As architects, sometimes we get caught in the trap of focusing on the most tangible aspects of our architecture solving business problems, while losing track of the aspects that truly drive our architectural decisions. Information architecture serves as that vital bridge from the business applications to technology architecture (TOGAF Architecture Development Method). Although solutions are built to transform data to meaningful information, data is the underlying glue that connects people, process, and technology. A well-built data architecture should handle the underlying principles:
- Define structure, integrate, govern, store, describe, model, and maintain data in the enterprise for accuracy and usage maintaining current state
- Map to information entities that can define how information should flow and be consumed by various business and IT customers
- Support policies and procedures enforced by the data governance committee to ensure best practices of data architecture including accountability, governance, and requirements
- Support operational use of data for business process functions such as customer centricity, supply chain, product positioning, sales efficiency, and other domain centric functions
- Document data inventory and data flow diagrams to determine what can be measured, when and how
