#165 Getting Your Data Mesh Implementation on Firm Footing - Early Learnings from SMG's Data Mesh Journey - Interview w/ Amy Raygada

Sign up for Data Mesh Understanding's free roundtable and introduction programs here: https://landing.datameshunderstanding.com/Please Rate and Review us on your podcast app of choice!If you want to be a guest or give feedback (suggestions for topics, comments, etc.), please see hereEpisode list and links to all available episode transcripts here.Provided as a free resource by Data Mesh Understanding / Scott Hirleman. Get in touch with Scott on LinkedIn if you want to chat data mesh.Transcript for this episode (link) provided by Starburst. See their Data Mesh Summit recordings here and their great data mesh resource center here. You can download their Data Mesh for Dummies e-book (info gated) here.Amy's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-raygada/In this episode, Scott interviewed Amy Raygada, Senior Director and Analytics Product Manager at Swiss Marketplace Group (SMG).Some key takeaways/thoughts from Amy's point of view:When signing up to do data mesh, you won't exactly know what you are signing up for - it will be different than your expectations in a number of ways so be prepared to be flexible. And it's a marathon, not a sprint. Have patience, you don't need to get it perfect on day one.It's crucial to have a data product owner, someone who can ask the uncomfortable questions and make sure you are actually treating your data as a product. It's easy to get lost in focusing on the technical but that's not what drives the business value.Look to start with a reasonable scope use case instead of a massive challenge. Make it so the teams can learn and iterate because you aren't solving the hardest challenges - yet.Consider starting with a single domain and with a key consumer being that same producing domain. As they learn more about owning data and see value from owning their data, they will be better able to serve other teams too.Spend the necessary time ideating and brain storming before beginning your journey. You want everyone to be working together so a clear initial vision - at least for first steps - is key. But keep updating your prioritizations as you learn more.Data mesh requires major changes for organizations. People aren't good with very abrupt changes so look for the incremental changes where viable. It's okay to take a bit longer if you maintain people's happiness instead of trying to rush to the finish and burn everyone...