[First published on Medium]
We've explored data management through a real estate analogy and data consumption through a marketplace lens. While enlightening, these analogies offer a partial view of the landscape, leaving gaps to fill. Our perspective shapes how we tackle data challenges. Whether we embody a merchant, landlord, or customer, our viewpoint significantly influences our approach to issues and solutions in the data space.
In a colleague’s post, we explored data management through the lens of real estate, focusing on governance and value derivation from assets. Then, we explored data consumption through the marketplace lens, looking at how the business facilitates value-driven transactions while maintaining order, quality, and trust throughout the ecosystem.
Neither tells the complete story. While both are clever, the analogies are one-sided, leaving the business to adopt the real estate analogy or the data side to view things from the business perspective.
What’s impactful to me about this image is that it is holistic and representative of both critical sides of the equation.
Real estate focuses on governance and value derivation from assets. The Marketplace facilitates value-driven transactions while maintaining order, quality, and trust throughout the ecosystem. BOTH must work TOGETHER.
The Power of Perspective
The Merchant-Business Lense
To find ways to improve our accountability for our efforts, it’s important to be intentional about the perspective of the stakeholder's role in the ecosystem.
If we adopt the business stakeholder view, we imagine the organization’s data environment as a bustling marketplace. The business stakeholders are the merchants, setting up stalls and trading in valuable information. In this scenario, the data team is the market landlord, maintaining the infrastructure, ensuring smooth operations, and upholding the standards of the bazaar.
Just as merchants in a bazaar might take for granted the underlying infrastructure - the electricity, water supply, and waste management - business stakeholders often assume data is readily available, accessible to everyone, and free. However, like utilities in a marketplace, data comes at a cost and requires careful management.
Consider a merchant who constantly changes their stall layout or product offerings without considering the impact on the marketplace's overall flow. This is akin to business stakeholders making poorly worded or ill-considered data requests. While seemingly small, each change contributes to the data ecosystem’s ‘technical debt’ — the equivalent of wear and tear on the marketplace’s infrastructure.
Moreover, just as a bazaar might struggle with abandoned stalls taking up valuable space, data teams often grapple with maintaining reports that are no longer relevant to the business but haven't been officially retired.
the landlord-data lense
As landlords and overseers of the marketplace, our role extends beyond mere maintenance. We are responsible for the entire infrastructure, its smooth operation, and upholding the standards allowing fair and efficient information trade.
As landlords, we face unique challenges. We provide the foundational elements - the equivalent of sturdy stalls, reliable utilities, and secure premises - that enable our merchant stakeholders to conduct their business. However, our tenants often underestimate the complexity and cost of maintaining this infrastructure.
We observe merchants frequently altering their stalls or product lines (making new data requests) without considering the ripple effects on the marketplace’s overall structure. Each seemingly minor change can contribute to the accumulation of ‘technical debt’—cracks in our foundation that, if left unaddressed, could compromise the entire bazaar.
Moreover, we maintain numerous abandoned stalls (outdated reports and datasets) occupying valuable real estate. These defunct spaces consume our resources but generate no value, complicating our efforts to modernize and optimize the marketplace layout.
Our challenge is to balance our tenants’ diverse needs while ensuring the marketplace’s long-term viability and efficiency. We must educate our merchants about the actual costs of their requests, guide them toward more sustainable practices, and sometimes make difficult decisions about resource allocation.
We strive to create an environment where data can be traded efficiently, and valuable insights can flourish. However, this requires a partnership with our tenants. They must understand that every new stall, infrastructure upgrade, and marketplace expansion comes at a cost—in time, resources, and potential trade-offs.
As landlords, we maintain a static space and cultivate an ecosystem. We aim to create a thriving, adaptable marketplace that can meet current needs while being prepared for future demands. This requires foresight, strategic planning, and ongoing collaboration with our merchant stakeholders to ensure the bazaar remains a valuable asset for everyone.
We see the World As We Are: Not As It Is
As we navigate the intricate landscape of data management, our chosen viewpoint — whether as a merchant, landlord, or even a customer in the marketplace — profoundly influences how we perceive challenges, opportunities, and potential solutions. Being aware and intentional about our perspective is crucial when we decide to intervene in the system.
Awareness and Intention enable us to recognize our biases, understand the limitations of our view, and appreciate the multifaceted nature of the data ecosystem. We can develop a more holistic understanding of the system's dynamics by consciously shifting between perspectives—from the business stakeholder’s entrepreneurial vision to the data team’s infrastructural concerns. This mental flexibility enables us to design more effective, balanced interventions that consider the needs and constraints of all parties involved.
Moreover, acknowledging the validity of different perspectives fosters empathy and collaboration among diverse stakeholders, paving the way for more innovative and sustainable solutions. In essence, our choice of perspective becomes a powerful tool that can limit or expand our ability to effect meaningful change in our data-driven world.
Bridging the Real Estate and Marketplace Analogies
Infrastructure: In real estate, we have utilities and building codes. In our marketplace, we have data pipelines and governance standards. Both are essential for smooth operations but are often invisible to end-users.
Value Creation: A well-located property appreciates in value; similarly, well-integrated and accessible data increases in value as it's used across the organization.
Maintenance: Regular upkeep of property prevents deterioration; likewise, ongoing data quality efforts avoid the accumulation of ‘data debt.’
Zoning and Planning: Urban planning in real estate parallels data architecture in our bazaar, ensuring optimal use and future scalability.
Tenant/Merchant Responsibility: Just as tenants have responsibilities in maintaining a property, business users have a role in maintaining data quality and relevance.
Business Stakeholders: Your Role in the Data Marketplace
Your role in this data bazaar is crucial. Each request you make and each report you commission shapes our data landscape. Be mindful of the infrastructure supporting your data needs. Consider the long-term impact of your requests, just as a merchant would consider the sustainability of their business practices.
5 Tips for Business Stakeholders
Clarity in Data Requests: Clearly define your objectives and expected outcomes before submitting a data request. This is akin to a merchant specifying the goods they need for their stall.
Data Lifecycle Management: Regularly review and retire outdated reports or data requests. Think of this as clearing out old inventory to make room for fresh, relevant stock in your market stall.
Understand Data Costs: Recognize that data acquisition and management come with costs. Consider the resource implications of your requests, much like a merchant weighing the costs of sourcing and storing goods.
Collaborate on Data Quality: Actively maintain data quality by providing feedback and reporting inconsistencies. This is similar to a merchant helping maintain the overall quality and reputation of the marketplace.
Promote Data Literacy: Invest time in understanding basic data concepts and your organization's data architecture. This is like a merchant learning the rules and layout of the marketplace to operate more effectively within it.
Data Teams: Stewarding the Data Marketplace
As landlords of the data bazaar, you play a crucial role in creating a thriving ecosystem. Your responsibility extends beyond managing infrastructure to educating and guiding business users. Communicate the value and cost of data clearly, helping stakeholders understand the impact of their requests. Your expertise shapes the foundation of our data marketplace, ensuring it remains robust, efficient, and valuable for all participants.
5 Tips for Data Teams
Transparent Communication: Regularly share insights on data usage patterns and costs. This is like providing market reports to help merchants (business users) make informed decisions.
Proactive Infrastructure Management: Anticipate future data needs and scale infrastructure accordingly. Think of this as expanding and upgrading the marketplace before it becomes overcrowded.
User-Centric Design: Design data systems and interfaces with the end user in mind. This is akin to organizing the marketplace layout to enhance customers’ shopping experience.
Continuous Education: Offer ongoing training and support to business users on data best practices. Consider this as running workshops for merchants to improve their trading skills.
Balanced Governance: Implement data governance that balances security and accessibility. This is like setting market rules that protect all participants while fostering a vibrant trading environment.
Collective Responsibility in Our Data Ecosystem
Regardless of role, every participant in our data marketplace shares the responsibility for its success. We’re all both merchants and caretakers in this vibrant bazaar of information. Our data ecosystem’s health, efficiency, and value depend on each person’s commitment to responsible use, clear communication, and continuous improvement.
5 Tips Everyone Can Do
Foster a Data-Driven Culture: Encourage decision-making based on data insights. Think of this as promoting informed trading practices that benefit the entire marketplace.
Prioritize Data Ethics: Consider the ethical implications of data use. This is akin to ensuring fair trade practices that maintain the integrity of the marketplace.
Collaborate Across Departments: Break down silos and share data insights across teams. Envision this as merchants collaborating to create more value for all market participants.
Embrace Continuous Learning: Stay updated on data trends and best practices. This is like keeping abreast of new trading techniques and market dynamics.
Advocate for Data Quality: Take ownership in maintaining high data standards. Consider this as a collective effort to preserve the reputation and value of our data marketplace.
A Way Forward
Remember, in this data bazaar, we're all merchants and caretakers. The quality of our data marketplace depends on each person’s commitment to responsible use, clear communication, and continuous improvement. By embracing this personal responsibility, we all contribute to a thriving, value-generating data ecosystem.
This message underscores the idea that everyone in the organization has a role in effective data management. It ties together our real estate and marketplace analogies while emphasizing individual accountability.
By fostering this mutual understanding, we can create a thriving data ecosystem where business needs are met efficiently and data resources are managed sustainably. In this data marketplace, merchants and facilitators work together to maintain order, quality, and trust, ensuring the marketplace continues flourishing and creating value for everyone.