Snowflake cost optimization is a common concern among data-driven organizations. Unfortunately, minimizing cost and maximizing value isn’t always a straightforward matter when dealing with complex data stacks.
Identifying inefficiencies that drive up cost requires time and expertise that internal data teams may not have. Meanwhile, addressing these inefficiencies can temporarily alleviate ballooning costs, but testing frameworks need to be developed in order to track and evaluate long-term efficiency.
The right data expert will know where to look for suboptimal data architecture and has an arsenal of AI tools that were designed to identify and address these issues far more quickly than any human worker can.
In this article, we’ll take a look at where Snowflake cost optimization is focused and consider the benefits of outsourcing the process to data consultants.
Where Data Experts Look to Achieve Snowflake Cost Optimization
Snowflake cost optimization hinges on good architecture, but there is no one-size-fits-all answer to optimal architecture. Organizations looking to cost optimize will flounder if they lack meaningful insight into where waste and inefficiency are occurring within their unique organizational data stack.
Data experts will assess for efficiency by looking for some common areas where workloads get bogged down, causing performance to lag:–
- Redundancies caused by inputs that are unintentionally producing duplicate data assets, depleting storage and overburdening workloads
- Ineffective storage types that do not fully optimize for both accessibility and efficiency (excess warehouse sizing, suboptimal choice in data repositories)
- High-workload functions that should be offloaded to fully managed services to reduce overhead
- Eliminating data feeds that once served a function but are no longer necessary for current organizational needs
Even after addressing these common areas of inefficiency, data experts will also set up a consistent testing framework to assess performance as new usage patterns emerge. Otherwise, cost/performance will gradually become less optimal as usage evolves.
Running the Playbook : Why Organizations Are Turning to Outside Snowflake Cost Optimization Experts
The process of identifying suboptimal architecture is incredibly time-consuming but can be done by internal data teams who have the necessary expertise. However, many organizations will have to contend with a talent gap when tapping their own data teams to address complex issues like cost optimization, especially while maintaining day-to-day operations.
Developing a durable testing framework requires even more manpower and know-how, but without such a framework, it is impossible to future-proof your data stack against rising costs and inefficiencies. Usage patterns change, and architecture will need to accommodate these changes to remain efficient.
Thus, many organizations turn to data consultants to address cost optimization, reducing operational disruption and speeding up the optimization process by offloading.
The right data consultant can not only offer the specific expertise needed to achieve cost optimization but also a host of AI and machine learning tools that have been designed for the express purpose of optimizing Snowflake efficiency.
Snowflake Cost Optimization with Hakkōda, an IBM Company
At Hakkoda, our Snowflake-certified experts are ready to help you optimize your data stack for cost and performance.
As a trusted Snowflake partner, we know where data inefficiencies crop up within complex organizational data stacks, and we have robust AI tools to identify and eliminate them with lightning speed.
We’ll also help your organization build the test framework it needs to continue to monitor for future inefficiencies as usage patterns change, giving you peace of mind against ballooning Snowflake costs.
Hakkoda is unlike other data consultants: our model for working with clients is holistic. We take the time to get to know your organization, its unique data stack, and its data goals before implementing innovative, AI-driven solutions, all while training your internal data teams to make use of these solutions long term.
Let’s talk today about how Hakkoda can help your organization achieve Snowflake cost optimization.
