Internal data marketplace: To buy or to build?

In today’s data-driven economy, organizations are increasingly looking for ways to maximize the value of their data assets. And an internal data marketplace is designed to solve data access at scale, by offering a way to easily manage, share, and utilize data within an organization.

Without a data marketplace, data initiatives show relatively poor ROI — if they are even measured; technology, data, and AI projects take months and years to deliver; and you end up with low levels of data reusability — you want to build once and use often.

The reality is that until you enable flexible, governed data access, you will struggle to deliver value at any scale.

The big question: To buy or to build?

One of the key decisions is whether to build a data marketplace platform in-house or buy a purpose-built, market-proven solution, like Harbr.

While both options have their pros and cons, choosing the right path depends on a range of factors, from cost and speed of deployment to customization needs and long-term scalability.

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Purpose-built, market-proven solution

The most straightforward option is to buy a purpose-built data marketplace platform and deploy it in your own environment. Look for a vendor that has the core capabilities listed earlier and a proven track record of deploying within large organizations. Customizability, methodology, and speed to deployment are areas where vendors should differentiate themselves.

Self-build

Within this track, there is a spectrum from assembling components — with custom integration — to fully self-built. A self-built solution will be unique and the design and implementation will be under your full control. To do this, you’ll rely on internal expertise, ideally from people who have built, deployed, and managed similar systems before.

This route can cost millions of dollars, take a long time to deploy, and presents high user adoption risk. Therefore, you should ask yourself how important your unique requirements are in relation to what else is out there.

Let’s look at the pros and cons of “build versus buy” across six evaluation parameters:

• Cost
• Time-to-value
• Customization
• Capabilities
• Operational efficiency
• Security and compliance

Detailed overview of differences

1. Cost

Building a data marketplace platform in-house requires a significant investment in development resources, infrastructure, and ongoing maintenance. This includes costs for developers, data engineers, cloud infrastructure, and potential third-party tools.  There are also ongoing costs associated with operating, maintaining, and enhancing the platform. Continuous investment is required, diminishing the overall return on investment.

In contrast, buying a data marketplace platform generally comes with a subscription or licensing fee. This often leads to lower upfront costs and an agreed ongoing cost structure that scales with usage. Software investment costs are spread across many users, divisions, and even legal entities, meaning you benefit from economies of scale.

2. Time-to-value

Building an in-house solution often means a longer development timeline. Depending on the complexity of the platform and the resources available, this could take months or even years. You’ll need to factor in the time it takes to develop the marketplace, test it, and ensure it is secure and compliant.

Purchasing a pre-built platform allows for much faster deployment – you get a robust set of capabilities from day one, with only minor configuration required to integrate them with your existing data infrastructure.

3. Capabilities

You can build all the features and functions you want for your business, but it will likely take a very long time to reach a state of maturity. You can launch with an MVP (minimum viable product) that covers the basics, but it could be a few years to realize the full vision.

With a pre-built platform you get a complete, market-tested set of capabilities from day one that will continue to improve over time. Sharing your requirements with your platform provider can also influence the product roadmap towards your specific needs.

4. Customization

This is a distinct advantage of building your own data marketplace: you can decide what to build and how to build it (within the constraints of your budget and capabilities).

However, most off-the-shelf data marketplace platforms offer some level of customization (custom branding and the ability to control the ‘rules of the game’, such as who participates and how they participate). While the level of customization may not match an in-house build, many platforms are flexible enough to meet the needs of most organizations.

5. Operational efficiency

When you build your own, you’ll need to manage it end-to-end, forever. This means dedicating resources not just for software development but also for infrastructure, operations, and security.

On the flip side, when you buy – the platform provider takes responsibility for code and infrastructure management, security and even technology vendor management.

6. Security and compliance

When building a marketplace in-house, you have full control over security protocols and compliance measures. However, you also take on the burden of ensuring that the platform meets all of the relevant regulatory requirements, which can be a complex and resource-intensive process.

Many purpose-built platforms come with built-in security features and compliance certifications, such as GDPR or HIPAA. These platforms are designed to meet industry standards and are regularly updated to ensure ongoing compliance, reducing the burden on you.

Conclusion

Deciding whether to build a data marketplace in-house or purchase a pre-built platform comes down to the specific needs of your organization.

A platform like Harbr offers a faster, cost-effective, and lower-risk path to building a robust data-sharing environment, enabling businesses to quickly unlock the value of their data. On the other hand, building a custom solution offers more control but comes with higher upfront costs, longer time to market, and the need for deep technical expertise.

If your company requires full customization, has the technical expertise, and is willing to invest in long-term infrastructure, building an in-house solution could offer greater flexibility and control. However, if speed, cost, scalability, and support are top priorities, a platform like Harbr is likely the better option.

In most cases, leveraging a purpose-built platform ensures a more streamlined, scalable, and future-proof solution, enabling organizations to focus on maximizing the value of their data rather than managing the complexities of marketplace infrastructure.

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