How to combine Snowflake and Databricks for unified data architecture

Enterprise data pulls in two directions. On one side: governed BI workloads — structured, compliant, and built for business reporting. On the other: unstructured pipelines — streaming feeds, heavy transformations, and machine learning at scale. Most organizations now run Snowflake and Databricks in parallel to handle this dual reality. Yet stitching them together creates new challenges: deciding which workloads belong where, moving data without waste, and keeping governance consistent across environments. Each platform brings distinct strengths to the table — Snowflake excels at governed analytics and BI reporting, while Databricks powers heavy transformations, streaming, and machine learning. When combined thoughtfully, these strengths converge into a unified architecture that supports the full data lifecycle. > Watch the on-demand discussion on how Janus Henderson Investors designed a unified architecture that balances both worlds: https://lnkd.in/eG-8YBqm In a financial services setting where accuracy, performance, and cost discipline matter most, Janus Henderson’s approach connects Snowflake’s strengths in analytics and governance with Databricks’ capabilities in engineering and ML. #unifieddataarchitecture #snowflake #databricks #usecase

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Nick Akincilar

GenAI Builder | Data Strategist | Cloud Architect | Tech Writer

1mo

This is a bit inaccurate. Snowflake does ML, Data Engineering and AI just as good and often better and easier than DBX. Most companies are actually consolidating into one platform and thats not Databricks.

Josue “Josh” Bogran

VP of Data + AI @ zeb | Advisor to Estuary | Databricks Product Advisory Board & MVP / Subscribe @ Youtube.com/@JosueBogranChannel

1mo

I am here for the popcorn and to say: A lot of the information here is very outdated. Databricks does all of the things you give to Snowflake here, and very well. Also in fairness, Snowflake offers some of the other capabilities as well.

👨🏻💻 Jaco van Gelder

Co-Founder @ Dtyped 📈 Data @ IKEA 🛋️ Databricks MVP 🧱

1mo

Ahhh another one of these posts. And of course there are Nick Akincilar and Josue “Josh” Bogran in the comments! We need to have a drink together guys 🍻

Raghuraman Swaminathan

Consultant 2 at Capgemini Canada | Azure Platform Engineer | Cloud Data Platform Engineer | Databricks Certified | Snowflake | Spark | SQL | Python

1mo

I would Argue that Databricks has better governance than Snowflake with Unity Catalog.

Bart Prikker

Sr. Solutions Engineer @ Databricks | FSI

1mo

This is a bit inaccurate. Databricks does SQL Analytics, BI Reporting and Governance just as good and often better and easier than Snowflake. Most companies are actually consolidating into one platform and thats not Snowflake.

Ali Šifrar

CEO @ aztela | Fractional data leader helping scaleups+ mid-market, gain control, value from their data to accelerate their data, digital & ai journey.

1mo

seen this as well, but db might just make more sense ngl as one platform

Hugo Lu

Founder at Orchestra

1mo

Having a single unified approach to orchestration and metadata governance is what really solves this problem If your definition of unified architecture is to pick a platform that just does all the things then that works but you have massive vendor lock in just like oracle achieved..like obviously you can unify stuff if you just spend all your money with one vendor e.g palantir

Thomas Booth

Managing Consultant @ Altis Consulting | Snowflake Certified, Power BI Certified

1mo

Hi these two are swimming in the same lane. Where one company beats another to the punch they quickly follow. Great analytics and AI platforms. Snowflake is brilliant the only valid complaint about it I have ever heard is cost. And cost can easily be addressed by apply strong solutions design with the product.

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Lucas Rosa

Data & Software Engineering

4w

Bit of overengineering using both. Not even mentioning the high costs that would be.

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Andrew Jones

Data Science Infinity | 100k+ Followers | Amazon | PlayStation | 6x Patents | Author | Advisor

1mo

I like how you explained the push and pull between governed BI and unstructured pipelines. It really captures the reality of working with both Snowflake and Databricks and the balance needed to get the best of each.

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