Why "Data-Centric" Is Important

A data-centric enterprise is one where all application functionality is based on a single, simple, extensible data model.

This book argues that maintaining the current "application-centric" mind-set will result in ever increasing cost and complexity for information systems. The term "application-centric" stems from the observation that many business problems turn into IT projects, most of which end up with building, buying, or renting (Software as a Service) a new application system. Each new application system comes with its own, arbitrarily different data model, which adds to the pile of existing application data models, further compounding the complexity, upping the integration tax, and inadvertently entrenching the legacy systems.

The alternative mind-set is "data-centric" (download Chapter 2 FREE by clicking here). Certain technologies – like federated databases and model-driven application development – make it easier to implement a data-centric strategy.