Data Warehouses & Lakehouses arenaBuyer checklist

Every requirement we judge data warehouses & lakehouses products against, as a ready-to-send RFP checklist — with each item's priority, why it matters, and how the top-ranked products score on it today.

54 requirements · 14 themes · verdicts for 4 products · updated 2026-09-16 · priorities mirror the story weights our scoring uses (methodology)

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# Data Warehouses & Lakehouses — buyer checklist (RFP)

Derived from ProductArena's evidence-graded user-story taxonomy for Data Warehouses & Lakehouses: 54 judged requirements. Priorities mirror story weights (3 = must-have, 2 = should-have, 1 = nice-to-have).

## Agent analytics

- [ ] **[must-have]** My agent can run governed SQL end to end — authenticate, discover schemas, query, and read results back through a CLI or API with no dashboard in the loop
- [ ] **[should-have]** A built-in AI assistant writes, fixes, and explains SQL against my schemas from natural language, inside the product
- [ ] **[nice-to-have]** Business users can ask questions in natural language and get governed, semantically-grounded answers rather than hallucinated joins

## Agenticness

- [ ] **[must-have]** Plug MCP servers into this product so it can use their tools
- [ ] **[must-have]** Connect an agent via an official MCP server
- [ ] **[must-have]** Drive the product through a documented public API
- [ ] **[must-have]** Delegate tasks to a built-in AI assistant inside the product
- [ ] **[should-have]** Point an agent at llms.txt or agent-oriented docs
- [ ] **[should-have]** Run the product headlessly / in CI for automation
- [ ] **[should-have]** Use an official CLI
- [ ] **[should-have]** Issue scoped/least-privilege API credentials for an agent
- [ ] **[should-have]** Build against official SDKs
- [ ] **[should-have]** Subscribe to events via webhooks
- [ ] **[should-have]** Get AI-generated insights and suggestions from my data inside the product
- [ ] **[should-have]** Set up automations that run autonomously in the background
- [ ] **[should-have]** Operate the product with natural-language commands
- [ ] **[should-have]** Explore an interactive API reference with runnable examples
- [ ] **[should-have]** Download a machine-readable API spec (OpenAPI or equivalent)
- [ ] **[should-have]** Rely on versioned APIs with a documented deprecation policy
- [ ] **[nice-to-have]** Test against a sandbox environment without touching production data

## Automation depth

- [ ] **[must-have]** Define rules that trigger actions automatically on events
- [ ] **[should-have]** Perform bulk operations across many items at once
- [ ] **[should-have]** Schedule recurring jobs or workflows
- [ ] **[nice-to-have]** Version, review, and roll back my automations

## Cost economics

- [ ] **[must-have]** The pricing model is documented clearly enough that I can estimate a monthly bill for my workload before committing
- [ ] **[should-have]** Budgets, resource monitors, or auto-suspend stop a runaway query or idle compute from burning money overnight
- [ ] **[nice-to-have]** Evaluate with a free tier or trial — real queries on real data without a credit card or a sales call

## Ecosystem integrations

- [ ] **[should-have]** I get a fast local or free dev loop — a local engine, emulator, or sandbox — to develop transformations before touching production compute
- [ ] **[should-have]** Dbt is a first-class citizen — a documented adapter or native dbt project support with vendor docs to match
- [ ] **[nice-to-have]** Standard drivers (JDBC/ODBC) and documented BI-tool integrations connect my dashboards without custom glue

## Governance access

- [ ] **[must-have]** Access control reaches tables, columns, and rows — roles plus masking policies — so one warehouse can serve many teams safely
- [ ] **[should-have]** I get audit logs of who ran what and column-level lineage of where data came from
- [ ] **[nice-to-have]** Compliance attestations (SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI) are documented so security review does not stall the rollout

## Ingestion pipelines

- [ ] **[must-have]** Bulk-load CSV, JSON, and Parquet from cloud object storage with a single documented command
- [ ] **[should-have]** First-party and partner connectors cover my sources — SaaS apps, databases, and ETL/ELT tools — with documented setup
- [ ] **[should-have]** A managed service continuously ingests new files or events as they arrive, without me running my own pipeline infrastructure

## Notebooks workspace

- [ ] **[should-have]** First-party notebooks let me mix SQL and Python against warehouse data, with results and charts inline

## Openness

- [ ] **[must-have]** Export all of my data in open formats and leave
- [ ] **[must-have]** Self-host the core product
- [ ] **[should-have]** Do everything through the API that I can do in the UI
- [ ] **[should-have]** Read the product's source under an open license

## Privacy posture

- [ ] **[must-have]** Prevent my data from being used to train AI models
- [ ] **[should-have]** Choose where my data is stored (region/residency)
- [ ] **[should-have]** Control data retention and deletion
- [ ] **[should-have]** Opt out of telemetry and usage tracking

## Semantic layer

- [ ] **[should-have]** Define a governed semantic model — metrics, dimensions, and joins declared once — that queries and AI tools answer against consistently

## Sharing marketplace

- [ ] **[should-have]** Share live datasets with another account or organization without copying data or building an export pipeline
- [ ] **[nice-to-have]** A marketplace of third-party datasets lets me enrich my own data directly inside the platform

## Sql analytics

- [ ] **[must-have]** I get a full analytical SQL surface — window functions, CTEs, semi-structured JSON, arrays, and rich date/time types — without bolt-on extensions
- [ ] **[should-have]** Query open table formats and files in object storage — Iceberg, Delta, Parquet — without first loading them into proprietary storage
- [ ] **[should-have]** Inspect query profiles and execution plans to find why a query is slow or expensive
- [ ] **[should-have]** Time-travel — query data as of a past point and restore dropped or corrupted tables from history

## Streaming realtime

- [ ] **[should-have]** Streaming writes land queryable within seconds through a documented streaming ingestion API
- [ ] **[nice-to-have]** Run continuous or incremental transformations — streams, tasks, declarative pipelines, or continuous queries — inside the platform

---

Source: https://ultrametric.ai/productarena/arena/data-warehouses (evidence-graded verdicts for 4 products) · methodology: https://ultrametric.ai/productarena/methodology

Chips show the top 4 ranked products' current verdict on each requirement — ✓ full · ~ partial · ! disputed · — none · n/a not applicable.

Agent analytics — stories about agent analytics in this arenaAgent analytics· 3 items

Stories about agent analytics in this arena

ai-native userMy agent can run governed SQL end to end — authenticate, discover schemas, query, and read results back through a CLI or API with no dashboard in the loop
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · all 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
must-have
ai-native userA built-in AI assistant writes, fixes, and explains SQL against my schemas from natural language, inside the product
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 3 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
ai-native userBusiness users can ask questions in natural language and get governed, semantically-grounded answers rather than hallucinated joins
Differentiator, not a dealbreaker — weighs 1× in arena scoring · 2 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
nice-to-have

Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness· 17 items

How well agents can access and operate the product

ai-native userPlug MCP servers into this product so it can use their tools
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · 1 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
must-have
ai-native userConnect an agent via an official MCP server
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · 3 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
must-have
ai-native userDrive the product through a documented public API
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · all 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
must-have
ai-native userDelegate tasks to a built-in AI assistant inside the product
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · 2 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
must-have
ai-native userPoint an agent at llms.txt or agent-oriented docs
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 3 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
ai-native userRun the product headlessly / in CI for automation
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · all 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
ai-native userUse an official CLI
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 3 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
ai-native userIssue scoped/least-privilege API credentials for an agent
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
ai-native userBuild against official SDKs
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · all 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
ai-native userSubscribe to events via webhooks
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
ai-native userGet AI-generated insights and suggestions from my data inside the product
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · all 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
ai-native userSet up automations that run autonomously in the background
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 1 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
ai-native userOperate the product with natural-language commands
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 2 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
ai-native userExplore an interactive API reference with runnable examples
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
ai-native userDownload a machine-readable API spec (OpenAPI or equivalent)
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 2 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
ai-native userRely on versioned APIs with a documented deprecation policy
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
ai-native userTest against a sandbox environment without touching production data
Differentiator, not a dealbreaker — weighs 1× in arena scoring · 1 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
nice-to-have

Automation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depth· 4 items

How much of the product can run unattended

ai-native userDefine rules that trigger actions automatically on events
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
must-have
ai-native userPerform bulk operations across many items at once
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 2 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
ai-native userSchedule recurring jobs or workflows
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 2 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
ai-native userVersion, review, and roll back my automations
Differentiator, not a dealbreaker — weighs 1× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
nice-to-have

Cost economics — stories about cost economics in this arenaCost economics· 3 items

Stories about cost economics in this arena

platform-engineerThe pricing model is documented clearly enough that I can estimate a monthly bill for my workload before committing
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
must-have
platform-engineerBudgets, resource monitors, or auto-suspend stop a runaway query or idle compute from burning money overnight
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 1 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
analystEvaluate with a free tier or trial — real queries on real data without a credit card or a sales call
Differentiator, not a dealbreaker — weighs 1× in arena scoring · 3 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
nice-to-have

Ecosystem integrations — the surrounding ecosystem — integrations, marketplaces, community packagesEcosystem integrations· 3 items

The surrounding ecosystem — integrations, marketplaces, community packages

data-engineerI get a fast local or free dev loop — a local engine, emulator, or sandbox — to develop transformations before touching production compute
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 1 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
data-engineerDbt is a first-class citizen — a documented adapter or native dbt project support with vendor docs to match
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 3 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
analystStandard drivers (JDBC/ODBC) and documented BI-tool integrations connect my dashboards without custom glue
Differentiator, not a dealbreaker — weighs 1× in arena scoring · 2 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
nice-to-have

Governance access — stories about governance access in this arenaGovernance access· 3 items

Stories about governance access in this arena

platform-engineerAccess control reaches tables, columns, and rows — roles plus masking policies — so one warehouse can serve many teams safely
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
must-have
platform-engineerI get audit logs of who ran what and column-level lineage of where data came from
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 1 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
platform-engineerCompliance attestations (SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI) are documented so security review does not stall the rollout
Differentiator, not a dealbreaker — weighs 1× in arena scoring · 3 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
nice-to-have

Ingestion pipelines — stories about ingestion pipelines in this arenaIngestion pipelines· 3 items

Stories about ingestion pipelines in this arena

data-engineerBulk-load CSV, JSON, and Parquet from cloud object storage with a single documented command
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · 1 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
must-have
data-engineerFirst-party and partner connectors cover my sources — SaaS apps, databases, and ETL/ELT tools — with documented setup
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
data-engineerA managed service continuously ingests new files or events as they arrive, without me running my own pipeline infrastructure
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 3 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have

Notebooks workspace — stories about notebooks workspace in this arenaNotebooks workspace· 1 item

Stories about notebooks workspace in this arena

analystFirst-party notebooks let me mix SQL and Python against warehouse data, with results and charts inline
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 3 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have

Openness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpenness· 4 items

Open source, data portability, and self-hosting stories

ai-native userExport all of my data in open formats and leave
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
must-have
ai-native userSelf-host the core product
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
must-have
ai-native userDo everything through the API that I can do in the UI
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
ai-native userRead the product's source under an open license
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have

Privacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy posture· 4 items

Data-handling and privacy stories

ai-native userPrevent my data from being used to train AI models
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
must-have
ai-native userChoose where my data is stored (region/residency)
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
ai-native userControl data retention and deletion
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
ai-native userOpt out of telemetry and usage tracking
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have

Semantic layer — stories about semantic layer in this arenaSemantic layer· 1 item

Stories about semantic layer in this arena

analystDefine a governed semantic model — metrics, dimensions, and joins declared once — that queries and AI tools answer against consistently
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 2 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have

Sharing marketplace — stories about sharing marketplace in this arenaSharing marketplace· 2 items

Stories about sharing marketplace in this arena

data-engineerShare live datasets with another account or organization without copying data or building an export pipeline
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · all 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
analystA marketplace of third-party datasets lets me enrich my own data directly inside the platform
Differentiator, not a dealbreaker — weighs 1× in arena scoring · 2 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
nice-to-have

Sql analytics — stories about sql analytics in this arenaSql analytics· 4 items

Stories about sql analytics in this arena

analystI get a full analytical SQL surface — window functions, CTEs, semi-structured JSON, arrays, and rich date/time types — without bolt-on extensions
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · 1 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
must-have
data-engineerQuery open table formats and files in object storage — Iceberg, Delta, Parquet — without first loading them into proprietary storage
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 2 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
data-engineerInspect query profiles and execution plans to find why a query is slow or expensive
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 3 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
data-engineerTime-travel — query data as of a past point and restore dropped or corrupted tables from history
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 2 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have

Streaming realtime — stories about streaming realtime in this arenaStreaming realtime· 2 items

Stories about streaming realtime in this arena

data-engineerStreaming writes land queryable within seconds through a documented streaming ingestion API
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 2 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
should-have
data-engineerRun continuous or incremental transformations — streams, tasks, declarative pipelines, or continuous queries — inside the platform
Differentiator, not a dealbreaker — weighs 1× in arena scoring · 3 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Databricks Snowflake BigQuery MotherDuck
nice-to-have

Full evidence behind every verdict lives on the arena page and each product page — chips above deep-link straight to the judged story.

🏛️Data Warehouses & Lakehouses arenaBuyer checklist

🤖Agent analytics — stories about agent analytics in this arenaAgent analytics· 3 items

🤖Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness· 17 items

⚙️Automation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depth· 4 items

💲Cost economics — stories about cost economics in this arenaCost economics· 3 items

🔌Ecosystem integrations — the surrounding ecosystem — integrations, marketplaces, community packagesEcosystem integrations· 3 items

⚖️Governance access — stories about governance access in this arenaGovernance access· 3 items

🗄️Ingestion pipelines — stories about ingestion pipelines in this arenaIngestion pipelines· 3 items

👥Notebooks workspace — stories about notebooks workspace in this arenaNotebooks workspace· 1 item

🔓Openness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpenness· 4 items

🔒Privacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy posture· 4 items

📊Semantic layer — stories about semantic layer in this arenaSemantic layer· 1 item

🔌Sharing marketplace — stories about sharing marketplace in this arenaSharing marketplace· 2 items

📊Sql analytics — stories about sql analytics in this arenaSql analytics· 4 items

🔁Streaming realtime — stories about streaming realtime in this arenaStreaming realtime· 2 items