Forum Discussion
Accessing data from an outsourced third party service company
Hi , Can someone please throw some light on this ? We have some services outsourced to a third-party company but, we realised the data which goes into their process is very valuable and want to acce...
Yes, there are a few secure and feasible options beyond downloading reports or using pre-defined APIs that can give you broader and more automated access to your data from the third-party provider:
- Read-Only Database Access:
You can request access to a read-only replica of their database, filtered to include only your company’s data. This setup can be configured to refresh at regular intervals (e.g., every few hours), giving you near real-time visibility. Access would be through a secure connection (such as a VPN or SSH tunnel) and tightly permissioned to ensure security. - Secure File Transfers (SFTP):
If database access isn’t feasible, they could generate scheduled data exports (e.g., CSV, JSON, or Parquet files) and deliver them to a secure SFTP server. You can then automate ingestion of these files into your reporting or data warehouse environment. - ETL/Integration Tools:
If the vendor has API access or can provide files, tools like Fivetran, Talend, or a custom ETL pipeline can be used to extract, transform, and load the data into your system automatically, on a scheduled basis.
While APIs are great for accessing specific data in real time, if you need broader, structured access to the underlying data used in their process — especially for analytics, reporting, or audit purposes — then requesting a replica or regular data extract is often the best path. This also gives your team more flexibility to build insights without being limited to predefined report formats.