Understanding data architecture concepts

Previously, we covered the importance of data, as well as the importance of data architecture for the enterprise. The data architect – who you, as a Salesforce architect need to work closely with or, in smaller projects, act as one – needs to tackle the data architecture in a similar fashion to a normal building architecture. And to a good extent, similar principles should be followed in software architecture.

First, it is imperative to understand the business processes and create a conceptual and logical blueprint. Then, you need to know the underlying technology in order to build the detailed design and implementation. To understand these better, let's take a closer look at the three stages of data architecture design.

Conceptual-level data architecture design

The data architect, at the conceptual-level stage, needs to gain a deep understanding of the business knowledge, business processes, and operations. This...