The App Store for B2B: 6 Steps to Launch Your App Securely in Snowflake

Get your SaaS app running securely in Snowflake, available to 10,000+ customers, simplify the sales cycle, and ensure faster deployment and sales with Native Apps.

The recent announcement of Snowflake's Native Apps integration with Snowpark Container Services has sparked significant interest among developers and companies eager to tap into Snowflake's expansive customer base. Like the App Store revolutionized software distribution by making apps accessible to millions of users, Snowflake's initiatives offer businesses a similar opportunity in the B2B domain.

Visualization of how a SaaS provider can move their application to run natively on Snowflake— Created by Author

Over the last six months, I have been lucky enough to work with some of our Summit launch SaaS providers to deploy their applications in Snowflake (Genesis, LandingAI, and Kumo). This blog explains how to convert your existing application into a Snowflake Native App, simplifying your sales cycle, ensuring faster deployment, and reaching over 10,000 potential customers.

So how do you do that? Six simple steps. I have seen providers do this in 3–6 weeks, some in 3–6 months. The speed at which you can achieve these steps depends on your team's skills and your current technology stack and architecture.

1. Strategize; understand your business purpose and scope to make this move
2. Architect (Most difficult step): reflect on your current tech stack and structure and understand how that would work in a Snowflake paradigm
3. PoC to Product: build out a test, try and run parts of your application in Snowflake, iterate, and improve until you have the first version of your application up and running in your Snowflake account
4. Package: take your jobs and services running in Snowpark Container Services and package them into the Native App framework
5. Monetize (Optional): align how you want to charge for your application, the financial model, and how that fits within the Snowflake marketplace
6. Publish & Scan: Create your profile and listing page and publish your app by going through the required security reviews.

Step 1: Strategize

Understanding Your Use Case: First and foremost, assess whether Snowflake is the right platform for your application. This initial step is crucial for laying a solid foundation for your integration process.

• Data-Centric Focus: Ensure your application relies heavily on data processing, analytics, or storage. Snowflake's strengths lie in its data-handling capabilities, making it ideal for data-intensive applications.
• Security Requirements: Evaluate the sensitivity of the data your application processes and how Snowflake's robust security features can meet those needs.
• Integration Needs: Consider how your application will integrate with Snowflake's features, such as data sharing and secure data exchange, and whether external features may be needed. External integrations are best avoided where possible due to their security implications.
• Application Suitability: Determine if Snowflake's infrastructure aligns with your application's architecture and operational needs.
• Business Strategy Alignment: Ensure that moving to Snowflake supports your business goals, such as scalability, security, and market reach.

Why do this?

Leveraging Snowflake's powerful data processing capabilities can significantly enhance your application's performance. Protecting sensitive data is paramount, and Snowflake offers enterprise-grade security features. Effective integration with Snowflake can streamline data workflows and improve functionality, while compatibility with Snowflake's infrastructure ensures smooth operation and minimizes disruption. Aligning the integration with your business strategy ensures that it contributes to your overall objectives, such as scalability, application distribution, security, and market reach. This approach will significantly reduce barriers to entry and simplify the sales process, but it will be a technical uplift and require investment. This step ensures you are making the right decision for your business.

Stakeholders to be involved in this step:

• Data engineering and analytics teams
• Security and compliance teams
• Integration specialists and the IT department
• Application architects and infrastructure team
• Executive team, product managers, and strategy planners

Optional Deliverables/Outputs:

• Strategic alignment document
• Suitability analysis report
• Security requirements document

Step 2: Architect

Technical Preparation: Ensure your app architecture is conducive to integration with Snowflake; this is a technical evaluation and design. Key considerations include:

• Containerization: If your application isn't already containerized, you must break it down into microservices and containerize these components using Docker, a new design paradigm for your tech stack.
• Data Ingress and Egress: Plan how data will flow into and out of your Snowflake Native application. Understand if you will need external integrations outside the Snowflake platform, and if so, consider designing secure data pipelines to minimize latency and ensure data integrity.
• Minimize External Dependencies: To enhance security and performance and reduce reliance on external APIs and services. Apply the rule of requesting the least amount of privilege your app needs.
• Snowpark Container Services Compatibility: Ensure your application can run effectively within Snowpark Container Services, leveraging its capabilities for better performance and security. Consider your current compute infrastructure and how that translates to Snowpark Container Services. Translating existing architecture to Snowflake just using SPCS can be the hardest step. At Snowflake, we only have a few high-level services that you'd find in AWS, Azure, and GCP: Redis Cache, CDN, RabbitMQ, Lambda, and Postgres. This requires finding an equivalent service at Snowflake, such as Hybrid Tables or Tasks, but the majority will need to be brought as a separate open-source container.
  SPCS offers lower-level primitives like Block Storage that help bring stateful services to Snowflake
• Scalability Planning: Design your application to scale efficiently within the Snowflake environment, accommodating potential increases in data volume and user load.
• Single Tenant: For at least the next 12–18 months, Snowflake architecture will be a single tenant and work only inside Snowflake (requires Snowflake auth). This means you don't need to architect for high concurrency (with few exceptions). It also means you must architect your application with dedicated computing resources for each customer.

Why do this?

Proper architecture ensures your application integrates smoothly within Snowflake's features, enhancing performance and security. Containerizing your application makes it easier to manage and deploy while planning dataflow, and minimizing dependencies improves efficiency and security. Ensuring compatibility with Snowpark Container Services maximizes the benefits of Snowflake, and scalability planning prepares your application for growth. This step ensures you have a straightforward design and understand the required build.

Stakeholders to be involved in this step:

• DevOps and development teams
• Data engineers and IT infrastructure teams
• Security teams
• Snowflake solution architects
• Application architects and performance engineers

Deliverables/Outputs:

• Containerized application design
• Dataflow plan
• Compatibility checklist
• Integration plan and checklist
• (optional) Scalability plan

Step 3: PoC to Product

Testing and Validation: Before a full rollout, deploy your application or part of it within your Snowflake account using Snowpark Container Services. This step is crucial for:

• Operational Testing: Deploy your containerized application in Snowflake to validate its functionality in a real-world scenario. Monitor its performance and behavior closely.
• Iterative Improvement: Use the insights from testing to refine your application. Address any performance bottlenecks, security vulnerabilities, and integration issues.
• User Feedback: Involve a small group of users in the testing phase to gather feedback and ensure the application meets user needs and expectations.
• Performance Metrics: Collect and analyze performance metrics to ensure the application runs smoothly and efficiently within Snowflake.
• Security Validation: Conduct thorough security checks to ensure the application adheres to Snowflake's security protocols and standards.

Why do this?

Testing and validation ensure your application operates smoothly and securely within Snowflake. Iterative improvements and user feedback help refine the application, while performance metrics provide objective data for assessment. Security validation protects data integrity and compliance. This step takes the conceptual evaluation of steps 1 & 2 and brings it to the real world; it validates the technical approach and finds any potential issues quickly.

Stakeholders to be involved in this step:

• Development Team
• QA teams & Pilot users
• Product managers
• Security team

Deliverables/Outputs:

• Functional application
• User feedback document
• (optional) Performance metrics analysis

Step 4: Package

Leveraging Snowflake's Native App Framework: Once your PoC validates the app's functionality and security and you build out a functioning product, the next step is to familiarize yourself with Snowflake's Native App framework. Utilize this framework to:

• Wrap Your Application: Follow Snowflake's guidelines to wrap your containerized application so it can be deployed natively within Snowflake accounts.
• Metadata and Configuration: Ensure your application includes all necessary metadata and configuration settings to integrate seamlessly with Snowflake's infrastructure.
• Compliance Checks: Verify that your application meets Snowflake's security and compliance standards, preparing it for broader deployment.
• Documentation: Prepare comprehensive documentation to help users effectively understand and utilize your application.
• Testing Environment: Set up a testing environment within Snowflake to conduct final checks and ensure the application runs smoothly before broad deployment.

Why do this?

Proper packaging ensures seamless deployment and operation within Snowflake. Including metadata and configuration is critical for efficiency, while compliance checks ensure adherence to standards. Comprehensive documentation aids user adoption, and a final testing environment verifies readiness.

Stakeholders to be involved in this step:

• IT and development teams
• Compliance officers
• Technical writers
• QA teams

Deliverables/Outputs:

• Packaged application
• Metadata and configuration settings
• Compliance documentation
• User documentation
• Final testing

Check out this blog for the technical details of steps 3 & 4.

Visualization of Native Apps with Snowpark Container Services fitting into the Snowflake Platform— Created by Snowflake

Step 5: Monetize (Optional)

Establishing a Revenue Stream: With your app deployed, focus on monetizing it. Consider the following:

• Pricing Strategy: Develop a pricing model that reflects your application's value. This could be a subscription-based model, a pay-per-use model, or a tiered pricing structure.
• Marketplace Dynamics: Understand the dynamics of the Snowflake Marketplace. Position your app effectively to attract potential customers.
• Customer Engagement: Develop strategies for customer acquisition and retention. Provide excellent support and continuously update your application to meet evolving customer needs.
• Revenue Management: Implement tools and processes to manage revenue, track sales, and handle billing efficiently.
• Marketing and Promotion: Create a marketing plan to promote your app within the Snowflake ecosystem and beyond, leveraging co-marketing opportunities with Snowflake.

Why do this?

Monetizing your application ensures a revenue stream and maximizes the app's market potential. A well-thought-out pricing strategy and an understanding of marketplace dynamics drive customer acquisition and retention. Efficient revenue management and effective marketing are crucial for financial health and growth.

Stakeholders to be involved in this step:

• Finance and marketing teams
• Product managers
• Customer support teams
• Sales teams

Deliverables/Outputs:

• Pricing model
• Customer engagement plan
• Revenue management tools
• Marketing Plan
• (optional) Marketplace analysis

Simple visualization of Native apps components and how they come together — Snowflake Documentation

Step 6: Publish

✨ You can check out a process diagram of the steps here✨

Listing on Snowflake's Marketplace: After wrapping your app within the native framework and confirming your monetization approach, list it on Snowflake's Marketplace. This step broadens your app's visibility and streamlines access for potential customers. Key steps include:

• Create Your Profile: Develop a comprehensive profile and listing page highlighting your application's features, benefits, and use cases.
• Decide on Distribution Approach: Snowflake allows for a range of distribution methods, both private and public, in different regions. Understand the options you have available and make your choice based on your learnings and strategy from step 1

Important to note that Snowflake’s security bar will be higher than any other cloud provider.

• Security Reviews: Submit your application for Snowflake's security reviews to ensure it meets all necessary standards. You can learn more here.*
• Final Testing: Conduct final testing to ensure your app performs as expected in the Snowflake environment.
• Launch Plan: Develop a plan to coincide with the listing, including marketing campaigns and user outreach.
• Post-Launch Support: Establish a support system for users post-launch to handle inquiries, troubleshoot issues, and gather feedback.

Screenshot of Snowflake's marketplace depicting Native Apps leveraging Snowpark Container Services

Why do this?

Publishing your application on Snowflake's Marketplace increases visibility and streamlines customer access. Creating a detailed profile and passing security reviews ensure trust and attract customers. Final testing and a coordinated launch maximize user engagement, while post-launch support enhances user satisfaction and retention.

Stakeholders to be involved in this step:

• Product managers and marketing team
• Snowflake's security and compliance teams
• QA teams
• Customer support teams
• Sales teams

Deliverables/Outputs:

• Profile and listing page
• Security review approval
• Launch plan
• Post-launch support plan
• (optional) Final testing report

Next Steps

Does this sound interesting to you? If you're ready to transform your application into a Snowflake Native App, we are here to help. As part of the Snowflake Startup program, we offer comprehensive support, which includes credits, technical guidance, and co-marketing opportunities. By joining forces, we can ensure your app is securely available to over 10,000 customers, simplifying your sales cycle and accelerating deployment. Reach out to us, and let's explore how we can bring your vision to life on Snowflake's robust platform. Feel free to reach out.

*As a provider, it is essential to have an internal security process to ensure no exploitable or critical vulnerabilities in your software before distributing it to any other Snowflake customer. We have a security review process to catch those that can block publishing / distributing. The security process is also going to flag and block apps that are too "greedy," as we want to prevent malicious or harmful (even when unintended) behavior on the platform