Data Mesh Architecture: Making Better Use of Data

Companies increasingly rely on a data mesh architecture

The data mesh is increasingly establishing itself in German companies as the predominant pattern for data platforms. Already 60 percent of companies with more than 1000 employees will rely on the still young architecture paradigm in the future. 45 percent of companies with 500 to 1000 employees are currently planning to introduce it. These are the findings of the recently published study "Data Mesh - just a buzzword or the next generation of enterprise data platform?" by auditing and consulting firm PwC Germany. As part of the study, 152 IT executives from various industries were surveyed on the maturity of their company's data and analytics capabilities and the use of the data mesh paradigm.

"The era of purely centralized data platforms is over", says Martin Whyte, partner in the Data and Analytics practice at PwC. "We're seeing a clear trend toward decentralized organizational structures that bring data analytics capabilities to the surface in enterprises - while enforcing enterprise-wide standards through centralized components and policies." In contrast to purely centralized approaches such as the data warehouse and the data lake, the data mesh is characterized by a higher degree of decentralization. Responsibility for the collection and maintenance of data, as well as data products based on it, shifts to the departments where the data originates - for example, to marketing or accounting. At the same time, a set of guidelines and central components such as a data catalog and a data marketplace ensure that provided data and data products can be used as easily as possible throughout the entire organization.

Expectations of the positive effects of a data mesh implementation are high. 55 percent of respondents expect higher data quality and the implementation of a greater number of data-driven use cases. 51 percent hope for more reliable data, and 47 percent expect better collaboration among teams. In terms of the changes that the IT managers surveyed expect, a technology-centric view dominates. Thus, 69 percent of them expect changes in terms of technology and architecture.