Data Is Everywhere—So Let’s Make It a System” (Wrong.)
- Sunil Dutt Jha
- Jun 24
- 2 min read
Why Presence ≠ Structure in Enterprise Anatomy™
Just because something is everywhere doesn’t mean it deserves structural elevation.
In Enterprise Anatomy™, we don’t define systems based on presence. We define them based on structural purpose, organizational embodiment, and functional integrity.
Let’s take a cue from biology.
Why Blood Isn’t Its Own System
Blood flows throughout the body. It touches the brain, lungs, liver, muscles, skin—everything.
And yet…We don’t call it a Blood System. We call it the Circulatory System.
Why?
Because blood is content, not structure. The system includes the heart, vessels, flow logic, and control points.
That’s what qualifies it as a structural system.
The Enterprise Parallel
In enterprise modeling, we hear this line all the time:
“Data is everywhere—so let’s make it a system.”
It sounds logical. But it’s structurally false.
Variables ≠ Perspectives ≠ Systems
Here’s the distinction:
Data, network, location, identity — these are variables.
Every department in the enterprise has six perspectives.
And each perspective includes six key variables.
Presence does not equal elevation.
You don’t turn something into a system just because it appears often. You model it when there’s ownership, structure, and embodiment.
What About AI?
AI doesn’t fit in a single bucket—and that’s exactly the point.
In Enterprise Anatomy™, AI is modeled as a compound:
It spans multiple perspectives—strategy, systems, implementation, operations, performance, etc.
It activates multiple variables—data, logic, automation, compute, integration rules, etc.
It may be used across the enterprise, but it is structured and governed by specific departments—like Digital Transformation, Product Engineering, or Technology.
So we don’t create an “AI System.” We model AI where it is architecturally embodied—not just where it shows up.
The Real Problem: Vendor-Centric Narratives
For years, the enterprise narrative has been hijacked:
Oracle: “The enterprise is data.”
Cisco: “It’s all about networks.”
Cloud vendors: “It’s about compute, not structure.”
AI vendors: “The brain is everything—just plug it in.”
They paint the whole enterprise using their one lens. That’s not modeling. That’s domain inflation.
What Enterprise Anatomy™ Actually Does
Defines systems only where structural logic, organizational embodiment, and clear ownership exist.
Treats data, AI, analytics, network, and others as variables or compounds, not independent systems.
Rejects pseudo-systems created out of convenience or popularity.
Blood is everywhere—but there’s no blood system.There’s a circulatory system—because it has boundaries, function, and structure.
Likewise, the enterprise has enablers that flow across functions.But we only model them structurally when they’re embodied in accountable systems.
Enterprise Anatomy™ doesn’t elevate what’s visible. It models what’s structurally real.
