Tips: Optimizing Your Datastreamer Usage

Usage-based pricing means direct price to value. It also means that it is important for you to:

Predict and forecast usage.
Ensure your data volumes fit within your budget.
Take advantage of Pipeline capabilities to optimize value for dollar.

Below are a number of tips to help you understand and optimize your usage using Datastreamer.

Tip 1: Integrate the right sources and enrichments for the use case

With your pipelines running on Datastreamer, you are not vendor-locked to any specific data source provider, model, or enrichments within your data workflows.

By using the right combination of sources, you can use multiple providers even within the same data stream. This allows you to increase functionality while managing latency, costs, and coverage requirements. Selecting the right providers for a query can be set as part of your workflow, or automated using Auto Sources.

Potential Savings: 20-60%

Tip 2: Lock in a "commit" of expected usage volumes to take advantage of volume discounts.

Unit costs (measured in Data Volume Units) decrease as your volumes increase if you pre-commit to an expected volume for the month. You can think of "Commits" as locking in a better rate for the month, in anticipation of projected usage. A commit discounts all your usage up to that commitment.

Data Streams: one pooled commit applies across all your Auto Sources, so you can move volume between sources without separate commitments. Enrichments are billed separately at their own per-component rates.
Direct Integrations: commits are per provider or data source, unless a bundle commit covers them.

For DVU rates and commit tiers, see Datastreamer Pricing.

Potential Savings: Up to 80%

Tip 3: Use Job Tagging To Get Detailed Cost Data

Add tags to your Jobs, then filter billing data by tag to see costs by department, project, client, or environment.

Tip 4: Use the Pricing Calculator to plan your usage and your costs.

The Pricing Calculator (available within your Portal account) gives you the ability to project and estimate your future billings. Entering your existing usage into the calculator will also suggest commitment levels you can use for Tip 2.

The Pricing Calculator is an estimation tool and does not change your commitments, usage of any features, or billing. It is meant for exploring future options and roadmap planning.

Tip 5: Start with Auto Sources for Testing or Low Volumes

"Auto" source selection is available for the major social platforms, and handles provider selection and ingestion for you. Selecting an Auto Source lets the platform choose the provider best fit for the query, with automatic failover. Data Streams on Auto Sources have no separate platform fee, so you can test or run low volumes and pay only for the DVUs you use.

Answering Common Myths

"I need to get my data sources from Datastreamer's ecosystem"

FALSE: You can use Datastreamer's managed Auto Sources through Data Streams, or connect a specific provider through Direct Integrations, either with your own key or with one Datastreamer procures for you. You can run both in the same account.

"More components = More Cost."

MOSTLY FALSE: The number of Data Streams, pipelines, components, or users does not affect pricing. The exceptions are enrichments and Direct Integrations, which are billed at their own per-component rates.

"I'll need to overlap spend in any migration."

FALSE: When you move your sourcing onto Data Streams, your account manager aligns the switch to your next billing cycle, and your pipelines keep running throughout. See Moving to Data Streams.

"If I pay for the platform, I get free data."

FALSE: Data collection is billed as DVU usage: 1 DVU per Job Run plus 1 DVU per 100 documents after the first 100 in each run. Data Streams on Auto Sources have no separate platform fee, so you pay for the DVUs you use. See Data Volume Units.