“A data catalog is not a data marketplace. A data marketplace is not a data catalog. Data marketplaces solve data access at scale.“— Anthony Cosgrove, Harbr founder
Data catalogs, which have existed in some form for many years, are a way for organizations to keep track of data assets available to their employees.
Data marketplaces solve data access at scale. A relatively recent innovation, pioneering examples of data marketplaces include Moody’s DataHub and the Asian Development Bank’s DataNeX. While data marketplaces can serve stakeholders outside of the organization, they are increasingly being used to empower internal stakeholders. Thus, the audiences for data catalogs and data marketplaces are converging.
Let’s look at the key differences and similarities between data catalogs and data marketplaces.
The purpose of a data catalog is to understand and organize all the data within an organization. A catalog is primarily used by data governance teams to establish an inventory and provide governance over the data estate. This is particularly important for complying with standards, regulations, and laws. It also helps manage the risk of sensitive or valuable data elements.
The purpose of a data marketplace is to facilitate the access, use, and distribution of ‘ready-to-use’ data assets and data products between users, departments, and organizations. A data marketplace is primarily used to reduce ‘time to access’ and ‘time to value’ for a wide range of users and use cases. This is particularly important when building applications, delivering insights, and creating data-driven business processes.
Curious to see how a data marketplace can enhance your organization’s ability to access, consume, and use data? Chat with a data marketplace expert, can help you map out a strategy for successful integration with your existing tech stack, including data catalogs.
Most organizations need both a catalog and a marketplace — and for best results, they should work well together and play to their relative strengths.
The differences between data catalogs and data marketplaces start with profoundly different purposes, and continue through to their different features and user personas.
The catalog is focused on profiling all the data within an organization to support governance and reduce risk. The marketplace is focused on enabling governed access, use, and distribution of data products to data users, regardless of technical skill, to create business value.
Our customers integrate their Harbr data marketplace with their data catalog, to transfer metadata and keep both systems doing what they do best. This allows them to take advantage of the governance established with the catalog, while accelerating time to access and value.
If you’re ready to build on the foundation of your data catalog and take it to the next level with a data marketplace, we’d be delighted to help. Since 2017, we’ve helped some of the largest data companies in the world achieve incredible things.
Data marketplaces can be hard to get your head around. But they don’t have to be. We’ve created an in-depth guide with everything you need to know from concept to execution, based on lessons learned building award-winning data marketplaces.
Moody’s Analytics is a leading global provider of financial and risk data and services. Moody’s Analytics launched their centralized hub — the Moody’s DataHub — on Harbr’s platform. Customers can now find, assess, and consume all their data products through a personalized experience.