Data Platform & Analytics Modernization Playbook
- Practitioner
- Advanced
- Template Included
Replace fragmented warehouses and spreadsheet reporting with a governed, layered data platform, using a medallion architecture and a domain-based ownership model.
Do we need to migrate our entire data warehouse to see value from this?
No — the highest-value approach is to pick the one or two most-disputed metrics, build them properly end to end through bronze, silver, and gold, and prove the trust improvement before expanding domain by domain. A full re-platform attempted all at once is exactly the pattern that tends to stall.
What's the difference between this and just building a data mesh?
This playbook borrows the domain-ownership principle from data mesh without requiring the full decentralized infrastructure and federated governance a true data mesh implies. It's a pragmatic middle ground for organizations not ready for a full mesh re-platform.
How do we choose which storage platform or tooling to use?
Tool choice should follow the architecture, not precede it — decide your bronze/silver/gold boundaries and domain ownership model first, then select a platform that supports layered storage, lineage tracking, and access control at that granularity.
Who should own a gold-layer data product if two business units both use it?
Assign ownership to whichever domain is the authoritative source of the underlying business event (e.g., sales operations owns "order," not finance, even though finance consumes it heavily) — the data contract is what governs how other domains consume it.
How do we know the trust problem is actually fixed?
Track metric-dispute frequency and time-to-reconcile at leadership meetings before and after migration, the way Brightfield did — a drop in both is a clearer signal of success than adoption metrics like query volume or dashboard count alone.
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