Data Marketplace 101: 6 Best Practices to Follow

Updated July 26th, 2023

Share this article

A data marketplace is essentially an online platform that brings together data providers and data consumers, making it easier to buy and sell datasets. One of the main benefits of a data marketplace is its potential to streamline the process of locating and acquiring relevant data.

In the past, an organization might have to reach out to multiple potential data providers, negotiate contracts, and deal with the logistics of data transfer. But, over time, these marketplaces have become popular because organizations have recognized the value of data for:

Informed decision-making
Enhancing business intelligence
Applying artificial intelligence, and
Machine learning models

In this blog, we will delve into data marketplaces and the best practices to make them work for you. Let’s go!

What is the use of a data marketplace and what are its types?
Why data exchanges and data marketplaces are different?
Data quality & trust in data marketplaces: 6 Best practices to follow
Step-by-step guide: Ensuring data quality and governance in data marketplaces
Navigating data marketplaces: What to do if you’re a data steward?
Rounding it all up
Data marketplace: Recommended reads

What is the use of a data marketplace and what are its types?

A data marketplace is a platform or a marketplace where individuals, organizations, or entities can buy, sell, or exchange data. It acts as a centralized hub where data providers can offer their data sets, and data consumers can access and acquire the data they need.

In a data marketplace:

Data providers can list their data products, set their prices, and provide all the necessary technical information for data transfer.
On the other end, data consumers can easily search the marketplace for the data they need, purchase it, and start using it almost immediately.

An example of a data marketplace is Snowflake Marketplace - it allows data scientists, business intelligence professionals, and others to access live, ready-to-query data from a wide variety of sources.

The platform reduces the cost and complexity of sourcing data, making it easier for organizations to utilize data-driven decision-making. It also offers an opportunity for data providers to monetize their data assets by reaching a wider audience.

To further ensure data quality and trust, many data marketplaces have mechanisms in place for consumers to rate and review data products, providing additional information to guide purchasing decisions.

Now, let us look into different types of data marketplaces.

The types of data can be quite varied, given the wide range of sectors and industries that are involved in the data economy. Here are some of the more common categories:

Demographic data
Firmographic data
Market data
Geospatial data
Transactional data
Social media data
IoT data
Public data
Web scraped data

Let’s understand this one by one:

1. Demographic data

This includes information about the population, such as age, gender, income, occupation, and education level.
It is often used by businesses for market segmentation and targeting specific consumer groups.

2. Firmographic data

Similar to demographic data, but related to organizations.
It includes data like company size, number of employees, industry, geographic location, and revenue.
Sales and marketing teams often use firmographic data to segment and target business customers.

3. Market data

This covers information about market conditions and trends.
It could include data on specific industry trends, consumer behavior, competitive analysis, pricing, and sales data.
Businesses and market researchers use this data to inform strategy and forecasting.

4. Geospatial data

This type of data includes information related to geographical locations and features.
It is used across industries for things like logistics planning, retail site selection, disaster response, and urban planning.

5. Transactional data

This includes data related to sales, purchases, and other financial transactions.
It can provide insights into customer behavior, market trends, and financial performance.

This involves data generated from social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
It can provide insights into consumer opinions, brand sentiment, and trends.

7. IoT data

This involves data generated by Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
It could range from sensor data in industrial machines, data from wearable health devices to information from smart home appliances.

8. Public data

This includes data that is publicly available and generated by government and public sector organizations.
This could range from census data, crime data, health data, and various statistical databases.

9. Web scraped data

This includes data that has been collected from the web using various scraping tools.
It can include data from websites, forums, news sites, and more.

The above are just a few examples. The specific data types available can vary significantly depending on the data marketplace. Each type of data has its own potential uses and can be valuable in different ways to different organizations.

Why data exchanges and data marketplaces are different?

In the simplest terms, both data exchanges and data marketplaces are platforms that facilitate the trading of data. However, the mechanisms they use, the level of control the data provider has, and the relationship between buyers and sellers can be different.

Data exchange

A data exchange is often a platform where organizations can directly exchange or share data with one another.

The main purpose of a data exchange is to facilitate this kind of peer-to-peer interaction.
The participants in a data exchange generally have more control over who they share data with and under what terms.
Data exchanges may also focus more on data interoperability and compatibility, facilitating the seamless sharing and integration of data between different systems.

Data marketplace

A data marketplace, on the other hand, operates more like a traditional marketplace or an online store.

Data providers list their data products on the marketplace, set their own prices, and provide necessary details about the data.
Data consumers can browse these offerings, purchase the data they need, and use it in accordance with the purchase agreement.
Data marketplaces often facilitate transactions between a broader range of participants and may have more sophisticated features for searching data, reviewing products, and processing payments.

In summary, while both data exchanges and data marketplaces provide platforms for buying and selling data, the key difference lies in the nature of transactions and relationships between participants. Data exchanges are more about peer-to-peer sharing, whereas data marketplaces are about purchasing data products in an open marketplace environment.

Data quality & trust in data marketplaces: 6 Best practices to follow

Ensuring data quality, trust, and governance over data acquired from data marketplaces is crucial. Bad data can lead to erroneous conclusions and ineffective strategies, among other issues.

In this section, we will understand the best practices for maintaining data marketplaces, which include:

Data quality
Data provenance
Data governance
Data marketplace reputation
Verification and validation
Partnership with providers

Let’s take a closer look at each of them:

1. Data quality

Evaluate the quality of data in terms of accuracy, consistency, completeness, and timeliness.

Accuracy: Check if the data is free from errors and is accurate. Reviews and ratings from previous buyers can provide insights here.
Consistency: Ensure that the data follows a consistent format and standards. Consistency also implies that the data does not have any contradictions.
Completeness: Check if the data includes all necessary elements and isn’t missing any critical information.
Timeliness: Ensure the data is up-to-date, as outdated data can lead to poor decisions.

2. Data provenance

Understanding the origin of the data is crucial. The quality and trustworthiness of the source impact the data’s reliability. Ask questions like:

Who created the data?
How was it collected?
Was it appropriately anonymized and de-identified to protect privacy, if applicable?

3. Data governance

Establish clear data governance practices. This includes:

Privacy and Compliance: Ensure the data complies with all relevant legal and regulatory requirements, such as GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, etc. This involves understanding how the data was collected, whether the appropriate consents were obtained, and whether it can legally be used for your intended purpose.
Security: Ensure appropriate security measures are in place to protect the data, including secure storage, controlled access, and encryption.

4. Data marketplace reputation

Consider the reputation of the data marketplace itself.
Some marketplaces implement their own quality checks, provide buyer reviews and ratings, and facilitate dispute resolution.

5. Verification and validation

Test the data before fully integrating it into your systems or using it for decision-making.
This might involve performing statistical analyses, cross-checking with other data sources, or conducting a pilot project to assess the data’s accuracy and relevance.

6. Partnership with providers

Establish strong relationships with data providers.
This can help you better understand how the data was created, its limitations, and how best to use it.
A partnership can also ensure you get updated and enhanced versions of the dataset over time.

For instance, IBM’s data marketplace, known as ”The Weather Company,” provides high-quality weather data.

They ensure the quality of the data by collecting it from thousands of sources, including weather stations, radars, satellites, and sensors.

They then use AI algorithms to process and correct any inconsistencies, ensuring the data’s accuracy.

As a buyer of data, it’s important to carry out due diligence on any data you’re considering purchasing, to ensure that it meets your needs and can be used ethically and legally.

It’s also important to understand that while data can be a powerful tool for decision-making, it should be just one factor among many in your decision-making process.

Step-by-step guide: Ensuring data quality and governance in data marketplaces

Here is the step-by-step process for ensuring data quality and governance in data marketplaces:

Understand your data needs
Choose a reputable marketplace
Evaluate the data provider
Check data provenance and compliance
Assess data quality
Implement data governance
Verify and validate
Monitor and update

Let’s dive deeper into them:

1. Understand your data needs

Before you begin the process of buying data, understand what you need the data for. Defining the business problem or opportunity clearly can guide you to the right kind of data and the required quality level.

Example: If you’re looking to understand user behavior on your e-commerce site, you may need high-quality clickstream data or social media data that shows user interests and interactions.

2. Choose a reputable marketplace

Research the reputation of the marketplace where you plan to buy data. Check for reviews and ratings, the marketplace’s process for vetting data providers, and their dispute resolution mechanisms.

Example: Platforms like Snowflake Data Marketplace and AWS Data Exchange are known for their comprehensive quality checks and strong customer support.

3. Evaluate the data provider

Look into the reputation of the data provider, their history, and the reviews or ratings they’ve received from previous buyers.

Example: A provider that specializes in geospatial data might be the right choice if you’re looking to optimize logistics or delivery routes.

4. Check data provenance and compliance

Understand where the data came from, and how it was collected, and ensure that it complies with all relevant legal and regulatory requirements.

Example: If you’re purchasing demographic data, make sure it adheres to privacy regulations like GDPR, and that the data was collected ethically and with the necessary permissions.

5. Assess data quality

Evaluate the data sample for quality using measures like accuracy, completeness, consistency, and timeliness.

Example: If you’re buying financial market data, it should be up-to-date, accurate, complete, and consistently formatted. Any inconsistency or inaccuracy can lead to significant financial implications.

6. Implement data governance

Define and implement processes to maintain data quality, security, privacy, and compliance once the data is acquired.

Example: After purchasing IoT data for predictive maintenance, set up roles and responsibilities, quality checks, access controls, and audit trails.

7. Verify and validate

After purchasing, run tests to cross-verify the data against other reliable sources.

Example: If you’ve purchased weather data to improve your supply chain operations, cross-verify it with reliable public weather data sources to ensure its accuracy.

8. Monitor and update

Continuously monitor the data’s performance and ensure it’s updated as needed. If the data’s quality drops or it becomes outdated, it may no longer meet your needs.

Example: If you’re using market trend data for investment strategies, continuous monitoring is crucial, as old or inaccurate data can lead to poor decisions.

By following these steps, you can help ensure the quality and governance of the data you purchase from data marketplaces. Keep in mind that the specifics can vary based on the type of data you’re buying and what you intend to use it for.

Navigating data marketplaces: What to do if you’re a data steward?

If you’re a data steward, your role involves managing and ensuring the quality, usability, security, and availability of data.

When working with data marketplaces, here are a few important aspects you might want to consider:

Integration
Cost-benefit analysis
Lifecycle management
Metadata management
Ethics and fairness
Educating your organization
Establishing relationships with providers
Legal considerations
Vendor lock-in

Let’s take a closer look at each of these aspects

1. Integration

Understand how the acquired data will integrate with your existing systems and datasets.
Compatibility with your current data infrastructure is essential to streamline operations and maximize the value of purchased data.

2. Cost-benefit analysis

Data from marketplaces can be costly. Performing a cost-benefit analysis will help determine if the data will provide a good return on investment (ROI).
Consider the costs of acquiring, integrating, and maintaining the data against the potential benefits it can provide.

3. Lifecycle management

Like all data, the data you acquire from a marketplace has a lifecycle. It needs to be maintained, updated, and eventually retired when it is no longer useful.

4. Metadata management

Managing metadata associated with the data bought from the marketplace is crucial.
It will help in cataloging the data and making it easily discoverable for your internal users.

5. Ethics and fairness

As a data steward, consider the ethical implications of using purchased data.
For example, does the data collection respect user privacy? Is the data biased in any way that could lead to unfair outcomes when used for decision-making?

6. Educating your organization

As a new source of data, there may be misconceptions or a lack of knowledge about data marketplaces within your organization.
Educating your colleagues about the opportunities, risks, and best practices associated with data marketplaces will be a critical part of your role.

7. Establishing relationships with providers

Building relationships with data providers can offer benefits like improved support, better terms, and the ability to influence future data products to better meet your needs.

8. Legal considerations

Always ensure that the data you’re purchasing is compliant with all applicable laws and regulations, especially regarding privacy and data protection.

9. Vendor lock-in

Be aware of the potential for vendor lock-in.
Some data providers may use proprietary formats or provide data through specific platforms that could limit your flexibility in the future.

In the end, your role as a data steward will be vital in ensuring the successful use of data marketplaces in your organization. By focusing on the aspects above, you can guide your organization to maximize the benefits of these platforms and minimize the risks.

Rounding it all up

Overall, data marketplaces play a pivotal role in the data economy by providing a scalable, efficient platform for the transaction of data and data services, and by enabling organizations to leverage data in ways that were not possible before.

They present organizations with valuable opportunities to access a diverse range of data and enhance their data-driven decision-making.

Furthermore, factors like data integration, cost-benefit analysis, lifecycle management, metadata management, organizational education, provider relationships, and awareness of vendor lock-in contribute to the successful utilization of data marketplaces.

Remember, data marketplaces offer tremendous potential, but they require diligent attention to ensure data quality, compliance, and ethical usage. With the right strategies and practices in place, you can harness the power of data marketplaces to drive innovation and success in your organization.

Data marketplace: Recommended reads