Data Mesh — Decentralized Data Architecture

Data mesh shifts data responsibility to domain teams. Domain ownership, data as a product, self-serve platform and federated governance.

Four Principles¶

1. Domain Ownership¶

Each domain owns its data — from ingestion to quality.

2. Data as a Product¶

# data-product.yml
name: orders-domain/fact-orders
version: "2.1.0"
owner: orders-team
sla:
  freshness: "1 hour"
  availability: "99.9%"
consumers: [analytics-team, marketing-team]

3. Self-Serve Platform¶

Infrastructure as a service for domain teams.

4. Federated Governance¶

Global policies enforced automatically.

When Data Mesh¶

• Yes — large organizations, many domains
• No — small teams (<10 people)

Summary¶

Data mesh is for large organizations where centralization doesn’t work. Four principles change how we work with data.