Start with the business process
Begin with a decision: whether an invoice can be released, a supplier needs review, or a production exception requires intervention. Identify who makes the decision, which records they need, and how quickly they must act.
Work through one business process before broadening scope. Record where each fact comes from, which system owns it, and what happens if it is delayed or incorrect. Use those requirements to choose the data model and delivery approach.
Architecture, integration and operations
For a first implementation, begin with architecture and domain modeling, then data contracts and change data capture. Review identity and tenant isolation alongside the integration design; both affect how every interface handles access.
For existing pipelines, the guides on event ordering, idempotency, observability and incident readiness cover delivery and recovery. The semantic modeling, ontology, entity resolution and lineage guides cover definitions and relationships shared across systems.
| Starting point | Primary question | Useful evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Which system is authoritative? | Boundary and ownership map |
| Business meaning | What does this fact represent? | Model and identifier registry |
| Integration | How does change reach consumers? | Contract and replay policy |
| Operations | How will a failure be detected? | Service indicators and runbook |
Match standards to operating requirements
Select each interface, validation rule and recovery mechanism against the capabilities of the source, identity provider, network and storage technology. Record the assumptions that affect access, consistency and recovery, then verify them in the intended environment.
Protocol standards define some behavior precisely, while deployment policies require local choices. Keep those differences visible in implementation records. An OAuth flow has protocol requirements; token lifetime, replay retention, regional placement, and recovery objectives must be selected and tested for the organization using it.
Test compatibility, access and recovery
Test data contracts against consumer versions, check that authorization rejects prohibited requests, and rehearse restoration. Include duplicate delivery, revoked access, missing source fields and expired cursors.
Record the versions under review and trace each business result to its source data. Check what happens during an outage, how processing resumes, and whether the recovered data reconciles with the source.