Snowflake Secure Data Sharing, Data Marketplace and Data Exchange

Nowadays, more and more third-party data is used to enhance insights, which is becoming increasingly important. Previously, this was done for external parties via file sharing and ETL operations within an organization’s file system.

Email, FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and ETL (Extract Transform Load) are all examples of traditional data sharing systems. In addition, many organizations have recently moved to sharing data in the cloud, but there are still obstacles when it comes to extracting insights and value from fragmented data in near real-time.

On-premise data sharing architectures currently offer high levels of network security, file system maintenance/overhead, and data sharing analytics across organizations. These methods are slow, inefficient, costly, time-consuming, and resource-intensive, and only allow for the transfer of small amounts of shared data

So then, what is this thing called »data sharing«?

Data sharing is basically the ability to share the same data resources with numerous users or applications while ensuring data fidelity for all entities using the data.

In traditional data sharing the provider would need to extract the data from the source system, encrypt it and share it via FTP/API/Cloud Storage. On the other side, the reversible would need to be done – decrypt it and load it before the users could start using it. Even on a smooth ride, this would be a lengthy process, but constant failures would slow down the process even further.

Why share it on Snowflake?

Snowflake‘s platform is the only true data platform built from the ground up for the cloud, with a native data sharing capability that enables seamless, secure sharing of data between organizations.

This is a big step up from traditional data sharing possibilities we’ve seen till now as the two most prominent features are its security, simplicity and of course, the wealth of data available.

Please note, that the terms sharing, exchange and marketplace are actually slightly different versions of data sharing, but they are basically the same thing underneath.

Snowflake Secure Data Sharing

Secure Data Sharing is a Snowflake feature that allows you to share chosen database items from one or more databases with other Snowflake accounts and vice-versa.

A provider can even create special Reader Accounts to provide access to folks who do not have a Snowflake account.

By offering customers access to their data through the Snowflake Data Marketplace, data providers are provided the tools they need to securely monetize their data.

Snowflake Data Marketplace

Snowflake Data Marketplace gives data scientists, business intelligence and analytics professionals, and everyone who desires data-driven decision-making, access to more than 800 live and ready-to-query data sets from over 200 third-party data providers and data service providers*.

Data suppliers can post listings of the data they have to offer in the Snowflake Data Marketplace without having to construct and manage APIs or channels to provide that data. A standard listing that provides generic or aggregated data is also shared by providers.

Providers can tailor and deliver personalized lists to users, allowing them to monetize their data. To be added to the Snowflake Data Marketplace, a supplier must submit a request via the Web Interface or the Snowflake website.

Snowflake Data Exchange

“Snowflake Private Data Exchange represents the future of managing and exchanging data across corporate and institutional borders in a broad and safe manner.”

To exchange data warehouse data sets with other departments or subsidiaries in a supply chain, a business unit must currently enter into a formal arrangement. It may be necessary to use APIs, FTP transfers, or Extract-Transform-Load (ETL) methods to transmit data copies from the warehouse to the other parties, which can be inconvenient and time-consuming.

The Snowflake Private Data Exchange (PDX) serves as a central platform for listing data sets and granting access to certain third parties. They can directly access the data once it has been validated.

Snowflake PDX may be used to share datasets with permitted third parties in a corporate ecosystem, as well as for bi-directional data interchange and even for data encryption.

How does it work? More in our next blog post.

* As stated on https://www.snowflake.com/data-marketplace/ on January 22′.