Secure Inter-Organizational Data Sharing

This post details how Confluent's data streaming platform enables secure, reliable, and scalable inter-organizational data sharing. It highlights the strategic value and technical challenges of cross-boundary data exchange, contrasting traditional methods with data streaming. Three Confluent methods are presented: Stream Sharing for simple topic sharing with external parties, Cluster Linking for replicating data between clusters (including across organizations), and using Apache Kafka or REST API client applications. Stream Sharing emphasizes authenticated access, encryption, and schema enforcement for providers, and frictionless consumption for recipients. Cluster Linking is presented for more complex replication scenarios, often involving a gateway cluster. The post also touches on the importance of data quality and schema compatibility for recipients.