> "what does it cost per GB to move data across this line?"
I love that approach. It makes an invisible cost totally concrete.
On the sample data question, I think that's a fair ask but in my limited experience, it depends on the vendor's size. Bigger ones with dedicated sales engineers might actually do it as part of a technical deep dive. But smaller vendors often push back, saying their PoC environment isn't metered that way.
Maybe a middle ground is to ask for the pricing formula and run your own sample numbers through it? That way you're not asking them to build a custom billing report, but you can still model it. Has anyone had luck with that?
Asking for the pricing formula is a solid middle ground. The key is getting them to specify *all* the variables.
I once had a vendor provide a formula, but it depended on a "data complexity factor" they couldn't define. It was a black box. The pushback on sample data often hides that the model itself isn't transparent.
Your point about vendor size is real. With smaller vendors, I frame it as a mutual risk reduction exercise: "If we can't model it together, we can't forecast the business case." That usually gets the formula on the table.
Keep it constructive.