If you are thinking about moving your data warehouse to Snowflake, the first two questions are almost always the same: how long will it take, and what will it cost? The honest answer is that it depends, but it depends on a short list of things you can size up before you start. Here is how we scope a Snowflake migration with mid-size companies and public organizations.
What a Snowflake migration includes
A migration is more than copying tables. A typical project has five parts:
- Assessment: an inventory of your current databases, data sources, reports and the people who rely on them.
- Design: how data will be organized in Snowflake, who can see what, and how costs will be controlled.
- Data movement: moving historical data and building pipelines that keep new data flowing on a schedule.
- Validation: checking that row counts, totals and key reports match between the old and new systems.
- Cutover and support: switching reports and users to Snowflake, then monitoring and tuning after go-live.
How long does it take?
Smaller projects with a few data sources and a handful of reports can go live in weeks. Larger migrations from legacy warehouses, with many sources, years of history and dozens of reports, usually take a few months. We deliver in phases, so your team starts using Snowflake for the most important reports early instead of waiting for everything to move at once.
What drives the cost
Most of the cost of a migration comes from the work, not the software. These are the factors that move it up or down:
- Number of data sources: each system you connect, such as your ERP, CRM or finance tools, needs its own pipeline.
- Data quality: messy or duplicate data takes time to clean before it can be trusted.
- Number of reports to rebuild: every dashboard that points at the old system needs to point at Snowflake.
- Custom code: stored procedures and scripts in the old warehouse may need to be rewritten.
- Security and compliance needs: regulated data, such as student or health records, needs extra controls and review.
Snowflake itself is billed by usage, separately from consulting. Good design keeps that bill predictable: right-sized warehouses, auto-suspend settings and monitoring stop compute from running when nobody is using it.
How to keep a migration on time and on budget
- Start with the reports leaders use most, and move those first.
- Decide early which old data you really need. Not every table has to move.
- Validate as you go, not just at the end.
- Set up cost monitoring from day one.
- Plan training, so your team can run and extend the new platform themselves.
Getting a real estimate
Because every environment is different, the fastest way to an accurate number is a short conversation about your systems and goals. After a free strategy call, we give you a fixed-scope estimate, so there are no surprises. Learn more about our Snowflake consulting or book a free strategy call.
DataUP Consulting is based in Minneapolis and works with companies across the US. Learn more about our Minneapolis data consulting team.
