Empowering Data Governance: Alation & Snowflake Horizon Collaboration

With the passage of the EU AI Act and the US’s Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence, these and other regulations proposed and adopted worldwide have brought data, analytics, and AI governance and security to the center stage. Understanding and enforcing existing and new policies will be a crucial requirement for organizations moving forward.  

To help govern complex data and AI ecosystems, companies use Alation’s integration with the Snowflake Data Cloud to adapt and adopt AI governance enterprise-wide. 

With its comprehensive compliance, security, privacy, interoperability, and access capabilities, Snowflake Horizon has redefined how organizations approach data governance across diverse cloud environments. But it’s important that our partners, customers, and current Snowflake users have an in-depth understanding of this integration's impact and benefits. This collaborative effort is more than just a technology play; it's a new way of thinking about and interacting with data in the increasingly complex digital landscape.

This blog will discuss Snowflake Horizon, its role in enhancing data governance, and how integrating Alation and Snowflake brings a more streamlined, secure, and efficient data governance process. The Alation Data Intelligence Platform and Snowflake Horizon's robust data governance capabilities create a powerful combination, offering several advantages to organizations. This collaboration highlights our commitment to innovation and excellence in data governance, ensuring our stakeholders are well-equipped to navigate the challenges and opportunities of the modern data landscape and regulatory environment. 

Understanding Snowflake Horizon

Snowflake Horizon is a built-in solution that seamlessly integrates compliance, security, privacy, interoperability, and access capabilities within the Data Cloud. The core of Snowflake Horizon lies in its ability to simplify complex governance challenges for customers, enabling them to take swift, effective action on data, applications, and more. 

Snowflake Horizon is particularly welcome at strategic partners like Alation. It encapsulates numerous foundational features across data security, governance, and observability, which are crucial for building robust integrations. By combining all of these features under Snowflake Horizon, it’s now that much easier for customers to govern and take immediate action on their data, apps, and more both inside and outside of Snowflake. 

Alation plays a key role in helping customers do just that by leveraging Snowflake’s foundational features to deliver optimized native integrations. Through Snowflake Horizon, partners can ensure that joint customers are equipped with all the necessary tools for comprehensive governance, security, and data observability across their entire data estate, marking a new era of data management and governance.

Alation’s Role in Enhancing Snowflake Horizon

The Alation Data Intelligence Platform augments the capabilities of Snowflake Horizon primarily by bolstering interoperability. Alation's unique value proposition is its ability to seamlessly bridge the gap between diverse data environments and Snowflake’s unified governance framework. By enhancing Snowflake Horizon with its cutting-edge data cataloging and intelligence capabilities, Alation ensures that joint customers benefit from a holistic view of their data landscape. This integration allows for an enriched governance experience, where users can navigate complex data ecosystems more easily and clearly. The interoperability facilitated by Alation extends Snowflake Horizon's reach, ensuring that governance, security, and data observability are confined to the Snowflake environment and effectively leveraged across hybrid ecosystems, data sources, and platforms.

Alation adds more value with its comprehensive approach to data intelligence. It empowers organizations to manage and understand their data more effectively, complementing Snowflake Horizon's built-in governance solution. This partnership provides joint customers with a more integrated and intelligent data governance strategy. 

Alation’s contribution continues beyond mere integration, it enriches Snowflake Horizon by providing insights for effective data stewardship. By offering a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of data, Alation ensures that governance is not just a regulatory necessity but a strategic asset. 

This collaboration marks a significant milestone in the journey toward more sophisticated, efficient, and user-friendly data governance solutions, aligning perfectly with the evolving needs of modern organizations in a data-centric world.

The Partnership: Alation and Snowflake Horizon

Alation has had a long-lasting partnership with Snowflake and we’re excited to be a part of the Snowflake Horizon partner ecosystem to continue driving data governance and intelligence innovation to joint customers. This alliance is underscored by Alation's consecutive recognition as Snowflake's Data Governance Partner of the Year for the past three years, a testament to the depth and effectiveness of our joint efforts. 

Serving over 250 shared customers, including Snowflake as both a client and an investor, this partnership represents a powerful synergy. Alation's alignment with Snowflake Horizon highlights our shared commitment to empowering organizations with comprehensive, seamless data governance solutions. It’s a technological integration plus a strategic alliance that brings together the strengths of both entities, offering customers unparalleled insights and capabilities. Our joint journey, enriched by testimonials and case studies from customers like Texas Mutual Insurance, showcases this partnership's real-world impact and transformative potential, setting a new benchmark in the data governance landscape.

Alation’s Features Aligned with Snowflake Horizon

Alation's features available within Snowflake Horizon enhance data governance across diverse landscapes by enabling customers to enforce data policies, protect sensitive information, and scale governance solutions. Our platform’s feature set, an integral part of Snowflake’s ecosystem, ensures that data policy enforcement is not just a checkbox but a streamlined, efficient process across vast data landscapes. We focus on fortifying data protection measures and scaling these protections to meet growing organizational needs, plus offer additional capabilities for data lineage, classification, policies, and more.

For example, the Alation Policy Center lets data stewards manage data governance policies in Snowflake from within the Alation platform. All policies enunciated in Snowflake policies are then centralized into Alation, making it much easier to find and apply them.

Alation’s contribution to transparency in the data lifecycle is paramount. We offer a clear, detailed view of data lineage and usage, enabling organizations to understand the entire journey of their data, from its origin to its current state. This holistic data management and governance approach, aligned with Snowflake Horizon, empowers organizations to make informed decisions, maintain compliance, and leverage their data assets with unparalleled confidence and clarity.

Advantages for Stakeholders

The integration between Alation and Snowflake unlocks many advantages for organizations. Here are just a few examples: 

• Our integrated solution simplifies governance tasks for data stewards, making compliance management more efficient and less burdensome. 

• Data scientists and analysts gain accelerated access to data and assurances of its relevance and integrity, thus enabling them to make faster, more informed decisions. 

• Business leaders get more informed decision-making from a consolidated and transparent view of data governance and security across their organizations. 

By catering to different stakeholders, organizations can create a culture of data-driven decision-making, which is essential in today's competitive and rapidly evolving business landscape.

Maximize Your Data Governance with Alation and Snowflake Horizon

Discover how this collaboration elevates your data management capabilities by exploring our detailed demos and informative webinars. These resources provide an in-depth understanding of how Alation and Snowflake Horizon will streamline your data governance processes, enhance security, and foster a culture of informed decision-making within your organization. 

For a comprehensive experience and to stay abreast of the latest developments in this dynamic partnership, learn more about this collaboration and join the conversation in shaping the future of data intelligence. Let's embark on this journey together to unlock the full potential of your data assets with Alation and Snowflake Horizon.

Conclusion

In summary, the collaboration between Alation and Snowflake Horizon represents a significant milestone in the journey toward advanced data governance and intelligent data management. 

Key takeaways include:

• Comprehensive Data Governance: The integration offers a holistic approach to data governance, security, and compliance, catering to the intricate needs of modern organizations.

• Enhanced Interoperability and Efficiency: Alation’s unique capabilities, combined with Snowflake Horizon, streamline data management processes, fostering efficiency and interoperability across diverse data environments.

• Empowered Decision-Making: This partnership empowers stakeholders with actionable insights, enabling informed decision-making and driving business agility in a data-driven world.