Dataddo

Figure 2 - Data quality in Dataddo

Dataddo features a variety of functionality for and surrounding data integration, most prominently including support for moving data to and from a large variety of sources (in other words, any-to-any data integration). This includes batched ETL and ELT, compatible with cloud data warehouses (such as Snowflake, Databricks and BigQuery), on-prem databases (such as PostgreSQL and SQL Server), and file storage (such as S3 and blob storage), as well as reverse ETL compatible with various CRM tools, including Salesforce, HubSpot, NetSuite and Dynamics 365. Direct connections with business intelligence apps, cross-technology database replication, and webhook-based event streaming are also available. What’s more, more than 300 data connectors are available out of the box. These are vertically focused and categorised in a way that should make it easy for business users to find what they need. They come with automatic data model creation, and enable data set recommendations based on usage patterns.

The platform has a robust architecture that utilises centralised, proactive maintenance and monitoring of all data pipelines to automatically deploy API changes and prevent pipelines from breaking. Self-service testing and debugging are also provided. Various security features are built-in, including support for many regulatory compliance mandates (such as GDPR) via the exclusion of (previously identified) sensitive data from integration processes, as well as automatic compliance checks on your data sets. Data encryption is available, and can be applied at-rest or in-flight. In addition, the platform provides centralised data quality monitoring and management. This includes rule-based error handling, automatic data type detection and syntactic data harmonisation at the data level, among other things. Anomalistic value detection is currently in beta.

Last, but certainly not least, Dataddo offers SmartCache, a lightweight persistence layer suited for handling low-intensity use cases. SmartCache can be integrated directly with various dashboarding applications to provide a persistence layer and help you get started with data analytics without requiring you to build a full-fledged data warehouse. This is by no means a replacement for a data warehouse in the general case, but it does offer an easy, low-cost, and low-commitment way to onboard Dataddo and adopt it for small-scale use cases (and perhaps to trial it for larger ones).

Dataddo has several things to recommend it as a data integration solution. For starters, its philosophy of putting the business user experience first has resulted in a product that is intuitive and UI-driven. This is a good thing, no matter which kind of user you are. It also focuses on catering to – and easily onboarding – a variety of different kinds of business teams. This is most obvious in its three-headed product strategy, as well as SmartCache, and is evidenced directly by the sheer number of customers Dataddo has been able to acquire in only a few years (and in a crowded market, no less).

Its breadth of capability is also quite impressive, especially for such a young product. This is most apparent in its range of integration options, but we also like the inclusion of compliance and data quality functionality. The latter in particular has been designed to offload work from your data pipelines in order to reduce their complexity, an effort which is very much appreciated.

New connectors are made available on a regular and frequent basis, and it is also worth noting that configuration-as-code is on Dataddo’s roadmap, which will be attractive to some customers.

The bottom line

Dataddo is an intuitive data integration solution that caters to many different types of teams and organisations. It is certainly worth a look.