TDWI Checklist Report | Data Modernization and the Open Data Lakehouse
February 11, 2022
The desire for data platform modernization has prompted a variety of approaches to cloud migration. Risk-averse organizations often opt for the “lift and shift” approach—replicating their existing on-premises proprietary footprint in the cloud.
In practice, the flexibility of the cloud is throttled when relying on proprietary tools, file formats, and table structures. Data architects should acknowledge the complexity inherent in trying to acquire, ingest, process, and persist data from a wide variety of originating resources requiring specialized connectors—and think twice before committing to a similar array of downstream connectors.
One approach to overcome these concerns is adopting open data architectures. The decision to use an open data architecture provides a pathway for innovation. By reducing the complexity associated with proprietary file format and table architectural approaches, an organization retains a degree of versatility in embracing best-of-breed technologies and cloud-based services while reducing vendor lock-in.
This checklist examines the potential liabilities of naïve approaches to cloud adoption and recommends emerging best practices for data modernization that leverage open data architectures.