Designing Data Products: The Data Products Series Volume I, by Mario Meir-Huber
Drive value and trust from your data with purpose-built Data Products that deliver business results.
A paradigm shift in IT
What are the key principles for Data Products?
The two dimensions of Data Products
Data Products versus data assets versus data projects
Key learnings
The GAP Triad
Governance
Architecture
People
What’s next?
Key learnings
The DRIVE Framework for Data Products
CIA – Continuous Improvement and Adaptation
What’s next?
Key learnings
Calculating the value of a data product
Measuring the financial impact
Aligning business goals and technical roadmap
Measuring technical feasibility
Weighting and scoring each aspect
Prioritizing for roadmap execution
Key learnings
Decentral? Central? Hybrid!
Hub and Spoke
The Data Product team
Organizational setup
Key learnings
Strategies for acquiring data: Streaming versus Batch
Important concepts for data retrieval
Key learnings
Strategies for data integration
Modeling strategies
A few words on technologies
Ensuring data quality in the integration phase
Key learnings
Change management
Access strategies for Data Products: BI, AI, APIs, and data spaces
Extracting the value
Designing Data Products demystifies one of today’s most talked-about concepts in data management and makes it practical. Mario Meir-Huber, a veteran data leader who’s led enterprise transformations across industries, shows how to bridge the gap between business strategy and data engineering through a product mindset. Instead of buzzwords and hype, this book offers a clear, human explanation of what a data product is, how it works, and why it’s the missing link between analytics, AI, and operational excellence.
You’ll discover frameworks such as GAP (Governance, Architecture, People) and DRIVE (Data Retrieval, Integration, Value Extraction) that turn theory into repeatable practice. Through relatable stories and real-world lessons, learn how to create trustworthy, interoperable, and scalable data products that combine data governance, data architecture, and human collaboration to deliver measurable business value. Whether you’re an architect, product manager, consultant, or business executive, you’ll find a roadmap for creating sustainable, outcome-focused data ecosystems.
Unlike dense technical manuals, Designing Data Products speaks to both the business and technical dimensions of data. It explores the shift from traditional data warehouses and data lakes to a modern decentralized approach, explaining how organizations can decentralize wisely while maintaining consistency, quality, and security. The book emphasizes the cultural and organizational side of data transformation because even the best architecture fails without engaged people.
By the end, readers will understand how to define, design, and scale Data Products that are reliable, discoverable, reusable, and truly aligned with business goals. You’ll come away with the mindset and vocabulary to lead conversations about data value creation, AI readiness, and digital transformation, and the confidence to turn raw data into real-world impact.
Mario Meir-Huber helps organizations turn scattered data initiatives into governed, business-driven Data Products. A former Head of Data and ex-Microsoftie, he has built Data Products across European companies. Mario lectures at WU Vienna, teaches on LinkedIn Learning, and speaks at events like WeAreDevelopers, Data Modeling Zone, London Tech Week, Data Science Conference, and GITEX. He co-authored The Handbook of Data Science and AI and is writing The Data Products Series.
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