The Often High Cost of DIY Data Plumbing

^You can listen to the article instead of reading.

One of my friends is a licensed, master plumber. He once told me: “DIY jobs are a great source of business. People often screw up DIY plumbing.”

It stuck with me—because I’ve seen the same thing happen in data engineering.

Data engineering is like the plumbing of analytics. If the foundational data work isn’t done right, the whole system can leak—or worse, back up entirely. A DIY job might get things moving, but chances are, someone will need to call in a “master plumber” later to rebuild the pipelines properly.

To be clear, this isn’t shade on DIYers. Sometimes you should just get scrappy and build something that works, even if it’s not perfect. Shipping with technical debt is often better than not shipping at all.

But like home improvement: screwing up your own window treatments? Annoying, but minor. Screwing up your own plumbing? You might be ankle-deep in sewage with a five-figure repair bill.

Same with data. Some systems are just too critical to risk DIY.

I often see businesses make their first data hire—typically a data analyst—and expect them to do everything. Sometimes that works out. Sometimes it doesn’t.

Where it is likely to work out:
The analyst is a veteran generalist who can lay solid foundations for early use cases. I think of my father-in-love, Steve. He spent decades in construction and is now a state-licensed handyman. His license lets him do limited plumbing work because he’s a general contractor, not a master plumber. Would I trust Steve’s plumbing for a bathroom remodel? Absolutely. But would I trust him to handle a 5,000-square-foot greenfield restaurant build? Definitely not.

Where it often doesn’t:
The analyst is brand new—smart, motivated, eager to learn. Kind of like hiring my friend’s teenage son to help with cosmetic jobs like pressure washing or painting. If the paint isn’t perfect? No big deal—just add another coat. It’s like dashboards: easy to tweak.

But plumbing? No way. He’d give it his best shot—he’d even YouTube it until he figured it out. But the risk is too high. I’d gladly pay a premium for a licensed plumber to get it done right, fast, and the first time.

If I ever get clothes with my logo, maybe my first article should be a pair of Carhartt overalls instead of a hoody or pullover.