Best practice 12.2 – Build local or build centralized data analytics platforms

Teams can establish their own data analytics resources that support their analytical needs locally, rather than extracting information and transferring it to a central location. Decide when teams benefit from building local analytics resources, balancing required agility and team skillset with the need for a centralized analytics platform.

Suggestion 12.2.1 – Perform regular reviews of analytics operations to determine if the business can benefit from teams managing their own infrastructure

Teams may prefer to own and manage their own infrastructure, as this allows for more flexibility and agility in system design with fewer dependencies. Individual ownership also provides clear cost visibility. In other cases, a shared processing system can be more efficient, where teams send data requests to a central provider. Tracking request volume by team enables cost attribution. A centralized team managing infrastructure benefits multiple groups through increased resource utilization and concentrated expertise. Centralized data repositories make enriching data simpler and provide a single access point. Organizations find centralized analytics helps meet compliance and governance needs.

In summary, there are trade-offs between decentralized team-owned infrastructure providing more flexibility compared to centralized shared infrastructure increasing utilization and governance. Teams and centralized providers can also coordinate, with centralized systems handling some processing and team systems providing customization. The best approach depends on the specific organizational needs and structure.