Solving the complexities of external-data integration to bring more of Morningstar’s most critical datasets to the cloud
According to Forrester Research, data teams only spend 30% of their time on actual data analysis; they spend up to 70% of their time, meanwhile, on preparing the data for that analysis.
At Crux, we want to change that, one partner at a time. We focus on handling the complexities that come with external data so that financial-service firms can devote more time to using data for faster time to value and less time to onboarding and data engineering challenges.
Earlier this year, Crux and Morningstar, Inc. signed an expanded agreement. What was once an ad hoc arrangement is now much more. Morningstar clients can now access their Morningstar datasets with more flexibility than ever before. Pre-engineered pipelines from Crux enable clients to move faster to production for any use case. External data is a challenge in the financial services realm, particularly when it comes to integration and maintenance. Choosing and subscribing to appropriate data is only half the story. Data consumers must often wait several months for constrained IT resources to complete the integration work required to realize the potential of using the data. This leaves many teams stuck paying for access to data they can’t use yet.
“From an end user perspective, they've got to pay for that data on day one,” said Charles Ashwanden, Crux’s Director of Partnerships and Alliances. “They're paying for that data; they're not realizing any value from it.”
But it doesn’t have to be that way. Crux is accelerating end-user consumption of Morningstar data, providing both onboarding services and analytics-ready datasets that have already been loaded and validated. With robust, pre-built pipelines, Crux delivers data in consistent formats, eliminating irregularities and automatically monitoring and observing data.
Now, Morningstar clients can enjoy an easier route to value because Crux is doing the heavy lifting, giving end users access to Morningstar datasets via a central point of access on their chosen cloud service, including Google Cloud, AWS S3, Azure, Databricks and Snowflake, fast.
“What we do for the data providers is effectively take out the pain of delivery,” said Ashwanden. “Users can move from, ‘I want this data’ to ‘I'm using this data in under a week.’”
“Crux makes it easier to meet customers where they are, including in the cloud, and provides faster access to insights from vital Morningstar data,” said Rick Schmehl, Morningstar’s global head of sales, redistributors. “Crux has a unique technology platform for external-data integration, transformation, and observability, and widening access to those services empowers our customers.”
“At Crux, we’re thrilled to expand our relationship with Morningstar, a leader in the financial services space to accelerate access to in-demand datasets,” said Crux CEO Will Freiberg. “There’s a growing appetite for data access with a cloud-first strategy, so expanding our collaboration facilitates scaling and aligns with Crux’s growth strategy.”
Morningstar isn’t alone. The company is just one of the latest and greatest to join other key players in financial services–including Two Sigma, Goldman Sachs, and Schroders plc–in using cloud-native data integration technology from Crux to access quality data in the right place and in the right format, on demand.
So if you’re an end consumer of Morningstar data, hi! We’re so happy to bring you clean datasets from a firm you trust with investment insights. And if you’re not, just hang on. We’re working to someday meet you wherever you are–with analytics-ready data, whatever the source.
Crux: Jan 2, 2024
