Storage-Compute Decoupling Threshold

Storage-Compute Decoupling Threshold is the point where separating where data lives from where queries run costs less than keeping them together. Below the threshold, a single managed warehouse is simpler to run and easier to hand to a junior analyst. Above it, object storage priced without egress or API fees carries the bulk of the volume while a distributed SQL layer handles queries, and the savings compound as client datasets grow. The trade-off is operational: distributed SQL tuning, replication topology, and failover behavior become agency responsibilities rather than vendor ones. For agencies on retainer, that complexity is billable only if scoped as a platform line item, not absorbed into reporting hours. A practical signal is a client whose monthly storage bill exceeds the cost of one analyst day; at that point, moving cold tables to flat-rate object storage and keeping hot tables in a distributed SQL layer usually pays for the migration within a quarter.