January 23, 2022

The Importance Of Data Contracts As The Interface For Data Integration With Abhi Sivasailam

56 minutes

Summary

Data platforms are exemplified by a complex set of connections that are subject to a set of constantly evolving requirements. In order to make this a tractable problem it is necessary to define boundaries for communication between concerns, which brings with it the need to establish interface contracts for communicating across those boundaries. The recent move toward the data mesh as a formalized architecture that builds on this design provides the language that data teams need to make this a more organized effort. In this episode Abhi Sivasailam shares his experience designing and implementing a data mesh solution with his team at Flexport, and the importance of defining and enforcing data contracts that are implemented at those domain boundaries.

Announcements

Hello and welcome to the Data Engineering Podcast, the show about modern data management

When you’re ready to build your next pipeline, or want to test out the projects you hear about on the show, you’ll need somewhere to deploy it, so check out our friends at Linode. With their managed Kubernetes platform it’s now even easier to deploy and scale your workflows, or try out the latest Helm charts from tools like Pulsar and Pachyderm. With simple pricing, fast networking, object storage, and worldwide data centers, you’ve got everything you need to run a bulletproof data platform. Go to dataengineeringpodcast.com/linode today and get a $100 credit to try out a Kubernetes cluster of your own. And don’t forget to thank them for their continued support of this show!

Atlan is a collaborative workspace for data-driven teams, like Github for engineering or Figma for design teams. By acting as a virtual hub for data assets ranging from tables and dashboards to SQL snippets & code, Atlan enables teams to create a single source of truth for all their data assets, and collaborate across the modern data stack through deep integrations with tools like Snowflake, Slack, Looker and more. Go to dataengineeringpodcast.com/atlan today and sign up for a free trial. If you’re a data engineering podcast listener, you get credits worth $3000 on an annual subscription

StreamSets DataOps Platform is the world’s first single platform for building smart data pipelines across hybrid and multi-cloud architectures. Build, run, monitor and manage data pipelines confidently with an end-to-end data integration platform that’s built for constant change. Amp up your productivity with an easy-to-navigate interface and 100s of pre-built connectors. And, get pipelines and new hires up and running quickly with powerful, reusable components that work across batch and streaming. Once you’re up and running, your smart data pipelines are resilient to data drift. Those ongoing and unexpected changes in schema, semantics, and infrastructure. Finally, one single pane of glass for operating and monitoring all your data pipelines. The full transparency and control you desire for your data operations. Get started building pipelines in minutes for free at dataengineeringpodcast.com/streamsets. The first 10 listeners of the podcast that subscribe to StreamSets’ Professional Tier, receive 2 months free after their first month.

Your host is Tobias Macey and today I’m interviewing Abhi Sivasailam about the different social and technical interfaces available for defining and enforcing data contracts

Interview

Introduction

How did you get involved in the area of data management?

Can you start by explaining what your working definition of a "data contract" is?

What are the goals and purpose of these contracts?

What are the locations and methods of defining a data contract?

What kind of information needs to be encoded in a contract definition?

How do you manage enforcement of contracts?

manifestations of contracts in data mesh implementation

ergonomics (technical and social) of data contracts and how to prevent them from prohibiting productivity

What are the most interesting, innovative, or unexpected approaches to data contracts that you have seen?

What are the most interesting, unexpected, or challenging lessons that you have learned while working on data contract implementation?

When are data contracts the wrong choice?

Contact Info

@_abhisivasailam on Twitter

Website

Parting Question

From your perspective, what is the biggest gap in the tooling or technology for data management today?

Closing Announcements

Thank you for listening! Don’t forget to check out our other show, Podcast.__init__ to learn about the Python language, its community, and the innovative ways it is being used.

Visit the site to subscribe to the show, sign up for the mailing list, and read the show notes.

If you’ve learned something or tried out a project from the show then tell us about it! Email [email protected]) with your story.

To help other people find the show please leave a review on iTunes and tell your friends and co-workers

Links

Flexport

Debezium

Podcast Episode

Data Mesh At Flexport Presentation

Data Mesh

Podcast Episode

Column Names As Contracts podcast episode with Emily Riederer

dbtplyr

The intro and outro music is from The Hug by The Freak Fandango Orchestra / CC BY-SA

Support Data Engineering Podcast

...more

View all episodes

By Tobias Macey

4.6

135135 ratings

January 23, 2022

The Importance Of Data Contracts As The Interface For Data Integration With Abhi Sivasailam

56 minutes

Summary

Announcements

Hello and welcome to the Data Engineering Podcast, the show about modern data management

Your host is Tobias Macey and today I’m interviewing Abhi Sivasailam about the different social and technical interfaces available for defining and enforcing data contracts

Interview

Introduction

How did you get involved in the area of data management?

Can you start by explaining what your working definition of a "data contract" is?

What are the goals and purpose of these contracts?

What are the locations and methods of defining a data contract?

What kind of information needs to be encoded in a contract definition?

How do you manage enforcement of contracts?

manifestations of contracts in data mesh implementation

ergonomics (technical and social) of data contracts and how to prevent them from prohibiting productivity

What are the most interesting, innovative, or unexpected approaches to data contracts that you have seen?

What are the most interesting, unexpected, or challenging lessons that you have learned while working on data contract implementation?

When are data contracts the wrong choice?

Contact Info

@_abhisivasailam on Twitter

Website

Parting Question

From your perspective, what is the biggest gap in the tooling or technology for data management today?

Closing Announcements

Thank you for listening! Don’t forget to check out our other show, Podcast.__init__ to learn about the Python language, its community, and the innovative ways it is being used.

Visit the site to subscribe to the show, sign up for the mailing list, and read the show notes.

If you’ve learned something or tried out a project from the show then tell us about it! Email [email protected]) with your story.

To help other people find the show please leave a review on iTunes and tell your friends and co-workers

Links

Flexport

Debezium

Podcast Episode

Data Mesh At Flexport Presentation

Data Mesh

Podcast Episode

Column Names As Contracts podcast episode with Emily Riederer

dbtplyr