Data Flow Fields

What it’s for: A narrative overview of this data flow — what data moves, between which components, and why.
What to include:
- The source and destination of the data.
- What the data represents and why it needs to flow.
- Any key processing or transformation at a high level (detail goes in the Data Mapping tab).
- The business process or event that triggers or relies on this flow.
Example: "Supplier invoice data received from the EDI gateway is validated, enriched with purchase order references, and loaded into the ERP Accounts Payable module. This flow supports the automated invoice matching process and replaces the current manual email-and-spreadsheet process."

What it’s for: The volume characteristics of this data flow — how much data is involved.
What to include:
- Number of records per run or per day.
- File sizes or payload sizes if applicable.
- Peak vs average volumes if they differ significantly.
- Any growth expectations over the life of the solution.
Example: "Average 200 invoices per day; peak 1,500 at month-end. Each invoice record is approximately 2KB. Expected 15% annual growth in invoice volume."

What it’s for: How often this data flow occurs.
What to include:
- The trigger: scheduled (include interval), event-driven, real-time, or on-demand.
- For scheduled flows: the schedule and any blackout windows.
- Any latency requirements (e.g. “must complete within 30 minutes of trigger”).
Example: "Triggered by EDI gateway on receipt of each invoice batch; typically 4–6 batches per day during business hours. Month-end batches may arrive outside business hours and must be processed within 2 hours of receipt."

Relationship	What to link
Supports Business Requirement	Business Requirements that this data flow helps to satisfy
Supports Non-Functional Requirement	Non-Functional Requirements — throughput, latency, data retention — that this flow addresses
Supports Transition Requirement	Transition Requirements that this flow helps to deliver (e.g. a migration flow)
Supports Business Process	Business Processes that this data flow supports or enables
Supports Business Scenario	Business Scenarios in which this data flow participates
Supports Business Outcome	Business Outcomes that this data flow contributes to
Implements Business Rule	Business Rules that this data flow enforces (e.g. data residency, transformation rules)
Implements Business Reference	Standards, policies, or regulatory documents that govern this data flow

Relationship	What to link
Uses Business Information	Business Information items that this flow carries or transforms
Uses Data Set	Data Sets — the structured data schemas — that are involved in this flow
Uses Data Store	Data Stores that this flow reads from or writes to

Relationship	What to link
Uses API	APIs through which this data flow is implemented
Uses Stream	Message queues or event streams used by this flow
Uses Service	Backend services that participate in this flow
Uses Technology	Technologies used to implement this flow (e.g. ETL tool, messaging platform)

Relationship	What to link
Uses Availability	Availability mechanisms applied to this flow (e.g. retry logic, failover)
Uses Recoverability	Recovery mechanisms in place if this flow fails (e.g. dead-letter queues, reprocessing)
Uses Performance	Performance mechanisms and targets for this flow
Uses Security	Security controls applied to data in transit (encryption, access control, audit logging)
Uses Deployability	Deployment patterns relevant to this flow
Uses Observability	Observability mechanisms — logging, monitoring, alerting — applied to this flow

Relationship	What to link
Has Acceptance Criteria	Business-level criteria for verifying this data flow works as intended
Has Implementation Acceptance Criteria	Technical criteria for verifying the implementation of this flow
Has Test Data	Test data sets used to test this flow

Relationship	What to link
Has Assumption	Assumptions made about this data flow (e.g. assumed availability of source data, assumed API contract)
Has Risk	Risks associated with this flow (e.g. data quality risk, volume risk, latency risk)
Has Issue	Known issues affecting the definition or implementation of this flow
Has Task	Tasks assigned to this flow

Relationship	What to link
Supports Design Decision	Design Decisions that are informed by or affect this data flow