The Tenets of Data Products:
A Framework for Solving Fragmented Data Challenges
Transforming data into actionable decisions through foundational, fused, and analytical data products.
The Challenge: Fragmented Data
A few years ago, I was in a meeting where the CEO needed a complete, overall view of the business. We had data everywhere, in marketing, operations, and finance, but the challenge was that none of it was connected. As the questions rolled in about how different domains were performing, it became clear that it was impossible to weave together this picture because the data remained fragmented across the company. The technology team I was working with had no way of instantly bringing it all together without proposing a massive, cost-prohibitive data project.
I hear you all moan... "Not another data project!" And believe me, I felt the same. This wasn't just a one-time struggle. Over the years, I've seen countless businesses face the same problem, despite all the data they had, they couldn't connect the dots to see the whole story.
Our Solution: Data Products Built on Core Tenets
At Data Tiles, we focus on solving these issues by building data products that adhere to key tenets, ensuring data is not only collected but also connected, scalable, understandable, and trustworthy, therefore actionable. Drawing on the extensive work of Cameron Price, our CEO and Founder, who has led data and analytics transformations across the globe (including leadership roles at Deloitte and AWS Asia-Pacific & Japan), we built Latttice with these tenets at its core.
Our Goal: Complete, Actionable Views
Our goal at Data Tiles is to help organizations move beyond fragmented data products and gain a complete, actionable view of their business. Latttice fuses data from different domains, meeting the needs for scalability, interoperability, and real-time analytics, without the need for massive, cost-prohibitive data projects, whilst providing transparency to the construction and meaning of such data products.
Let's explore these tenets and how they shape our approach to data products, whether they are foundational, fused, or analytical.
The Eight Tenets of a Data Product: A Blueprint for Success
There is a lot of discussion regarding data products in our industry, and the associated misconception results in poor quality and ultimately does serve the purpose that was intended. It is not enough to simply gather data from different sources. For data products to be truly impactful, they must adhere to certain core principles, or tenets, that ensure data is reliable, accessible, and actionable.
Addressable
Data products must be uniquely identifiable within a system so that they can be accessed easily across different domains. Commonly we see this in the development of marketplaces where data products can be shared and discovered through.2
Accessible
The consumption of data products must be simple and available to all. For example, data products may be exposed as an API so that users can easily use tools of their choice to work with these data products.
Data must be readily accessible to authorized users. Breaking down silos across domains is essential for ensuring teams can collaborate effectively (Harvard Business Review, 2019).
Valuable
Data products must have true relevance to an outcome that the business is looking to achieve. This will be different from use case to use case within and across domains. Hence, they are not just a dataset.
The data product must drive real business outcomes, adding tangible value to the organization (Deloitte, 2020).
Discoverable
Users need to easily find and understand what data products exist and how they can be accessed.
Accenture discusses how discoverability can unlock new insights across data domains (Accenture, 2019).
Secure
Security is paramount. Data security is a design consideration, not an add on. This include infrastructure as well as data security, which should be automatically built into all data product development.
Data must be protected with strict governance controls to prevent unauthorized access and ensure compliance (McKinsey, 2018).
Interoperable
Using open standards for the sharing and consumption of data product is a secure manner is key.
Data products must be able to integrate across different platforms and systems, ensuring seamless data exchange (ThoughtWorks, 2020).
Trustworthy
Unless a data product can be trusted (and there are varying levels of trust depending on the context), that a data products value will greatly be reduced and therefore deliver little value.
Data products need to be reliable, accurate, and up to date. Users must trust the data they're working with (Gartner, 2020).
Data Tiles' Approach: From Tenets to Data Products
At Data Tiles, we've built our approach around the development of data products with these core tenets. These principles guide our development of the three essential types of data products: Foundational, Fused, and Analytical, which help businesses maximize the value of their data.
1. Foundational Data Products: The Bedrock of Your Business
Foundational data products are the core data products that power your business. These could be domain or enterprise specific data products, across various data source, that contain the core, common logic to be used by all. However, this would also include strict attention to data quality and governance, to ensure that foundational data are reliable.
At Data Tiles, we focus on ensuring that foundational data products are accurate, consistent, and accessible across domains. By building a solid foundation, businesses can trust that the insights derived from these data products will be meaningful and accurate.
2. Fused Data Products: Connecting the Dots
Fused data products integrate data products from different domains to create a holistic view of the business. Whether you're combining customer behavior data with operational metrics or fusing financial data with marketing analytics, the goal is to connect the dots and uncover deeper insights.
The tenets of interoperability and scalability are crucial here. Fused data products must seamlessly integrate data from different systems, meaning, and context, and scale as the business grows. With Latttice:
Organizations can easily fuse data from various domains, providing real-time visibility without requiring complex IT infrastructure (Gartner, 2020).
3. Analytical Data Products: Turning Data into Action
Analytical data products transform foundational data products into actionable insights by applying advanced analytics, such as predictive analytics, analytical functions, and Gen AI. These data products will contain specific, focused analytical outcome (like customer retention), that can then be combined with other data products for greater insight.
At Data Tiles, we help organizations implement analytical data products that drive strategic intelligence. With Latttice, businesses can create complex analytical data products, that can then be fused with other data product type, all AI powered, with zero code.
Latttice: Simplifying Data Fusion and Unlocking Value
While the tenets of data products provide the foundation for any successful data strategy, the challenge lies in implementation. This is where Latttice comes in.
Latttice helps businesses fuse foundational & analytical data products to create fused data products, meeting the core needs outlined in the tenets: trustworthy, understandable, accessible, and secure. By providing an AI-powered, zero-code platform, Latttice makes it easy for businesses to connect and leverage data products from different domains without costly and complex data projects.
Conclusion: Building a Future on Data Product Tenets
The business landscape is increasingly data-driven, at speed, and organizations that can effectively manage and fuse their data with ease will have a strong competitive edge. At Data Tiles, we believe that adhering to the tenets of data products: to create, secure, and share, is key to unlocking data's true potential.
By focusing on the three types of data products: Foundational, Fused, and Analytical, and building solutions like Latttice to simplify data fusion, we empower businesses to move beyond fragmented data to actionable, strategic insights that drive success.
If you're looking to transform your data strategy and gain a more complete view of your business, it's time to focus on the tenets of data products.
