01What drives Snowflake cost?
Mostly warehouse size and running time, then storage, serverless features and AI functions. Poorly scheduled jobs and warehouses that never suspend are the common culprits. We review query history and set resource monitors before recommending changes.
02Should we use Iceberg tables or native Snowflake tables?
Native tables are simpler if Snowflake is your only engine. Iceberg makes sense when Spark, Databricks or other engines must work on the same data. With Iceberg v3 and bi-directional access now generally available, the choice depends mostly on how many engines you run and who owns the catalog. If you already have v2 tables, you can upgrade them to v3 in place, but there's no going back except through Time Travel.
03How long does a migration to Snowflake take?
It depends on the volume of SQL and stored procedures to convert, the number of upstream feeds and how long you need to run in parallel. We measure those in a short assessment before giving a timeline.
04Can AI agents query our Snowflake data safely, or do they see too much?
They can, as long as agents go through the same roles and masking policies people do. We give each agent its own role and build semantic views on definitions the business has agreed. Logging goes on, and we test with real questions before anyone outside the pilot gets access.
05Do you also work with Databricks?
Yes. Plenty of teams run both. We help sort out which workloads sit where, and whether the two share data through Iceberg or Delta Sharing.
06When does Snowflake block password-only sign-in?
Snowflake is enforcing it account by account over an estimated August to October 2026 window, and each account gets a notice with its own date. After that, every human user signing in with a password needs a second factor, and service users can't use passwords at all. Check for TYPE=LEGACY_SERVICE users first. They get converted to SERVICE, so whatever still logs in with them by password stops working.
07Our Snowflake drivers are old. Which versions does Snowflake still support?
Snowflake's minimums are now JDBC 3.19.1, Python connector 3.12.3, Go 1.11.2, Node.js 1.14.0, .NET 4.2.0, ODBC 3.5.0 and PHP PDO 3.0.3. Anything older might be blocked from connecting once Snowflake gives notice. Don't install the minimum, though. Snowflake only fixes bugs in the latest versions, so upgrade to the current release.
