Structuring Foundation using Organizational Units and Meshes

Foundation provides a flexible organizational framework through Organizations and Meshes that allows customers to mirror their existing organizational structure while enabling controlled data collaboration and governance.

Understanding the Core Concepts

Organizations represent the hierarchical structure of your organization, dividing it into areas of ownership and responsibility. These typically map to:

• Business Units (e.g., Sales, Marketing, Operations)

• Departments (e.g., Finance, HR, Engineering)

• Geographic Regions (e.g., EMEA, Americas, APAC)

• Functional Domains (e.g., Customer Analytics, Supply Chain, Risk Management)

Meshes are collaboration spaces that transcend organizational boundaries, enabling controlled data sharing and joint data product development. They govern how data is discovered, accessed, and shared across teams.

Implementation Patterns

Departmental Structure with Cross-Functional Collaboration

A typical enterprise might structure Foundation as:

• Organizations: Finance, Sales, Operations, HR

• Meshes:

  • "Customer 360" mesh (Sales + Finance data for unified customer view)

  • "Employee Analytics" mesh (HR + Finance for workforce insights)

  • "Operational Excellence" mesh (Operations + Finance for performance metrics)

Each Organization maintains sovereignty over its data while selectively sharing through Meshes based on business needs.

Regional Organization with Global Coordination

For multinational companies:

• OrgUnits: NA-Operations, EU-Operations, APAC-Operations

• Meshes:

  • Regional meshes for local collaboration

  • "Global Inventory" mesh for worldwide supply chain visibility

  • "Executive Dashboard" mesh aggregating KPIs from all regions

Domain-Driven Design Approach

Following data mesh principles:

• OrgUnits: Customer Domain, Product Domain, Order Domain, Logistics Domain

• Meshes: Create meshes for specific business capabilities that require cross-domain data such as Product Discovery, Shipment Delivery,...

Governance and Access Control

The power of this structure lies in its granular governance model:

Within Organizations:

• Data Owners maintain full control over their data products

• Teams can create, modify, and manage data products independently

• Local governance policies apply

Through Meshes:

• Mesh Managers control data sharing policies

• Three access patterns:

  1. Open Access: All mesh members can automatically access all data products

  2. Discovery Only: Members can find and view metadata but must request data access

  3. Restricted Access: Specific approval workflows for sensitive data

Example Workflow:

1. A user from Finance Organization needs sales data

2. They request access to the "Revenue Analytics" mesh

3. The Mesh Manager (jointly managed by Finance and Sales) approves

4. The user can now discover Sales data products and request specific access

5. Sales data owner approves based on mesh policies

6. User creates new combined data product using both Finance and Sales data

Best Practices for Organization Mapping

1. Start with Existing Structure: Map your current organizational chart to Organizations first

2. Identify Collaboration Patterns: Look at existing cross-team projects to define initial Meshes

3. Define Clear Ownership: Each Organization should have designated Data Owners and Stewards

4. Establish Mesh Governance: Appoint Mesh Managers with clear mandate from participating Organizations

5. Iterate and Evolve: Start with critical use cases and expand as teams become comfortable

Reusing Assets Across Meshes

• Data systems, applications, and data origins can be reused in multiple meshes

• Avoid duplicating configurations by linking objects to products in different meshes

• Promote reusability to maintain consistency across your organization

Scalability Considerations

• Federation Across Foundations: Multiple Foundation instances can be federated, with Meshes spanning across them

• Dynamic Mesh Creation: New Meshes can be created for projects and dissolved when complete

• Role Inheritance: Permissions can cascade through Organization hierarchies while maintaining audit trails

This flexible structure ensures that Foundation adapts to your organization rather than forcing organizational change, while promoting the cultural shift toward collaborative, democratized data management that delivers real business value