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The Datalere Decoder

Data Architect

Someone who designs the data environment that ingests, integrates, stores, and delivers data for business users, models, applications, and systems.

Added Perspectives

What the experts say.

Designs the modern data environment, including data processing and storage systems to capture, ingest, refine, secure, and deliver data.
Wayne Eckerson in Organizational Frameworks for Data Analytics: Establishing Programs, Teams, and Roles in the Age of Self-Service January 6, 2019 (E-book)
Business engineers do the heavy lifting required to create and manage the information supply chain. We used to call these individuals ETL developers and data architects. They identify source data, map data flows, model databases, define and monitor data transformation jobs, and work with database administrators to create, manage, and tune databases and optimize performance. Some also design business views for business users, especially if they are built within a database.”
Wayne Eckerson in A Reference Architecture for Self-Service Analytics September 1, 2016 (Report)
So, who provides each of these users with the resources they need for “self-service?” Why the very data and IT teams who now have to spend less time fielding requests for data. Data architects design the data lakes, data marts, and data warehouses from which power users draw their data; data engineers build pipelines to model data and deliver it to those repositories; and data curators manage catalogs to ensure proper data governance and to maintain company standards. They too benefit from platform unification. Instead of building parallel infrastructure for different user types, a shared platform lets them reuse components.
Joe Hilleary in Supporting Self-Service Analytics with a Unified Platform March 12, 2021 (Blog)

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