In the digital age, data is the lifeblood of businesses, driving decisions, personalizing customer experiences, and optimizing operations. However, managing this data effectively is a challenge that many organizations face. This is where Segment comes into play, especially with its focus on throughput, a critical aspect of data management.
What is Throughput?
Throughput, in the context of Segment, refers to the volume of data (measured in API calls and objects) sent to Segment per Monthly Tracked User (MTU). Each event on different touchpoints (for example, Sign-ups or Product Added) is calculated as one API call. Most plans are allotted 250 API Calls & Objects per MTU, per month.
What is an API Call?
When you use Segment to collect your data, you employ the Segment tracking methods (Track, Page, Screen, Identify, Group, and Alias) and then send them to Segment’s API endpoint. If you are using the Segment HTTP API, or sending batched data using a cloud-source, that data also goes through this Segment API endpoint. Each data blob (with its properties or traits) that goes through this endpoint is considered one “API call”.
What is an Object?
In contrast to “Event” data, Object data persists over time and can be updated, and includes attributes about the user such as records and traits.
How Segment Helps
Segment offers increased visibility into your data's throughput, breaking down the number of API calls and objects sent. This transparency allows businesses to ensure they're getting the most out of their Segment investment. Moreover, Segment's infrastructure is designed to handle spikes in data volume, ensuring reliable delivery of events to downstream destinations. This capability is crucial for businesses experiencing sudden increases in traffic, ensuring that data flow remains uninterrupted.
In Practice
At Segment, we aim to strike a balance between collecting the necessary data but not over-collecting and exceeding throughput limits—for example, sending Page/Screen calls on every page load is often redundant and may lead to throughput overages. In this case, we would recommend increasing granularity by only tracking events that contribute to an understanding of the customer journey.
The number of API calls sent heavily depends on the use case: Product use cases will typically require more API calls than a Marketing use case.
Conclusion
In summary, understanding and managing your data's throughput with Segment is not only important for account limitations, but also for data collection strategy. A balanced approach is always best. With Segment's tools and infrastructure, businesses can ensure their data flows efficiently, supporting better decision-making and customer experiences. If you have any questions or would like to discuss your tracking strategy, please feel free to respond in this thread, or reach out to your Account Executive.