Snowflake Deployment Options — Key Factors
This is the second blog in Slalom’s five-part Snowflake series. In our last blog, we looked at the “Top 4 things to get right when implementing Snowflake”.
In this post, we will discuss your options when it comes to deploying Snowflake.
As an organisation prepares to implement a Snowflake Cloud Data Platform, the very first decision point is about the number of Snowflake accounts to provision. Traditionally, we are used to physically separated environments, but cloud platforms have introduced logical separation which is slowly being adopted by the organisations.
Snowflake has a unique feature called ‘zero-copy cloning’ which can greatly simplify and speed-up DataOps. Hence, it is important to carefully evaluate the different Snowflake deployment options rather than going ahead with the traditional choice straight away.
The following table lists the different options:
The key factors that influence this decision are:
- Data Security
- Agility
- Management and Cost
- Impact on code
Data Security is the primary factor among all of these.
Snowflake RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) provides the necessary constructs to build a secure implementation minimizing the data security risk. However, approval from an organisation’s information security team will be required.
The following table compares these options based on key factors:
Our recommendation is to provision a single Snowflake account hosting all of the environments.
However, all the factors mentioned above need to be understood and evaluated before making a decision. Additional Snowflake accounts may be required for disaster recovery requirements.
How Slalom can help
Slalom has the experience to help your business make the most of Snowflake and set the stage for long-term growth and sustainability.
Our Snowflake credentials include:
- Snowflake Partner of the Year for three consecutive years — 2018, 2019 and 2020
- Over 200 Snowflake certified consultants
- Over 300 Snowflake projects delivered
David Oyegoke is a Data & Analytics Consultant based in Slalom’s London, UK office. Ashish Billore is a Data & Analytics Solution Architect, also based in Slalom’s London, UK office.
Slalom is a modern consulting firm focused on strategy, technology, and business transformation.
