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Sondeon

For the head of data and the CFOOn request

Databricks health check: cluster costs, jobs and access The Databricks bill grows every month. Which part of it delivers nothing?

We review the state of your Databricks (a health check) and tell you which jobs leave tables half-written, which clusters cost money without delivering and which access nobody needs. We don't sell licenses.

You get the broken jobs with the tables they affect and the clusters you can adjust. Scope and timeline are in writing before we start.

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Who it is for

  • Compute cost keeps rising and you don't know what consumes it
  • Your reports or your AI models are fed from Databricks
  • Every team creates jobs and clusters, more and more with AI

You don't need it if you have a single team with few jobs and someone already goes over costs and failures every month.

Broken data goes into your models

What comes out of Databricks feeds reports and AI models. If the input is broken, so is the output, and the compute cost is paid all the same. Each job (a scheduled process) worked the day it was launched. Over time, some fail without warning and others stay on with nobody needing them.

What we review in your Databricks: jobs, clusters, costs and Unity Catalog

  • Jobs and pipelines that fail without warning
  • Cost of clusters and jobs
  • Access in Unity Catalog
  • Inactive users
  • Quality of the tables that feed reports and models

The control points of these five reviews are not counted yet, so we publish no figure: the scope is agreed in writing for each case.

Technologies covered

  • Databricks

Trademarks and logos belong to their respective owners. Their use here is descriptive only and implies no commercial relationship or sponsorship.

How it works

  1. Meeting and written scope

    In 30 minutes we look at which teams use Databricks and what depends on it. Then you get the scope and timeline in writing.

  2. Read-only health check

    We look at and measure jobs, clusters, costs and access. We change nothing in your workspace unless you ask.

  3. Report and results meeting

    You get which jobs fail and which tables they affect, and which clusters you can adjust. We go through it with your team.

What we need from you

  • A read-only user in your Databricks workspace
  • Someone who knows your jobs and your clusters
  • The reports and models that depend on Databricks

How we work

What you get

  1. Broken jobs and the tables they affect
  2. Clusters and jobs you can adjust
  3. List of access and users nobody needs
  4. One-page executive summary for leadership

How a finding arrives

Priority: Medium

Cluster left on with no jobs outside working hours

Where
Shared cluster of the data team
Evidence
The usage log shows compute hours with no job attached
Impact
Compute cost that delivers nothing

An example of the report format, not a client's.

Shall we talk about your case?

A 30-minute meeting to see what you have and what to review first.

Book a free meeting

Expert review, automated tool or the AI itself

All three are useful, each for one thing. AI brings the volume and people bring the judgment: that is why our review uses an automated AI tool and senior developers supervise it.

See the full comparison

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Who reviews

The review is done by a team of senior developers, with many hours of development and of finding the mistakes AI makes when it codes. We know more than 1,200 review points. The automated AI tool goes through them, and people verify, direct and review.

Team of senior developers

José María Salido, founder of Sondeon, answers for it

  • AI brings the volume: it goes through the known review points
  • People bring the judgment: they verify every finding before it goes into the report
  • The result is explained in a meeting with your team
Who answers for it: José María Salido, on LinkedIn

Frequently asked questions

How much does Databricks cost, and what does the cost depend on?

Databricks publishes its rates, and they change over time. The cost depends on the compute your clusters and jobs consume, so what we measure is which ones spend without delivering.

What do you need, and do you change anything in our workspace?

We need a read-only user and someone who knows your jobs and your clusters. We change nothing unless you ask: the health check looks and measures.

How much can you save on Databricks?

It depends on your usage, and we don't give figures in advance. We measure it in the first review with your own clusters and jobs: which ones cost more than they deliver and which can be tuned.

How often should Databricks be reviewed?

Whenever many new jobs and clusters appear. We recommend repeating it every quarter, because silent failures and costs grow when nobody is looking.

Do you fix the failing jobs and the expensive clusters?

Yes, if you ask us to. The diagnosis comes first: each job and each cluster with its evidence and its priority. The fix is separate and only happens if you request it, and your team can also apply it with the list in hand.

What does a Databricks audit review?

It reviews jobs and pipelines that fail silently, the cost of clusters and jobs, access in Unity Catalog and inactive users. Ours is a periodic health check, different from the product's activity log, and every finding arrives with its evidence and its priority.

Other services

  • Salesforce health check

    Automations that fail silently, users who have left and unused licenses you keep paying for in your Salesforce org.

  • Microsoft Fabric health check

    Pipelines that feed reports with stale or broken data, and capacity that is paid for but not used.

  • Power BI health check

    Reports built on stale or broken data, refreshes that fail and licenses assigned to people who no longer use them.

  • Microsoft 365 and Azure health check

    Accounts without MFA, guests and apps with more permissions than they need, and Microsoft 365 licenses paid for and not used.

Data platformsAll services

Request your free meeting

Fill in the form and we email you to set a day and a time. It is 30 minutes to see what you have and what to review first.

What should we control?

We use your details to answer your request, to be able to prove we received it and to protect the form. The privacy policy explains it in detail.