What Is Snowflake Data Sharing?

Snowflake Data Sharing is a feature within the Snowflake platform that allows organizations to securely share live data across different accounts without the need to move or copy the data. This enables seamless collaboration between different teams, departments, or external partners.

Data sharing in Snowflake works by providing read-only access to the shared data, ensuring that the data remains centralized while different users or organizations access it in real-time. This method eliminates data duplication, reduces storage costs, and ensures that all parties work with the most current version of the data. Additionally, Snowflake allows sharing of data both within the same Snowflake account (intra-account sharing) and across different Snowflake accounts (cross-account sharing), enhancing collaboration flexibility.

Key use cases for Snowflake data sharing include collaborative analytics, data monetization, and enabling data-driven partnerships without compromising security or data governance.

But let’s back up: Why is Snowflake data sharing valuable, and how can organizations leverage it to drive business results? In this blog, we’ll explore the mechanics of Snowflake data sharing: its benefits, key use cases, and practical tips for implementation. By the end, you’ll understand how you can use Snowflake to revolutionize your organization’s approach to data sharing, paving the way for innovative solutions and insights.

The value of data sharing

Did you know that companies that effectively leverage data sharing can see a significant boost in operational efficiency? In today’s data-driven world, the ability to share data easily across platforms and organizations is crucial. 

Data sharing has evolved dramatically over the past decade, shifting from cumbersome file transfers and traditional data warehouses to streamlined, real-time solutions. As a cloud-based data platform, Snowflake has redefined data sharing by enabling organizations to access and share data without duplicating it. This feature is particularly important in a world where data silos can hinder growth and decision-making.

Why is a data catalog valuable for data-sharing use cases?

Alation's platform allows you to combine its Catalog Usage Analytics with advanced data-sharing tools like Snowflake, providing deeper insights into how users are interacting with your organization's data assets.

There are three terms to remember here that will be used throughout this article:

• Catalog usage analytics: Analytics data derived from human data catalog activity that includes curation, visits, updates, and much more. (See the full list.) 

• Provider: The source of the data

• Target / Consumer: The target Snowflake account to which data from the provider account is shared seamlessly.

A simplified view of how Snowflake Data Sharing works with Alation’s catalog usage analytics

Alation Analytics is a feature that tracks catalog usage analytics. It helps organizations measure the value of their data initiatives and track their data maturity. It provides a variety of features, including: 

• Track metrics: Tracking Catalog activity metrics such as total assets, active users' popular assets, top search questions, and top queries is simplified via Alation Analytics. A full list of available metrics is here.

• Monitor curation: Track the curation of data assets as per your needs.

• Audits and compliance: Understand who viewed and edited which data assets for compliance. Run audits on individual asset types like schemas and tables .

With these tools, leaders can use Alation Analytics to optimize queries; rationalize data sources; evaluate data proficiency; establish a data-informed baseline; and manage risk, data privacy, and compliance.

How Alation ensures security for Snowflake data sharing

Before diving into use cases and implementation tips, let’s explore how Alation ensures secure data sharing for catalog usage analytics using Snowflake.

When we enable data sharing for usage analytics, each customer's data is securely isolated within our architecture. This means that the data-sharing process occurs only between two databases: the Provider Database (which we set up for the customer) and the Target Database (which the customer chooses to use).

All customer-specific data is protected within Snowflake using Role-Based Access Control (RBAC). This ensures that no one, including Alation, can view the contents of the Provider Database. The customer retains full control.

Customers can then decide who in their organization has access to the data in the Target Database, even if those users don’t have direct access to the catalog assets. This way, only authorized users can access the shared analytics data, based on the roles and permissions set by the customer.

Additionally, data catalog users are given specific roles that allow them to access analytics data from the Provider Database. A catalog admin oversees this access, ensuring proper security and control over who can view the catalog usage analytics within the organization.

Our approach ensures that:

• Strong security measures and oversight are in place for accessing analytics data through Snowflake’s data sharing.

• Compliance is simplified while providing easy access to the right users who need to view the catalog usage analytics.

In the next section, we’ll explore key use cases enabled by combining Snowflake data sharing with catalog usage analytics.

Key use cases for data sharing and catalog usage analytics

By combining Alation Analytics with Snowflake data sharing, customers can unlock several valuable use cases:

• Automated workflows and reporting: Automatically send updates, reports, or reminders to data asset owners, encouraging them to maintain and curate data. This is easily done through various Snowflake integrations.

• Enhanced analytics across departments: Expand your catalog usage analytics by combining it with other business areas, such as IT infrastructure or finance, providing a more complete operational view.

• Instant, secure access with no waiting: All catalog usage analytics are instantly available in the shared accounts, with the necessary security controls in place. Teams like IT and Operations, even if they don't have direct access to the Data Catalog itself, can still access these analytics securely.

• Leverage Snowflake for larger workloads: Take advantage of your Snowflake environment to handle bigger, more complex analytics tasks. By using your own Snowflake resources, you can process extensive reports faster and more efficiently.

In the next section, we’ll take a closer look at these use cases and provide practical tips for customizing and optimizing your implementation to achieve the best results.

Harnessing Snowflake data sharing for automation and cross-department insights

When it comes to combining catalog usage analytics with Snowflake data sharing, the possibilities are vast. Many data catalogs, including Alation, offer out-of-the-box features for reporting and automated curation workflows. However, some organizations have specific workflows that require custom solutions. This is where Snowflake data sharing shines, allowing you to integrate and automate across multiple tools and platforms.

Here’s how you can unlock powerful use cases and optimize your data-sharing workflows:

Automating workflows with catalog usage analytics

Using Snowflake data sharing, customers can integrate service accounts from automation platforms like Workato, Zapier, Stitch, and more. This makes it easy to build tailored workflows for data curation and reporting.

Use cases for automating data workflows:

• Automated reminders for data owners: Set up workflows to automatically remind data asset owners to complete their curation tasks, ensuring that data is continuously updated and well-maintained.

• Custom reports on data asset metrics: Generate and share reports on key metrics—such as curation completion, asset popularity, and search traffic—with stakeholders. These reports can be delivered using popular BI tools like Tableau, Superset, and Power BI, which integrate seamlessly with Snowflake.

• Dashboard updates in BI tools: Automatically update dashboards in third-party BI tools based on actions taken through automation software, ensuring your reports are always up-to-date with the latest curation activity.

Practical tips for setting up automation:

• Start by importing the raw catalog usage analytics schema into your BI tool of choice.

• Use individual tables or join multiple tables (e.g., views, users) to build reports that show who has viewed which data assets.

• Save report views directly in the BI tool for easy access to future reports.

• Ensure you have a stable authentication mechanism between your BI tool and the Snowflake share to ensure seamless report updates.

Expanding analytics across IT, compliance, and finance

By connecting catalog usage analytics with other operational systems like IT infrastructure and finance, organizations can gain a complete picture of their data environment.

Use for expanding analytics to other departments:

• Linking analytics to IT infrastructure: Connect catalog usage data to your IT systems for insights into operational costs, system usage, and activity during cloud migrations. Since catalog analytics includes both physical and virtual asset identifiers, mapping assets back to IT systems like DataDog or SpotIO becomes effortless.

• Financial insights on data assets: Integrate your catalog usage analytics with finance systems to establish the total cost of ownership (TCO) for your data assets. By mapping physical and virtual assets to their corresponding costs in finance systems, you’ll have a clear view of your data investments.

Practical tips for expanding analytics:

• Build views that combine data from catalog analytics and your operational systems.

• Double-check that asset IDs are accurately mapped across all systems.

• Remove any duplicate asset IDs to avoid counting the same asset multiple times.

Secure data sharing with instant access: Ensuring security without delay

When sharing sensitive data about asset activity, maintaining strong security measures is critical. However, these safeguards shouldn’t slow down access to data, as delays can hinder insights and reporting. With Snowflake data sharing integrated into Alation’s Catalog Usage Analytics, we ensure both security and speed, providing real-time data access without compromising on protection.

Here’s how our secure data-sharing implementation benefits you:

• Instant access with security controls in place: All catalog usage analytics are immediately available in the shared target (consumer) accounts, complete with necessary security policies. This means your team can access data in real time without waiting for the data to be moved or transformed.

• Seamless compliance: Our data-sharing solution ensures that all necessary security and compliance requirements are met when sharing data from the producer to the target databases. Even as data is made instantly available, strict controls are maintained to keep your information secure.

• No more waiting for data transfers: In traditional data transfers, users often have to wait for data to be copied or moved across databases, which can delay analysis and decision-making. With Alation’s data-sharing implementation, data is available in real-time in the target database, allowing for quick access without the wait.

Practical tips for setting up secure, instant data sharing:

• Ensure that the target Snowflake database is located in the same region as your Alation instance to minimize any delays.

• For cross-region data sharing, first share the data with a Snowflake target database in the same region, then extend the share to the desired region. While this may introduce a slight delay during refreshes, it will ensure smooth cross-region data transfers.

Enabling secure data access for teams without direct catalog access

With Snowflake data sharing, even teams that don’t have direct access to the data catalog—such as IT, operations, or compliance—can still access catalog usage analytics. This ensures that essential departments can run reports and gain insights without needing full access to the catalog itself.

• Empower more teams to use data: Teams that aren’t catalog users can still run reports and analyze catalog usage analytics data. The shared data is available in the target consumer account, and customers maintain full control over who can access this information.

• No need for catalog access: Customers can provide additional users with access to catalog usage analytics without requiring them to be data catalog users. This makes it easy to share valuable insights with departments that need them without overcomplicating access.

Practical tips for managing access for non-catalog users:

• Make sure that users receiving access meet all necessary compliance and security requirements, as protecting the target database is the customer’s responsibility.

• Conduct regular access audits to ensure only authorized and compliant users have access to catalog activity data, maintaining strong oversight and data protection.

Optimize performance for large workloads: Using your Snowflake infrastructure

While Alation’s Snowflake Share is built for strong performance, there are times when extra power is needed to handle large or complex reports. This is where the combination of Snowflake Data Sharing and Catalog Usage Analytics truly makes a difference.

By leveraging Snowflake’s data-sharing capabilities, you can use your own larger Snowflake instances to process these hefty reports much faster, leading to quicker insights and smoother workflows.

Key benefits of using your own Snowflake instances for heavy workloads:

• Faster time to insights for complex reports: Running large, complex reports can be time-consuming, but using your own Snowflake instance with more resources accelerates the process significantly. This helps you get to the insights you need faster, without the usual delays caused by resource constraints.

• Eliminate the hassle of ETL for large data volumes: With Snowflake Data Sharing, there's no need for the traditional, time-consuming process of extracting, transforming, and loading (ETL) large data sets. The data is shared directly, ensuring seamless access without the historical challenges of moving large data volumes.

Practical tips for maximizing performance with your own Snowflake instance:

• Ensure sufficient resources in your target Snowflake database: Your Snowflake instance should have enough resources, such as CPU and memory, to handle the complexity of your queries and data volumes.

• Monitor for timeouts on large queries: Watch for timeouts when running XL workloads. If you experience frequent timeouts, consider adjusting your settings to prevent interruptions.

• Scale up when necessary: If large reports are timing out or taking longer than expected, increasing the size of your Snowflake warehouse can help boost performance and ensure faster processing times.

How to activate Snowflake data sharing for Alation’s catalog usage analytics 

Ready to take advantage of Snowflake data sharing to enhance your catalog usage analytics? Activating this feature within Alation is straightforward and ensures seamless access to real-time insights with top-tier security and performance.

Here’s how to get started:

1. Ensure you’re using Alation’s cloud instance: To activate Snowflake data sharing, you must be using Alation’s cloud-based platform. This ensures compatibility and access to the full range of analytics features.

2. Contact support or your account executive: Reach out to Alation Support or your Account Executive to request activation of the Snowflake Replica for Analytics and Snowflake Data Sharing.

3. Provide necessary target Snowflake account information: When submitting your request, make sure to include the required details for your target Snowflake account. This information is essential for setting up the secure connection and ensuring the data is shared seamlessly.

Conclusion: Unlock the full potential of Snowflake data sharing

Snowflake data sharing, combined with Alation’s Catalog Usage Analytics, opens the door to faster insights, enhanced security, and more flexible reporting. Whether you’re managing large workloads, streamlining cross-team access, or optimizing performance, this powerful integration ensures that your data catalog delivers maximum value. 

To learn how to activate Snowflake data sharing today, book a demo with us.