Decoding the data lakehouse

The data lakehouse is no longer an experiment. It’s fast becoming the blueprint for enterprise data architecture. At the center of this shift are two open technologies: Apache Parquet and Apache Iceberg.

Understanding their role today — and where they’re headed — is critical for sizing the opportunity.

Parquet: The storage standard

Parquet has emerged as the default format for columnar data storage.
Its impact is simple but profound:

• Faster queries through selective reads
• Lower storage costs via built-in compression
• Ecosystem ubiquity — from big data engines to cloud storage

Parquet isn’t about breakout growth anymore. It’s about entrenchment. Every serious data architecture relies on it. Innovations in analytics engines, query accelerators, and hybrid databases are increasingly designed with Parquet as a first-class citizen.

Iceberg: The lakehouse enabler

Where Parquet handles raw storage, Iceberg tackles management and governance — the long-standing gaps in data lakes.

Key capabilities like:

• ACID transactions
• Schema evolution
• Time travel

...make Iceberg critical for anyone trying to turn a chaotic data lake into a reliable analytics platform.

Iceberg adoption is accelerating, both through open-source adoption and integration into commercial platforms. It’s reshaping how enterprises think about data quality, governance, and real-time analytics on massive, ever-changing datasets.

Better together

The pairing of Parquet and Iceberg is transforming the data landscape:

• Parquet provides efficient, scalable storage.
• Iceberg provides structure, reliability, and control.

This synergy is why lakehouses are now real competitors to traditional data warehouses, especially for organizations managing large, dynamic datasets.

Vendor strategies: Signals to watch

• Databricks shifting from their proprietary Delta Lake toward Iceberg via the acquisition of Tabular - the startup behind Iceberg - shows recognition of Iceberg’s open momentum.
• Snowflake is embedding Iceberg deeply into its managed services, betting on seamless governance across cloud and lakehouse data.
• Database players like DuckDB, QuestDB, InfluxDB — and even Oracle and SQL Server — are increasingly adopting Parquet natively to stay relevant in hybrid cloud architectures.

The competitive heat around open table formats is rising — and vendor alignment with Parquet and Iceberg will be a strong signal of future winners.

Outlook: Where It’s Headed

• Parquet remains the bedrock storage layer.
• Iceberg adoption will outpace many expectations as organizations chase better governance and real-time capabilities.
• Tooling and services for managing Parquet and Iceberg deployments will become a fast-growing segment.
• Standardization pressure will mount — as demand for true interoperability across platforms grows louder.

Bottom Line

The data lakehouse revolution is being built on open standards.
Parquet and Iceberg are at the center.
The smart implementation strategies — and investments — will follow the companies making these formats easier, faster, and more powerful to use at scale.