(more…)“Tired of chasing data silver bullets? It’s time to stop worshipping the hype, dismantle the buzzwords, and build data architectures that actually work.”
Category: Data Lake
-
Data Mesh vs. Reality: Transformations That Work
-
Podcast Episode: Data Mesh Under Fire
Pip: Good Strategy Rebellion — where the sacred cows of enterprise tech get a proper going-over. Today we’re deep in the data wars, asking whether the industry’s favourite architectural revolution is actually a revolution, or just the same old chaos in a new lanyard.
Mara: Martyn Jones has been writing about exactly that — covering the case against Data Mesh, what it means for how organisations actually govern and use their data, and why the rational data warehouse keeps refusing to stay dead.
Pip: Let’s start with the bonfire.
(more…) -
Rethinking Data Systems: A Call for Accountability
Pip: Good Strategy Rebellion — where the sacred cows of Silicon Valley come to be skewered, preferably with footnotes.
Mara: Today we’re in the territory Martyn Jones has been carving out: a full-scale critique of data architecture hype, the case against fashionable frameworks, and a defence of the unglamorous systems that actually work.
Pip: Coherence over chaos, basically. Let’s start with the bonfire.
(more…) -
CEO BRIEFING: What Every CEO Needs to Know About Big Data – Revisited – 2026/01/26
Martyn Richard Jones
New York City, 18th January 2017
Blue sky for professional data architecture and management Scope
I’ll make this short, sweetish and to the point.
These are the arguments that CEOs need to know about Big Data.
It was written for CEOs and those who provide independent advice to CEOs.
If you are someone who wants to be prepared for CEOs who are armed with the realities of Big Data, then maybe this is for you too.
Point One: Big Data is bullshit
(more…) -
DATA WORLD: The Future of Data: Embracing Cognitive Liquidity- 2026/02/03
The End of the Fortress: Why the Future of Data is “Liquid”
By Martyn Rhisiart Jones | Madrid, 3rd February 2026
In a landmark session at the Welsh Academy, Sir Afilonius Rex sat down with Martyn Rhisiart Jones. They aimed to dismantle our outdated obsession with “data management.” The verdict? The era of the digital fortress is dead. In its place, a new paradigm of Cognitive Liquidity and Data Autonomy is emerging, redefining how we integrate global knowledge.
(more…) -
DATA WORLD: Big Data: The Art of Bullshit – 2026
Bertxin Galestara and Sir Afilonius Rex, based on an opinion piece written by Marty Rhisiart JonesMountain View, 19th January 2017 – Bandoxa Thursday 15th January, 2026
“I’ve been accused of vulgarity. I say that’s bullshit.” – Mel Brooks
If you enjoy this piece or find it useful, then please consider joining The Big Data Contrarians on LinkedIn. (more…)
-
DATA WORLD: Information Technology Mirror Balls! – 2026/01/12
Coffee and cakes for breakfast
On the Way of Saint JamesMartyn Rhisiart Jones
Brussels, 10th July 2019
Bandoxa, 12th January 2026
Imagine stepping onto a dimly lit stage, spotlight sharp, audience hushed. You lean into the mic and drop this line: “The key to success is sincerity.” Pause. Smile. “And if you can fake that… you’ve got it made.”
That’s George Burns, vaudeville legend, and cigar-chomping centenarian. He nails a truth that’s as old as show business. It is as fresh as today’s latest tech pitch deck.
Welcome to the strange, glittering world of information technology, where sincerity isn’t just optional—it’s optional and highly monetisable.
(more…) -
Does your way of providing data have business value?
Does your way of providing data have business value?
Narrator: Okay, where to begin? First, let us start with some real-life user stories. And for those who are unfamiliar with user stories, they are one of the most effective ways that business has of telling IT people what they want. Think of them as micro-stories that convey a problem, facets of the problem and potential ways to address those problems. Such as, “as a consumer of wine I would like to be able to add wine to fruit, ice and lemonade in order to create a refreshing summer drink”.
(more…) -
Reality Check: Data Mesh and Data Warehousing
To begin at the beginning
A few days ago, I published a blog piece that contained the following paragraphs:
I am quite a fan of many aspects that sit under the Data Mesh umbrella. However, when it comes to a proper fact-based understanding and analysis of the history, place and architecture (business, data and technical) of Data Warehousing the leading exponents of data mesh have it woefully wrong.
Therefore, the purpose of this blog article is to set the record straight.
However, it seems to be that denial and specious arguments, are the preferred weapons of choice, over simply and honestly engaging in a professional discourse about these concerns.
Fast-forward to the future
-
DATA WORLD: Why I called bullshit on the data lakehouse nonsense
Why I called bullshit on the data lakehouse nonsense
I wrote an article that took to task purveyors of the data lakehouse nonsense. It got plenty of positive reactions and quite a few negative opinions. But what surprised me the most were the number of people who had already swallowed their pitch. Hook, line and sinker.
So why did I bother to express my opinions on the subject?
(more…) -
THE TEN BIG DATA COMMANDMENTS
HOW TO SUCCEED WITH BIG DATA
Here are the ten golden rules of belief for surefire big data success:
(more…) -
REVEALING WEALTH: USING BIG DATA TO FIGHT TAX EVASION – MARTYN JONES
REVEALING WEALTH: USING BIG DATA TO FIGHT TAX EVASION – MARTYN JONES
If anything, taxes for the lower and middle class and maybe even the upper-middle class should even probably be cut further. But I think that people at the high end – people like myself – should be paying a lot more in taxes. We have it better than we’ve ever had it.
Warren Buffett
(more…) -
Information Technology Mirror Balls!
Coffee and cakes for breakfast
On the Way of Saint JamesMartyn Richard Jones
Brussels, 10th July 2019
As George Burns put it “the key to success is sincerity” and “if you can fake that you’ve got it made.”
He was right, and you don’t need to go any further than the bizarre world of information technology, with its plethora of professional bulllshit artists, to work this one out.
Think of these folk as IT bullshit whisperers.
(more…) -
Data must adapt or die!
Martyn Richard Jones
Our bloke in Brussels, 3rd July 2019
It’s a simple, timeless, human truth; data must adapt or die.
Read between the lines, the writing on the wall, the fat lady singing and the barking dogs at the gate.
(more…) -
Three really stupid things you can do with a Data Lake
Martyn Richard JonesGif sur Yvette, 27th December 2017
To begin at the beginning
First, a thought.
Just because it’s there, it doesn’t mean it has to be done. Just because you can, it doesn’t mean that you should. Just because you believe you are right, doesn’t mean that you are not wrong.
-
Business Data Explained: The Long Read
Martyn Richard Jones, Gif sur Yvette 23rd September 2017
Hi, Friends. As always, it’s great to be able to engage with you again. I am writing to you from the splendorous, wooded and verdant French town of Gif sur Yvette, and I wanted to take this opportunity to address aspects of data for an audience beyond the interests of data management and architecture people.
There is confusion about some of the fundamental aspects of business data, and there shouldn’t. If we strip away all of the boloney, it’s a subject that is quite approachable. In short, ‘it is not rocket surgery’. (more…)
-
STRAIGHT TALK: 5 Simple Tips to Help You Survive the Big Data Bullshit Revolution
Afilonius RexDunny on the Wold, 1st July 2017
The 4th big data bullshit is here, and it is completely reimagining the way we conceptualise, think and reason. This amazingly and imaginary Govesque world is driven by hyperbole and mendacity distributed via interconnected digital devices that are capable of amassing and fermenting ever-growing amounts of big data bullshit.
-
Become an Instant Big Data Rock Star with 10 Insider Tips from the Top
Martyn Richard Jones Talacharn, 28th May 2017
Folks! Here I bring you ten amazing tips from some of Big Data’s great and good. Tips that will help you become the Big Data Rock Star that you have always dreamed of being.
But first, a question.
What’s the sexiest job in the 21st century? (more…)
-
How to turn internal user data into a massive liability – Zéro pièce
Martyn Richard Jones
Laugharne 18th May 2017
“Our discreditable secret is that we don’t know anything at all, and our horrid inner secret is that we don’t care that we don’t.”
― Dylan Thomas
Let me explain
I read a poster the other, it read “How To Turn Internal User Data Into Revenue”. It was one of those Facebook or LinkedIn hooks, you know, the ones used to get people to spend precious time on useless pursuits.
It reminded me of a book that my mother-in-law bought for my partner, many, many moons ago. “How to make a mint whilst you snooze”, or some such wacky title.
-
TEAM 2.0 Total Eminence Analytical Mapper – The highest level architecture
This is the draft version of TEAM 0.1
The TEAM 2.0 version will be published in June 2017.
This will by far the best and most streamlined and comprehensive analytics and (big) data framework that has ever existed in the life-time of IT.
Many thanks for reading.
-
Data-Less Apps: Revolutionary IT
Martyn Richard JonesDublin 9th May 2017
Weighed down with data?
Inundated with information?
Overstrained with knowledge?
Intimidated by wisdom?
Don’t despair!
Relief from all of this is just be around the corner, in the shape of the next revolutionary inflection point in IT. Yes, as you might have guessed it by now. I am talking about data-less apps. (more…)
-
Brand Aversion: Exhibit One
Martyn Richard Jones
San Luis Obispo 16th April 2017
Taking a Pop at Traditional Data WarehousingPitch: I recently read a report from a data visualisation company on the “Top Ten Big Data Trends for 2017”. This is what they told me “Hadoop is no longer just a batch-processing platform for data-science use cases. It has become a multi-purpose engine for ad hoc analysis. It’s even being used for operational reporting on day-to-day workloads—the kind traditionally handled by data warehouses.” (more…)
-
Big Dummies for Data
Martyn Jones
Madrid 25th January 2017
HERE’S A THOUGHT! In the past age of big iron, the only reason for not having a proliferation of duplicated databases was the prohibitively high cost of disk storage. Now, we can let our database collections grow ‘like Topsy’. This is the Brave New World of data… apparently…
Let’s, for one moment, be the fly-guy on the corporate wall. What are we picking up on the radar there, Enda? Oh, yes…
