Architecting Data and Machine Learning Platforms

Chapter 2. Strategic Steps to Innovate with Data

The reason your leadership is providing the funds for you to build a data platform is very likely because they want the organization to innovate. They want the organization to discover new areas to operate in, to create better ways of operating the business, or to serve better-quality products to more customers. Innovation of this form typically happens through better understanding of customers, products, or the market. Whether your organization wants to reduce user churn, acquire new users, predict the repair cycle of a product, or identify whether a lower-cost alternative will be popular, the task starts with data collection and analysis. Data is needed to analyze the current state of the business, identify shortcomings or opportunities, implement ways to improve upon the status quo, and measure the impact of those changes. Often, business unit–specific data has to be analyzed in conjunction with other data (both from across the organization and with data from suppliers and marketplaces). When building a data platform, it is important to be intentional and keep the ultimate “why” (of fostering innovation) firmly in mind.

In this chapter, you will learn the seven strategic steps to take when you are building a platform to foster innovation, why these steps are essential, and how to achieve them using present-day cloud technologies. Think of these steps as forming a pyramid (as depicted in Figure 2-1), where each step serves as ...