Inefficiency arises when MVs are either underused or misused. When high-cost, repetitive queries are not backed by MVs, workloads consume unnecessary compute resources. When MVs exist but are rarely queried, their background refresh and storage costs accumulate without offsetting savings. Proper evaluation of workload patterns and strategic use of MVs is critical to achieve a net cost benefit.
Compute charges apply for refreshing MVs based on changes to base tables. Storage charges apply for persisting MV data. Active warehouse compute savings occur when queries are served by MVs instead of re-executing against base tables.
Create materialized views for high-cost, repetitive queries where refresh costs are low relative to compute savings. Decommission materialized views that incur maintenance and storage costs without sufficient query usage. Implement periodic reviews of MV usage and refresh behavior as data volumes and access patterns evolve. Engage data engineering teams to tune MV designs for optimal cost-benefit balance (e.g., selective columns, filtered subsets).
