What is direct-to-data architecture?
Direct-to-data is a security architecture pattern where the analyst tool queries data directly from its source, SIEM, EDR, identity provider, cloud platform, rather than retrieving it from a vendor-controlled intermediate store.
Updated 2026-05-19
Direct-to-data is the implementation pattern beneath a Federated Data Model. The customer keeps full control of the data, the data's residency, and the access policies that govern it. The security platform inherits those policies because it queries through the source system's existing authentication and authorization. The pattern eliminates data duplication, reduces deployment time, and respects data residency requirements (HIPAA, GDPR, FedRAMP) that ingestion-based platforms struggle with.
How Command Zero handles Direct-to-data.
Every Command Zero investigation queries data direct-to-source. Customer data never leaves the customer's environment for storage in Command Zero infrastructure. The platform's role is orchestration: deciding which questions to ask, executing them against the right sources, correlating the answers. The customer's existing data governance applies unchanged, same access controls, same residency, same compliance posture.
Frequently asked questions
What does direct-to-data mean?
It is an architecture where the analyst tool queries data at its source rather than from a vendor's intermediate store. The customer keeps control of the data, its residency, and the access policies that govern it.
How does direct-to-data help with compliance?
Because data never leaves your environment for storage in the vendor's infrastructure, your existing access controls and residency requirements (HIPAA, GDPR, FedRAMP) apply unchanged. Command Zero inherits your data governance instead of duplicating data into a new boundary.
Is direct-to-data the same as a Federated Data Model?
Direct-to-data is the implementation pattern beneath a Federated Data Model. The federated model is the architecture; direct-to-data is how each query reaches the source system.
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