It becomes a city – but the sewers don’t work, and it becomes chaos. The same goes for digitalization. Many companies throw themselves into new digital projects without a clear direction. The result? Inefficient systems, costly detours and lost business value.
Think of a business as a city. For a city to work, it needs a well-thought-out urban plan – streets, buildings and infrastructure must work together. Similarly, a business needs a target architecture: a long-term blueprint for how systems, data and technology will interact. Without this, there is a risk of inefficiency, costly mistakes and lack of security.
Architecture – the forgotten competitive advantage
Architecture in this context is not about buildings but about creating the right structure for business and technical solutions. This means understanding early in each initiative what the company’s goals are, what its needs are, and what technical and legal requirements need to be met.
At the center is the architecture team – those who translate business strategies into technical choices. They don’t work in a vacuum, but follow projects through their entire lifecycle, tackling complex solution problems, and ensuring that technology is developed according to plan.
The difference between good and bad architecture is clear. Good architecture minimizes costs, reuses existing components and creates harmonized solutions. Poor architecture leads to fragmented systems and inefficient collaboration – and often to technical specialists working on solutions that are not rooted in real needs.
The data platform as a bridge between the present and the future
Most companies have already made strategic technology choices – such as which ERP system, which cloud platform or which office suite they use. These choices form the digital building blocks of the business, and future solutions need to be designed in line with them. Overlooking this often leads to inefficiencies and duplication.
Here the modern data platform plays a crucial role. Platforms such as Microsoft Fabric act as a central hub: they collect, process and make data available as finished data products. This creates a common data foundation – a so-called Single Source of Truth (SSOT) – that minimizes the risk of error and sets the stage for the right decisions. In addition, the data platform provides full control over data quality and security, which is crucial in today’s complex landscape.
Once this data foundation is in place, it becomes possible to take the next step: harnessing the power of generative AI and low-code development. AI assistants such as Co-pilot for Power BI make advanced analytics accessible even to non-technical users, while low-code tools enable rapid and cost-effective development of new applications. According to McKinsey, these approaches can cut development times by up to 90% – while reducing costs.
The data platform connects what you already have with what you want to achieve – enabling digital development that is efficient, scalable and future-proof.
Four architecture principles to build on
To succeed in the future of digitalization, clear principles are needed. Here are four that we recommend for industrial companies, for example:
- Transactional systems (ERP, CRM, etc.) produce and consume data.
Therefore, properly managed master data is crucial.
- The data platform refines all data.
It replaces legacy integration technologies and creates a robust, central hub for data processing.
- Applications consume ready-made data products.
Using a semantic model, data can be normalized and reused across the organization.
- ML/AI applications both use and create data.
AI creates predictions that can be used directly in other systems, enhancing decision-making and processes.
Futureproofing before you build
Digital success is not just about technology – it’s also about direction. By investing time in design and planning, building on existing structures and leveraging modern technologies such as AI and data platforms, companies can create solutions that are sustainable, secure and business-driven.
The common thread? Think like a city architect. Plan before you build – and build for the future, not for yesterday.
