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reviewer1593564 - PeerSpot reviewer
General Manager of Data Science at a non-profit with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Good data ingestion capability, scalable based on the requirement, and very stable
Pros and Cons
  • "The ETL and data ingestion capabilities are better in this solution as compared to SQL Server. SQL Server doesn't do much data ingestion, but Snowflake can do it quite conveniently."
  • "They need to improve its ETL functionality so that Snowflake becomes an ETL product. Snowpipe can do some pipelines and data ingestion, but as compare to Talend, these functionalities are limited. The ETL feature is not good enough. Therefore, Snowflake can only be used as a database. You can't use it as an ETL tool, which is a limitation. We have spoken to the vendor, and they said they are working on it, but I'm not sure when they will bring it to production."

What is most valuable?

The ETL and data ingestion capabilities are better in this solution as compared to SQL Server. SQL Server doesn't do much data ingestion, but Snowflake can do it quite conveniently.

What needs improvement?

They need to improve its ETL functionality so that Snowflake becomes an ETL product. Snowpipe can do some pipelines and data ingestion, but as compare to Talend, these functionalities are limited. The ETL feature is not good enough. Therefore, Snowflake can only be used as a database. You can't use it as an ETL tool, which is a limitation. We have spoken to the vendor, and they said they are working on it, but I'm not sure when they will bring it to production.

They should also make its initial setup easier. Its customization and configuration are not very straightforward.

Their technical support is awesome, but it is just too expensive.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for about two years. I am currently using its latest version.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is very stable.

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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is very simple to scale up and down depending on the project or situation, which is an advantage.

How are customer service and support?

They are fantastic but just too expensive. They charge hourly rates and are very expensive.

How was the initial setup?

Its setup is not very straightforward. Its customization and configuration are not very straightforward. For two large data factories, the configuration is too complicated. They should work on it.

What other advice do I have?

It is a good solution. At the moment, I can't find another product that is better than Snowflake, but it needs better ETL functionality, easier configuration, and cheaper support. All products have got some limitation.

I would rate Snowflake an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1572522 - PeerSpot reviewer
ML Lead at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Well-distributed with different data engines, great stability and scalability, and easy to deploy
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a very well-distributed system. It has different data engines for different applications. Many applications can use different computational engines at the same time. In terms of data processing, the feeling was similar to working with a relational database but in a scalable way."
  • "The scheduling system can definitely be better because we had to use external airflow for that. There should be orchestration for the scheduling system. Snowflake currently does not support machine learning, so it is just storage. They also need some alternatives for SQL Query. There should also be support for Spark in different languages such as Python."

What is our primary use case?

It was used in my previous company for a massive data warehouse. It was used for events and actions from other data sources. We had its latest version.

What is most valuable?

It is a very well-distributed system. It has different data engines for different applications. Many applications can use different computational engines at the same time. In terms of data processing, the feeling was similar to working with a relational database but in a scalable way.

What needs improvement?

The scheduling system can definitely be better because we had to use external airflow for that. There should be orchestration for the scheduling system. Snowflake currently does not support machine learning, so it is just storage. 

They also need some alternatives for SQL Query. There should also be support for Spark in different languages such as Python.

For how long have I used the solution?

I worked on it a lot in the past 12 months in my previous company.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Its stability is absolutely great. There are no problems with its stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable. There are no problems with the scalability of this solution. There were 50 or 60 users using it at the same time.

How are customer service and technical support?

I don't have much experience with their technical support. When we asked them some technical questions related to Spark integration, they were quite supportive. Their support was fine.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have used BigQuery on Google Cloud Platform and Spark on an internal cloud.

How was the initial setup?

It was quite straightforward. There is no problem with that. However, managing the database and roles and access is complicated. Its deployment didn't take a long time.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Snowflake an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
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Snowflake
May 2025
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857,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Enterprise architect at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Ease to use, highly secure, and flexible
Pros and Cons
  • "I have found the solution's most valuable features to be storage, flexibility, ease of use, and security."
  • "There is a need for improvements in the documentation, this would allow more people to switch over to this solution."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution for data warehouses and data modeling.

What is most valuable?

I have found the solution's most valuable features to be storage, flexibility, ease of use, and security.

What needs improvement?

There is a need for improvements in the documentation, this would allow more people to switch over to this solution. I would like to see in the future a wizard for data modelization automation.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution for approximately one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I have found the solution to be scalable. We have a few employees working on this solution in my organization.

How was the initial setup?

The solution is a SaaS, it can be installed and managed by your provider. The installation setup is not difficult in this case. However, the configuration took us a couple of days.

What about the implementation team?

We did the configuration of the solution ourselves. You need a data engineer and modeler for the movement of information into the solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

There is a licensing for this solution and we purchased an enterprise license. Overall the solution is cost-effective.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We did evaluate some other solutions previously, such as Snap Analytics. All the different solution have their pros and cons. However, many are moving to this solution because it is in the cloud.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others and we are going to keep using the solution in the future.

I rate Snowflake an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Director of Enginnering at Sigmoid
Real User
Automatically scales as needed and supports JSON, XML, and Parquet files
Pros and Cons
  • "Working with Parquet files is support out of the box and it makes large dataset processing much easier."
  • "If we can have a feature where the results can be moved to different tabs, so that I can compare the results with earlier queries before applying the changes, it would be great."

What is our primary use case?

We have used Snowflake as a data warehouse solution in one of my projects and as a combination of data lake and DWH for another project.

In the second project, we migrated from a SQL DB to Snowflake as the DB was becoming a bottleneck in terms of storage and also in speed of execution of the queries as the data was growing. We also have JSON, which is hard to store and process in a SQL database. This is something that is handled beautifully by Snowflake.

In the first project, we used Snowflake as a simple DWH to store and process data. Also, as a BI reporting source.

How has it helped my organization?

Snowflake helped us to improve query performance as the data was growing. Also, we could store and process JSON and XML using Snowflake, which was not possible with RDBMS solutions. This also helped us to store huge amounts of data in Snowflake as a single source of truth and we could also use it as DWH. It is a single technology for multiple use cases.

Snowflake also helped us improve query performance to a great extent. The inserts of large JSON objects are very quick and processing them is very easy.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features are:

  1. The Virtual Warehouse and separate storage is definitely one of the best features. It automatically scales the warehouse up and down as per the usage.
  2. Processing semi-structured data like JSON and XML has helped reduce a lot of coding that was needed earlier.
  3. The speed of execution is definitely good.
  4. There is zero maintenance activity required from users on the database, which is a big plus.
  5. Working with Parquet files is supported out of the box and it makes large dataset processing much easier.
  6. Automatic scaling up and down.

What needs improvement?

Several areas need to be improved, as follows:

  1. Cost reduction: This is always good to have, and nobody would say no to it.
  2. Implement multiple result windows as tabs to compare results. If we can have a feature where the results can be moved to different tabs, so that I can compare the results with earlier queries before applying the changes, it would be great. Also, it should be optional, where it can be enabled or disabled as needed.
  3. I would like to be able to copy the results onto the clipboard and paste them directly into Excel.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Snowflake for two years.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1401216 - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO, Senior Consultant at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Consultant
Sophisticated- cutting edge technology with zero clone copy and near zero maintenance
Pros and Cons
  • "Great scalability and near zero maintenance."
  • "Some SQL language functions could be included."

What is our primary use case?

The solution is mainly used for analytics in data warehouses. We are independent consultants and customers of Snowflake. 

What is most valuable?

The scalability of this product is great and the fact that it has a so-called zero clone copy and is near zero maintenance is also great. There are a lot of good features, it's a very sophisticated, cutting edge technology and is super easy to use. They are developing the platform very, very quickly so there are plenty of new features implemented all the time. You can concentrate on implementing things in Snowflake without tuning or configuring it.

What needs improvement?

There are some functions in the SQL language in other products which are not yet included in Snowflake's SQL. It would be helpful to have those included, they're nice features. It's a minor issue because all those things can be implemented in some other way. Not essential, but it would be nice to have them. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for 18 months. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a stable solution and the maintenance and updates are automatic. Snowflake is responsible for that.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have been quite satisfied with the technical support.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very simple, just go to the internet and start using it. Of course, if it has to implement to part of the customer's own cloud infrastructure, then there are more steps to configure. We provide that service for our customers. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Everything is included in the license fee which is mid-range in terms of pricing.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

The advantage of Snowflake is that you can focus on implementing things in Snowflake without tuning or configuring it. That's the advantage of this solution compared to others. Many other data warehouse solutions need some kind of maintenance or database administration, and that takes time. The extra time means you're being taken away from other things and in that regard, Snowflake is an absolutely great product.

What other advice do I have?

I think the solution is suited to big companies because they tend to have lots of data. The more data you have, the more you need power and scalability to process it. I would recommend finding a good partner already familiar with the solution for implementation. It's good to have someone familiar with the architecture.

I rate this solution a 10 out of 10. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Consultant
PeerSpot user
reviewer1499625 - PeerSpot reviewer
Enterprise BDM and Solutions Speacialist at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Scalable, easy to understand, and has reasonable pricing
Pros and Cons
  • "The pricing is reasonable and matches the rest of the market."
  • "The pricing of the solution should be much easier to calculate or find by yourself."

What is our primary use case?

The solution provides services to our customers.

What is most valuable?

The solution is very easy to understand. It's a simple solution. It's not complicated.

The product does a lot of wonderful stuff that a lot of these companies want to do without too much effort.

The initial setup is straightforward.

The pricing is reasonable and matches the rest of the market.

The solution is quite stable.

Our clients have not had any trouble scaling.

What needs improvement?

The pricing of the solution should be much easier to calculate or find by yourself.

Clients want to get a rough idea as to how much it's going to cost for year one, year two, year three, et cetera. There is a calculator that Snowflake gives you, however, more often than not, you have to go to Snowflake to get those numbers. You can't do it yourself. To simplify things, it could be easier if they made it maybe easier to understand the cost and what the outgoing cost for a customer would be.

In the future, if they added AI capabilities, that would be ideal.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for about a year. It hasn't been that long. The company that I work for, on the other hand, has likely used it for three or four years or so.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of the solution is very good. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's very reliable in terms of performance.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We haven't heard of clients having issues with scalability. It can expand well. A company that needs to grow it out can do so without any trouble.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is not too complex. It is pretty straightforward. A company shouldn't have too much trouble implementing the solution.

What about the implementation team?

We deploy such solutions for our clients if they require it.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We are the first global premier partner. We have the highest level of Snowflake partnership

The licensing is a bit tricky as it's hard to calculate pricing ahead of time.

That said, most customers I have dealt with have no issues at all with the pricing. They think it's reasonable. Obviously, everybody, every single customer, wants to receive a price. That goes without saying. However, if you ask me if it's a fair price for the market, the answer is yes.

What other advice do I have?

We don't recommend a cloud typically. We leave it to the customer. If the customer has AWS, and then we sell Snowflake on AWS. If the customer has Google, we sell Snowflake on Google or Azure, or if they have Azure, we sell Azure. They may even have a private cloud. We don't force the customer to buy a particular cloud. We go with the customer's preference from their cloud services because Snowflake works on all three clouds.

In general, I would rate the solution eight out of ten. It does what it says it will, and I have yet to hear of customers complaining about its capabilities.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer1467771 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technology & Innovation at a consultancy with 201-500 employees
Real User
Reasonably-priced, scalable, and the technical support is good
Pros and Cons
  • "The technical support is pretty good, particularly if you are a more technical user."
  • "Every product has room for improvement, although in this case, it needs some broadening of the functionality."

What is our primary use case?

We are a management consulting firm and do not use this product for ourselves. Rather, it is a service for our clients.

What is most valuable?

The overall package is quite nice, and there is not one specific feature that I have found more valuable than the others.

The vendor is quite willing to implement requests for development, in particular for larger clients. It is a nice company to work with.

What needs improvement?

Every product has room for improvement, although in this case, it needs some broadening of the functionality. They could become more complete.

Including more AI functionality would be nice. Microsoft does have more in this regard, although that also has to do with the size of the company.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Snowflake for a couple of years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Snowflake is a stable product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This is definitely a scalable solution.

How are customer service and technical support?

The technical support is pretty good, particularly if you are a more technical user. The people they have are quite technical, so compared to a lot of other companies where you first get somebody on the phone who has never seen the product, but he or she just works at the center and has to answer the first calls, if you connect with Snowflake, you immediately get somebody who is actually at the proper level.

It also means that if you have less experienced users, it's not that they find it difficult, but then they may get some questions to resolve the issue, which they don't really know the answer to. Sometimes, users may find themselves a bit lost because they don't know how to answer those questions. However, it's not in a negative way. It's more like you get a proper engineer to respond to your issues with Snowflake.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price of Snowflake is quite reasonable.

What other advice do I have?

Personally, if I have the choice, I would rather recommend Snowflake to my clients over a product from Microsoft, for example. They have some overlapping functionality, but they also have some separate stuff. Snowflake does not have the size to develop at that pace but personally, I find them a more sympathetic company than Microsoft.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Senior Solutions Architect at NessPRO Italy
Real User
The syntax is advanced which reduces the time to write code
Pros and Cons
  • "The syntax is advanced which reduces the time to write code."
  • "They should improve the reporting tools."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for presentations to clients. 

What is most valuable?

The syntax is advanced which reduces the time to write code. 

What needs improvement?

They should improve the reporting tools. 

They could increase their bandwidth to connect to other ETL tools. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Snowflake for around six months. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is good. There is no performance downtime. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

If there is a need for scaling the setup is not so good. 

How are customer service and technical support?

Their support is good. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was not complex. We needed a dedicated person for the setup. Once we know the requirements, it's not that complex. It has straightforward parameters. 

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Snowflake an eight out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Snowflake Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: May 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Snowflake Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.