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Establishing Your Data Platform Environment#

Overview#

Novo Nordisk offers multiple data platform options to support your data product development needs. Choosing the right platform is critical as it impacts scalability, cost, governance, and operational efficiency.

What You Will Learn#

After reading this chapter, you will:

  • Understand the available data platform options at Novo Nordisk
  • Select the most appropriate platform for your requirements
  • Initiate your platform request using the correct process

Prerequisites#

Before requesting a data platform environment, ensure you have:

  • Defined your data product requirements and use case
  • Identified team technical capabilities and resources
  • Obtained business stakeholder alignment

Platform Options#

Recommended Choice

This is the preferred option for most Databricks-based data platform projects at Novo Nordisk.

What It Is:
A fully managed Databricks environment on Azure with infrastructure managed by the AI Foundation Platform Team.

Key Benefits:

  • Reduced Operations: Infrastructure, updates, and maintenance handled by Platform Team
  • Cost Efficient: Subscription-based pricing with no upfront investment
  • Simplified Compliance: ITRA required only for applications, not infrastructure
  • Quick Setup: Minimal configuration to get started

Considerations:

  • Limited workspace and infrastructure customization
  • Scaling options defined by Platform Team policies
  • Reliance on Platform Team for infrastructure changes

Get Started:
Visit the Databricks Managed Instance Quickstart Guide to request your environment.

Alternative - Databricks Self-Managed Instance: an environment where your team manages the infrastructure and operations independently. This may be interesting to teams requiring full infrastructure control. This approach requires dedicated infrastructure expertise, additional operational overhead, and ITRA for both infrastructure and applications.

Important Considerations

Self-managed instances require significant technical expertise, infrastructure investment, and ongoing operational commitment.

Option 2: Snowflake Cloud Environment#

What It Is:
A cloud-based data platform offering separate compute and storage scaling with built-in data sharing capabilities.

When to Choose:

  • You work closely with NNI or Commercial teams and data stored on the Snowflake Data Warehouse.
  • You have SQL-centric workloads

Key Benefits:

  • Multi-Cloud: Access data across cloud providers seamlessly
  • Zero Management: No infrastructure tuning or maintenance
  • Instant Elasticity: Automatic scaling up and down
  • Secure Sharing: Share data internally and with external partners

Get Started:
Visit the Snowflake Support & COE Portal for detailed information and platform request procedures.

Option 3: Novo Nordisk Enterprise Datahub (NNEDH)#

What It Is:
A managed platform for data and access management built on AWS S3, managed by the AI Foundation Platform Team.

When to Choose:

  • Require AWS-native services
  • Need integration with existing AWS systems
  • Have AWS expertise on the team
  • Need specific AWS data services

Key Benefits:

  • AWS-native integration capabilities
  • Managed infrastructure by Platform Team
  • Enterprise-grade security and governance
  • Comprehensive AWS service ecosystem

Get Started:
Visit the NNEDH Documentation Portal for details and request procedures.

Quick Comparison:

Factor Databricks Managed Snowflake NNEDH Databricks Self-Managed
Setup Time Days Days Days Weeks
Operational Burden Low Low Low High
Infrastructure Control Limited None Limited Full
Cost Predictability High High High Variable
Best For Data engineering & ML SQL analytics & sharing AWS integration Custom requirements

Request Your Platform#

Databricks Managed Instance#

  1. Review the Quickstart Guide
  2. Complete the request form with business justification and requirements
  3. Submit with budget approval documentation
  4. Environment provisioned within 3-5 business days

Databricks Self-Managed#

Contact the Platform Team directly to discuss requirements and setup procedures.

Snowflake#

Visit the Snowflake Support & COE Portal for request procedures.

NNEDH#

Follow the NNEDH Getting Started Guide.

Next Steps#

  1. Begin Development: Proceed to Defining Your Data Product
  2. Set Up Workflow: Configure version control and CI/CD pipelines
  3. Join Community: Connect with other teams using Datacore on Teams here.

Resources#

Documentation: