularies ensure common understanding. Shared data assets, such as product catalogs, fiscal calendar
dimensions, and KPI definitions, require a common vocabulary to help avoid disputes during analysis.
5. Data should be curated. Invest in core functions that perform data curation (modeling important relationships,
cleansing raw data, and curating key dimensions and measures).
6. Data flows should be optimized for agility. Reduce the number of times data must be moved to reduce cost, increase
data freshness, and optimize enterprise agility.

Data architecture components


Dataversity says data architecture can be synthesized into three overall components:

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Data architecture outcomes. These are the models, definitions, and data flows often referred to as data architecture
artifacts.
Data architecture activities. These are the forms, deploys, and fulfills of data architecture intentions.
Data architecture behaviors. These are the collaborations, mindsets, and skills of the various roles that affect an
enterprise's data architecture.

Data architecture vs. data modeling


According to Data Management Book of Knowledge (DMBOK 2), data architecture defines the blueprint for managing
data assets by aligning with organizational strategy to establish strategic data requirements and designs to meet
those requirements. On the other hand, DMBOK 2 defines data modeling as, "the process of discovering, analyzing,
representing, and communicating data requirements in a precise form called the data model."

While both data architecture and data modeling seek to bridge the gap between business goals and technology, data
architecture is about the macro view that seeks to understand and support the relationships between an
organization's functions, technology, and data types. Data modeling takes a more focused view of specific systems or
business cases.

Data architecture frameworks


There are several enterprise architecture frameworks that commonly serve as the foundation for building an
organization's data architecture framework.

DAMA-DMBOK 2. DAMA International's Data Management Body of Knowledge is a framework specifically for data
management. It provides standard definitions for data management functions, deliverables, roles, and other terminology,
and presents guiding principles for data management.
Zachman Framework for Enterprise Architecture. The Zachman Framework is an enterprise ontology created by John
Zachman at IBM in the 1980s. The "data" column of the Zachman Framework comprises multiple layers, including
architectural standards important to the business, a semantic model or conceptual/enterprise data model, an
enterprise/logical data model, a physical data model, and actual databases.
The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF). TOGAF is an enterprise architecture methodology that offers a high-
level framework for enterprise software development. Phase C of TOGAF covers developing a data architecture and
building a data architecture roadmap.

Characteristics of modern data architecture


Modern data architectures must be designed to take advantage of emerging technologies such as artificial
intelligence (AI), automation, internet of things (IoT), and blockchain. Dan Sutherland, distinguished engineer and
CTO, data platforms, at IBM, says modern data architectures should hold the following characteristics in common:

Cloud-native. Modern data architectures are designed to support elastic scaling, high availability, end-to-end security for
data in motion and data at rest, and cost and performance scalability.
Scalable data pipelines. To take advantage of emerging technologies, data architectures support real-time data
streaming and micro-batch data bursts.
Seamless data integration. Data architectures integrate with legacy applications using standard API interfaces. They are
optimized for sharing data across systems, geographies, and organizations.
Real-time data enablement. Modern data architectures support the ability to deploy automated and active data
validation, classification, management, and governance.
Decoupled and extensible. Modern data architectures are designed to be loosely coupled, enabling services to perform
minimal tasks independent of other services.
Data architecture roles
Here are some of the most popular job titles related to data architecture and the average salary for each position,
according to data from PayScale:

Data architect: $76K-$155K


Project manager: $56K-$128K
Solutions architect: $74K-$159K
Data engineer: $65K-$132K
Data analyst: $43K-$85K
Data scientist: $67K-$134K

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Thor Olavsrud covers data analytics, business intelligence, and data science for CIO.com.
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Copyright © 2020 IDG Communications, Inc.

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