#68 The Build vs. Buy Dilemma of Data Platforms - Interview w/ Doron Porat

Sign up for Data Mesh Understanding's free roundtable and introduction programs here: https://landing.datameshunderstanding.com/Please Rate and Review us on your podcast app of choice!If you want to be a guest or give feedback (suggestions for topics, comments, etc.), please see hereEpisode list and links to all available episode transcripts here.Provided as a free resource by Data Mesh Understanding / Scott Hirleman. Get in touch with Scott on LinkedIn if you want to chat data mesh.Transcript for this episode (link) provided by Starburst. See their Data Mesh Summit recordings here and their great data mesh resource center hereDoron's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/porat-doron/Our journey towards an open data platform: https://medium.com/yotpoengineering/our-journey-towards-an-open-data-platform-8cfac98ef9f5A simplified, lightweight ETL Framework based on Apache Spark by Yotpo: https://github.com/YotpoLtd/metorikkuThe Data Swamp (in Hebrew): https://open.spotify.com/show/5YDdtRhp1RVw7r5fbYFtPQ?si=5x4HzOyhTX6n46HqY5kV6w&nd=1In this episode, Scott interviewed Doron Porat, a Data Infrastructure Leader at the SaaS company Yotpo.Some crucial points Doron made:1) Be kind to yourself when you make mistakes - it's worse to stagnate so don't be afraid of change and making choices2) Build versus buy is always tough but don't let your ego get in the way and push you towards building everything3) If you do buy, build a close relationship with your vendors to help influence the roadmap and have an outlet if you are having issues4) A data platform team's job is to drive usage as usage means creating value - drive towards that and set your KPIs around platform usage5) There will likely be many different types of consumers of your data platform - work to improve / optimize the user experience for most folksDoron is a technologist at heart so for each decision she instinctually wants to build instead of buy. And at the start of building out the data platform for Yotpo, that was typically her decision. But as the demands for more and more capabilities from the platform, the increasing ubiquity and quality/scalability of as-a-service offerings, and the growing need to drive usage and developer happiness instead of manage cool tech, she started to consume more and more managed services.When you are building out the platform, vendors, in the long run, can often better serve your needs because they have a whole lot...