David Menninger's Analyst Perspectives

Organizations have been using data virtualization to collect and integrate data from various sources, and in different formats, to create a single source of truth without redundancy or overlap, thus improving and accelerating decision-making giving them a competitive advantage in the market. Our research shows that data virtualization is popular in the big data world. One-quarter (27%) of participants in our Data Lake Dynamic Insights Research reported they were currently using data virtualization, and another two-quarters (46%) planned to include data virtualization in the future. Even more interesting, those who are using data virtualization reported higher rates of satisfaction (79%) with their data lake than those who are not (36%). Our Analytics and Data Benchmark Research shows more than one-third of organizations (37%) are using data virtualization in that context. Here, too, those using data virtualization reported higher levels of satisfaction (88%) than those that are not (66%).

Data virtualization makes it easier to incorporate a wide variety of data sources into a logical data lake. Data virtualization also helps organizations with data governance since data remains in the source platform, ensuring all access rights are maintained in a single system.

Denodo is a data integration and virtualization company whose software connects to various data sources and can combine, aggregate, join and filter data to create reports in multiple formats, providing real-time access to integrated data across an organization. The Denodo Platform offers the capabilities of a logical data fabric including a data catalog, data governance, query acceleration powered by artificial intelligence (AI), cloud infrastructure management for multi-cloud and hybrid scenarios, and embedded data-preparation capabilities for self-service analytics.

Denodo Platform 8.0 is its latest version and features support for additional types of users and use cases, such as data science and machine learning (ML) initiatives. It is now capable of automatically managing the cloud infrastructure from a centralized web console. And its engine can accelerate execution through an automatic query-rewriting process that identifies pre-calculated summaries that can be used to reduce execution time. Denodo Cloud is its set of services that can be deployed on cloud platforms including Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), private clouds, and hybrid cloud environments.

It is now more important than ever for organizations with vast amounts of data spread across several repositories and lines of business to modernize their data architectures. IT teams face multiple challenges trying to keep up with new data sources as they are added. Deploying data virtualization technology can minimize the effort needed to access these new data sources. It also provides access to data and analytics in near real time.

Each year, Ventana Research highlights the best use of digital technology with our Digital Leadership Award. This award recognizes the individual, organization and technology that support any or all of the following areas: analytics and data, artificial intelligence and machine learning, blockchain, cloud computing, collaborative and conversational computing, extended reality, internet of things, mobile computing and robotic automation. Last year, the 2021 Digital Leadership Award in Digital Technology went to Chad Simpson of City Furniture and his use of Denodo. With Denodo Platform’s data virtualization capabilities, City Furniture was able to eliminate the heavy software engineering efforts around processes to build data pipelines.

Organizations must take action to ensure that operations in hybrid cloud computing environments have the technology to support data virtualization. Simplifying access and use of data in cloud computing requires an architectural approach that is not always top of mind. Consider that, according to our research, 86% of organizations expect most data will reside in the cloud, 99% expect to perform analytics in the cloud, and 33% have a primary data lake platform in the cloud.

Organizations that are looking to more easily manage a diverse and growing set of data sources should consider Denodo’s offerings. Its platform offers access to a wider variety of cloud and on-premises data sources. It includes a unified, web-based interface that provides a data design studio, system management features, cloud deployment capabilities, and AI-powered query optimization. And, as our research shows, organizations using data virtualization enjoy higher rates of satisfaction than those that are not.

Regards,

David Menninger