The music of data

A few years ago my wife and I attended a symphony concert. We aren’t normally symphony people, but this one was special because my cousin’s husband had composed a piece one of the pieces being performed.

It was a beautiful piece.

I’m awed by the amount of coordination and vision it takes to craft a piece of music for dozens of musicians and numerous instrument types. Somehow all the pieces fit and a remarkable musical experience occurs.

It’s a helpful image to understand data workflows and movement. Let’s break it down this way.

• A conductor is the ETL Orchestration software. They decide when the music starts, what order the musicians play in, and all of the various parts in line.

• The music score is the code (SQL, Python, Scala, etc.) that defines what note should be played and when.

• Individual musicians are compute notes. Each is assigned a body of work (code) to execute in its proper sequence.

• The composer is the data architect. One (or more) person had the vision for all the pieces and assembled the right collection of instruments and a conductor to bring the work to life.

• Most importantly - the audience is the business user.

All the work of the musicians, composers, and conductors is for the joy and satisfaction of the audience.

They all perform in the hopes of a standing ovation.

That’s a great vision for your data team as well.

Creating an amazing data experience for your business teams.

I’m here,

Sawyer