Reflecting on Errors: A Review of My 2022 Forecasts for the Contemporary Data Infrastructure
In the world of data, 2022 has been a year of significant progress and transformation. One of the most notable developments has been the adoption and growth of the data mesh, a decentralized, domain-oriented data architecture that treats data as a product, managed by cross-functional teams within business domains.
Forrester made a major shift in their approach to data catalogs, scrapping their Wave report on "Machine Learning Data Catalogs" to focus on "Enterprise Data Catalogs for DataOps", marking a significant change in their vision of a successful data catalog. Meanwhile, Gartner released a new Market Guide for Active Metadata and went all-in on active metadata, signalling a new generation of metadata management.
The data mesh is no longer just a concept, but a practical adoption with proven architectures. It increasingly leverages lakehouse technologies, combining the flexibility of data lakes with the structured access and ACID compliance of data warehouses, supported by open table formats like Apache Iceberg. This supports domain data products with both raw data storage and governance.
Data mesh architectures now incorporate edge-native processing and real-time streaming analytics to handle high-velocity data from IoT devices and distributed sources, enabling local data processing alongside global standards for interoperability. Implementation frameworks such as those from Immuta demonstrate growing sophistication in automating data discovery, security, and compliance in decentralized environments, crucial for enterprises with complex compliance needs.
The data mesh market, valued at around USD 450 million in 2024, is projected to expand to over USD 3 billion by 2033, reflecting widespread industry interest fuelled by digital transformation and cloud-native technology adoption.
Future trends anticipated from these developments include expanded use of federated governance models, increased automations and tooling, broader real-time and edge data integration, and convergence with other data architectures like data fabric and lakehouse.
However, the data mesh implementation practices and tooling stack are farther behind the hype than expected. Some companies in the reverse ETL space have focused on redefining and expanding their category, with the latest buzzword being "data activation." dbt Labs' Semantic Layer launched as expected, but its impact on the way data teams work with metrics is still to be seen.
In conclusion, data mesh in 2022 has moved from concept to practical adoption with proven architectures, integration with modern analytics patterns, and a strong growth trajectory, signalling its role as a foundational approach for future data environments. The data world is eagerly awaiting the continued development and refinement of this promising technology.
[1] The New Stack: Data Mesh: The Future of Data Architecture [2] Immuta: Data Governance for the Data Mesh [3] O'Reilly: Data Mesh: A New Architecture for Data Management [4] McKinsey & Company: Data mesh: A new architecture for enterprise data management
- Amid the growth of the data mesh, the field of personal finance is expected to see a shift in wealth management strategies, as businesses increasingly leverage data mesh technologies for efficient data management and decision-making.
- In the realm of business investments, the data mesh market presents a prosperous opportunity for those seeking to invest in the future of data management solutions, with its projected expansion from USD 450 million in 2024 to over USD 3 billion by 2033.
- As data management evolves and adopts new technologies like data mesh, the landscape of investment in personal finance and business finance will likely be influenced by advancements in areas such as automated data governance and real-time data integration.
