Monitoring and enforcing data contracts

In this section, we’ll look at how to monitor and enforce our data contracts. This is important, as one of the four principles we looked at in Chapter 2, Introducing Data Contracts, is setting expectations. There’s little point in setting these expectations if we cannot prove we’re meeting them. It’s that proof that gives data consumers the confidence to build on this data.

There are three areas where we can add some monitoring and/or enforcement:

• The data contract’s definition
• The quality of the data
• The performance and dependability of the data

Let’s look at each of these in turn.

The data contract’s definition

Data contracts are written by humans and, as such, are susceptible to human error. They are also intended to be self-served, without requiring a central review, as that slows teams down and reduces their autonomy. Therefore, we will want to add some automated...