Atlas — The Six States of Domain Readiness

Orientation — Before State 1▾

What is Atlas, and why should you care?

One person owns each important dataset. A checklist proves it's trustworthy enough for people — and AI — to rely on.

"Atlas 101" session · Owner: TBC

Why a steward? Why data management?

Three steward lenses (Operational, Technical, SME) exist because no one person sees the whole picture alone.

"Why a Steward?" one-pager · Owner: TBC

Core Delivery Team vs Data Council

Core Team builds and runs the pattern. Council ratifies materiality and certifies domains at the gates.

"Governance 101" one-pager · Owner: TBC

State 0 — Foundations · Programme-wide, same for every domain▾

Data Management Workstream

RACI matrix ratified
Business glossary framework & data dictionary approach
Data Quality Framework
Governance operating model for DQ issues (SLAs, root cause analysis)
Domain governance model & register decomposition ratified
Unity Catalog meta-tag framework (policy definition)
EDP publishing readiness checklist
Contract Excel template + training session
Data Governance Book (DQ rules, metadata, glossary, lineage)
Operational dashboard design
Structured vs unstructured — Track A/B model (DQ Framework v4.0)

Engineering Workstream

Engineering capacity confirmed for CI/CD and platform build-out
CI/CD pipeline + end-to-end testing standard (post source-mapping)
GitHub repo ownership + branch protection model
Schema evolution / contract versioning process
UC grants template per domain
Structured vs unstructured data — Track A/B technical build pattern

State 1 Activate▾

Who's Involved

Domain OwnerConfirms accountability in writing

Data StewardConfirms availability

Engineering LeadAccepts assignment

Atlas Core TeamConfirms materiality, runs kickoff

Workflow

Complete Intake Form

Confirm Owner & Steward

Assign Eng Lead

Confirm Materiality

Hold Kickoff

Key Outputs

Domain Intake Form (Word)

Confluence domain page

domain_register row

Teams channel

Training & Guides Getting Databricks Access · Owner: TBC Kickoff Prep Checklist · Owner: TBC

State 2 Discover & Define▾

Who's Involved

Domain OwnerSigns off the contract

Data StewardDrafts DQ rules, names consumers

Engineering LeadReviews schema before build

Atlas Core TeamAlex validates/extends contract YAML

Workflow

Confirm Schema

Classify Fields & PII

Draft DQ Rules

Agree SLA

Upload Contract YAML

Run Contract Loader

Key Outputs

Data contract ({domain}_data_contract.yaml)

Confluence page updated

Sign-off record (Confluence / ServiceNow)

atlas_metadata.data_contracts row

Training & Guides Is There a Business Glossary? · Owner: TBC Setting Up Your First Contract · Owner: Deeps/Chris (planned)

State 3 Integrate EDP▾

Who's Involved

Data StewardReviews quarantine daily

Engineering LeadBuilds Bronze/Silver/Gold, sets up Workflow

Atlas Core TeamScott's team — CI/CD, UC grants

Workflow

Run Foundation DDL

Build Bronze Ingest

Build Silver DLT

Run Soda DQ Rules

Compute Trust Score

Build Gold + UC Tags

Key Outputs

01/02/03_{domain}_*.py

Bronze/Silver/Gold tables; logs.atl_dq_results

Git repo & CI/CD pipeline

{domain}_soda_checks.yml

Training & Guides How Do I Know What I Built Is Correct? · Owner: TBC Naming Conventions & Best Practices · Owner: TBC

State 4 Produce & Publish▾

Who's Involved

Domain OwnerNotified domain is published

Engineering LeadConfirms 12 UC tags, lineage

Atlas Core TeamMatt Clark / Chris Lawford — readiness review

Workflow

Confirm UC Tags

Publish Schema

Provision Security Groups

Add Cost Monitoring

Submit Readiness Pack

Key Outputs

Published schema; UC lineage

ServiceNow Change Request

Runbook document

EDP readiness pack

Training & Guides Where Can I Find Available Data? · Owner: TBC How Do I Get Access to Data? · Owner: TBC

State 5 Measure & Trust▾

Who's Involved

Domain OwnerCertifies Platinum

Data StewardMonitors score daily, responds to SLA alerts

Engineering LeadConfirms engineering score inputs

Atlas Core TeamLorian signs off State 5

Workflow

Configure SLA Alerting

Monitor Score Daily

Confirm Platinum Gates

Stand Up DQ Dashboard

Assign ServiceNow Group

Certify Domain

Key Outputs

Data quality dashboard (Databricks SQL / Streamlit)

ServiceNow Assignment Group

Front-door email alias

logs.atl_domain_health; atlas.domain_state_signoff

Training & Guides Where Do Alerts Go? · Owner: TBC What AI/Priority Use Case Is Needed? · Owner: TBC

State 6 AI Ready▾

Who's Involved

Domain OwnerConfirms active use, no mediation

Atlas Core TeamData Council confirms managed status

Workflow

Confirm Active Use

Retire Legacy Source

Six-Month Review

Key Outputs

Data Council minutes

Decommission confirmation

atlas.ai_ready=true; atlas.ai_use_case_domains

Training & Guides What Does AI Ready Actually Mean? · Owner: TBC