Data virtualization is only as powerful as the value it delivers. CData Virtuality offers a platform of virtualization, replication, and connectors—but falls short in key areas that make the difference to your business finding, accessing and utilizing the data it needs. Denodo, by contrast, delivers a complete, enterprise-grade solution that consistently outpaces what CData can do, accelerating business value and innovation, including AI.
| Analyst Report |  |
CData |
|---|---|---|
| Gartner® Magic Quadrant for Data Integration Tools, 2024 | Leader (for the 5th Consecutive Year) | Niche vendor |
| Dresner Active Data Architecture™ Report, 2025 Edition | #1 rated vendor (for the 2nd Consecutive Year) | Not mentioned |
| Forrester Enterprise Data Fabric Wave, Q1 2024 | Leader | Not mentioned |
| Gartner® Peer Insights “Voice of the Customer”: Data Integration Tools, 2025 | Customers' Choice (for the 5th Consecutive Year) | No such awards |
| Analyst Report | |
CData |
|---|---|---|
| Gartner® Magic Quadrant for Data Integration Tools, 2024 | Leader (for the 5th Consecutive Year) | Niche vendor |
| Dresner Active Data Architecture™ Report, 2025 Edition | #1 rated vendor (for the 2nd Consecutive Year) | Not mentioned |
| Forrester Enterprise Data Fabric Wave, Q1 2024 | Leader | Not mentioned |
| Gartner® Peer Insights “Voice of the Customer”: Data Integration Tools, 2024 | Customers' Choice (for the 4th Consecutive Year) | No such awards |
Reduction in time to prepare data for AI.
Decrease in delivery time over traditional data integration.
Faster lakehouse queries, with lower costs.
| Capability | |
CData Virtuality |
|---|---|---|
| Data virtualization (real-time and high performance) | Included | Included |
| Hybrid & multi-cloud deployment | Full virtualization + caching across clouds | Supports hybrid architectures |
| In-memory caching | Yes, smart caching layers | In-memory caching available |
| Data replication / materialization | Advanced AI-enhanced caching, full/partial refresh | Integrated replication/ETL, but limited caching with no AI support |
| Enterprise semantic layer & catalog | Rich modeling, metadata, lineage, with self-service features | Basic catalog, limited modeling |
| Self-service data access for business | Out-of-the-box Data Marketplace experience for all business users | “Data citizen” support, but less mature UI |
| Query optimization & pushdown | Intelligent AI-enhanced optimizer, proven MPP, advanced caching | MPP & tuning engine, no AI enhancement |
| Column & row-level security | Fine-grain security masking, row, column and field level | Column masking only |
| AI/ML-ready data delivery | Denodo Query RAG with AI SDK: High-quality, trusted data in real-time | Limited AI enablement, and no SDK for AI developer productivity |
| Automated performance recommendations | Yes, optimizer suggests materialization | Basic tuning via MPP |
| Live API & SQL connectivity | Full SQL and support for 15+ APIs including REST, OData, GraphQL, Arrow Flight | Fewer APIs: JDBC/ODBC/REST |
| Performance under high concurrency | Proven in large enterprise-wide production encironments | MPP helps but less proven at scale |
| Advanced data transformation | Full virtual transformations | Limited in virtual layer; heavier ETL required |
| Denodo Assistant | Common data engineering and analyst tasks automated or greatly simplified by AI | No such AI functionality |
| Denodo AI SDK | SDK intended for AI developer productivity, simplifying access to trusted AI-ready data | No such AI functionality |
| Denodo Query RAG | Metadata-driven RAG that ensures the most relevant data is delivered to AI, securely and in real-time | No such AI functionality |
| Denodo DeepQuery | Brings “Deep Resarch” to enterprise data, reducing time-to-insights from days to minutes | No such AI functionality |
At Alexforbes, the integration of data, analytics, and insights has become far more seamless since adopting Denodo Assistant and its AI SDK. What was once accessible only to IT and power users is now within reach for non-technical staff — resulting in what we call straightforward 'data conversations. ”
Barend Van Coller
Data analyst and data governance team lead at Alexforbes
The logical data fabric built on the Denodo Platform is the heart of the global data hub at LeasePlan. It has made it much easier to integrate internal and external data sources and has enabled new use cases as a part of the large digital transformation initiatives at LeasePlan.”
Tekin Mentes
Former Director, Enterprise Data and Analytics at LeasePlan
