One thing nearly all such data providers have is a REST API. Snowflake’s recently announced external functions capability allows Snowflake accounts to call external APIs. By using external functions, data enrichment providers can fulfill requests for data from Snowflake Data Marketplace consumers.

Many data providers who participate in Snowflake Data Marketplace are already using Snowflake Cloud Data Platform as their primary data store, and they can share secure slices of their data via Global Snowflake, Snowflake’s global data sharing feature, with any other Snowflake consumer regardless of which cloud or Snowflake region each is using. But other potential data providers, especially data enrichment companies, are not yet using Snowflake themselves.

Fast-growing software companies are building data applications for a variety of uses, from marketing apps that provide customer insights, to IoT apps that handle device feedback, and data analytics apps that process both historical and near real-time data. But developers often face obstacles when building, designing, and supporting applications that need to parse large volumes of information.

Even in a global economy, businesses need a deep understanding of local markets. For example, marketing campaigns designed to attract buyers in a large metropolitan area won’t necessarily attract small-town customers. Noticing that buying patterns in one area are extending into a larger regional or nationwide trend can lead to decisions that increase profits. But accessing and analyzing a broad spectrum of geospatial data has been difficult and expensive. That is changing.