Exponam.Connect vs. the competition

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TL;DR

Exponam.Connect is the ideal choice for business and technical users to pull data from a Databricks Lakehouse into Excel.  Exponam.Connect is the only option which accesses data via Delta Sharing.  All other solutions on the market pull data via ODBC – with varying UI skins on top.  As a result, Exponam.Connect is much faster (at least 10x) and much cheaper than all other options.  And client testing routinely affirms that the Exponam.Connect experience is much easier and more intuitive than all others.

Summary Comparison

 

 

Introduction

Accessing Databricks data in Excel is a powerful and efficient way to extend the value of the Databricks platform. Pairing the power of the Databricks with Excel – the world’s most universal data platform – is required for many business solutions.

Users can connect to Excel via Delta Sharing and the Exponam.Connect Excel Add-in or an ODBC-based connector and Databricks SQL cluster compute.  Which approach is best? It depends on who will be using the data and how.

Considerations

 

 

 

 

 

What Data Platform Companies Don’t Understand About Democratizing Data

TL;DR:

Data platform companies are integrating generative AI into their offerings, believing it will make their products more accessible to non-technical business users. They are mistaken. Most non-technical users will not utilize these platforms.

Instead, data technology companies must meet users where they already work—and overwhelmingly, business users work in Microsoft Excel.

A History of Missed Opportunities

For decades, companies have tried—and failed—to lure business users away from Excel.

  • 1990s: WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) report-building interfaces promised ease of use, but adoption remained low.
  • 2000s: Visual object-based tools gave way to low- and no-code solutions, all designed to entice users to more sophisticated platforms—but business users stayed in Excel.
  • Today: Generative AI and natural language query overlays promise to finally bridge the gap, enticing business users to transition. But history and behavioral studies tell us otherwise.

Generative AI—The Holy Grail?

Data technology companies are convinced that this time will be different.
With generative AI adoption skyrocketing—40% of users already engaging with AI-driven applications—companies believe they can finally pull users into their platforms.

But History Speaks—And We Should Listen

What these companies fail to grasp is where users are embracing AI tools: within the platforms they already use.

Business users will absolutely leverage generative AI—but they will do so in Excel, not in a developer’s platform.  They won’t use an overlay AI on a SQL editor or Python notebook any more than they’d build their own BI reports in Tableau.

Data companies will lure some users to their platforms – but only those who were already technologically savy enough to be adept within BI platforms.  The vast majority of users will remain planted in Excel.

Decades of research confirms a simple truth: users don’t migrate to new data platforms.

Stop trying to force solutions on business users.

True Data Democratization

Tech companies often tout the idea of “democratizing data,” yet repeatedly make the same mistake:
They house data—and the tools to access it—inside platforms most users will never touch.

If you truly want to democratize data, meet users where they live.  And they live in Excel.

Exponam is redefining what it means to make data accessible.  With Exponam.Connect, we bring Databricks data directly into Excel—faster, easier, and at a fraction of the cost of other solutions.

By enabling business users to work seamlessly within their preferred environment, Exponam.Connect and Excel are truly democratizing data.

Databricks to Excel: Exponam.Connect or ODBC?

Recently, we evaluated the new Databricks ODBC driver.  We have compared and contrasted using ODBC vs Delta Sharing & Exponam.Connect for pulling data into Excel.

What we found was that Exponam.Connect is the ideal choice for business and technical users to pull data from Databricks into Excel. ODBC requires more technical expertise, has poorer performance, and lacks the UI and power features demanded in many business use cases.

 

We compared the two approaches across numerous dimensions – from usability to cost. Read the comprehensive comparison here.

The Great Myth of Data Security

MYTH: Perimeter & Endpoint Security Protects Your Data

FACT: Your Data Will Get Out

You protect your data repository.
You protect your network.
You provide users with visualizations, summaries, and exception analysis.

Yet, thousands of data files are extracted and downloaded from your repository.  These CSV and XLS files reside on your network drives, on employee machines, in the public cloud, and in employees’ email.  These data files are the most vulnerable point of attack for malicious actors.

If you are not securing data files, you are not protecting your data.

Current State of Data Security:

Data security in 2019 is achieved through a series of concentric security perimeters which attempt to ensure that access to data is authorized.  We secure network and application endpoints.  We secure, manage, monitor, and audit access to databases.  We attempt to scan and block content from leaving our perimeter.

 

But data gets out.  It gets out intentionally when we distribute to partners, vendors, clients.  It gets out for legitimate reasons when managers and analysts drill into the data.  It gets out when we are hacked or otherwise compromised.

We have thousands of data files that are extracts from our databases.  They exist as CSV files, as XLS files, and other delimited file types.  They reside on our network drives, on employee machines, in the public cloud, and in employees’ email.  These files are all potential security concerns.

We address this massive security concern through training employees on corporate data policies.  We instruct how data should be handled, where should it be sent and with whom should it be trusted.

THIS IS INSANE.

 

The Exponam .BIG Solution:

Exponam .BIG files are an easy to use alternative to downloaded CSV files.  .BIG files are fully encrypted, ensuring that data files are completely secure anywhere they reside, at rest, in use, and in transit.  Access is controlled via passphrase, token, or multifactor authentication.  Dynamic entitlement is available for further control of sensitive GDPR or HIPAA governed data.

Your data is secure anywhere it resides – at rest, in use, and in transit.

.BIG files are highly compressed, enabling easy download, distribution, and sharing – no matter how many rows of data (thousands, millions, 100s of millions of rows).

.BIG files are easily accessed via a spreadsheet viewer for instant filtering, sorting, and finding data.  Isolated subsets are moved to excel with a single click.  .BIG data is also accessed via JDBC, Java and Windows libraries.

 

.BIG files are completely tamper-proof and their provenance is guaranteed.  You can be confident that the publisher is genuine, the file properties are accurate, and the data is unaltered.

It is time to learn more.  Contact us for trial information.  

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Go on. Free your data.

A summary of .big data security.

Vault

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At Exponam, we know the value of data. We know that is why you keep it secured in databases, accessed only through authorized reports and Business Intelligence tools. We also know the wasted time and missed opportunities that result when your users, partners, and clients cannot access detailed data.

We created .BIG™ data files to enable easy sharing and exploring of data – big and small. But security was always our primary concern. Our files are architected to be the most impenetrable data vehicles on the market.

Passwords: .BIG files may be password-protected. The password is protected with SHA256 and a randomly generated salt for each file. SHA256 is a National Security Agency (NSA) Type 3 encryption product endorsed by NIST and published as the FIPS 180-2 specification. To thwart brute-force attacks, the Exponam ExplorerTM enforces a three password attempt limit, with exponential back-off between attempts. Not enough? We also support multi-factor authentication.

Data: Data in .BIG files is protected using AES-256. AES-256 is widely used for securing data and communications, is endorsed by the NSA in its Suite B cryptographic algorithms, and is published as the FIPS 197 specification.

File Provenance: Every .BIG file is preserved through a sequence of steps that leads to the generation of that file. Exponam stamps a publisher’s identity into every publisher’s encrypted license file. The publisher name is applied to each .BIG file generated, and is tamper-proof through the file generation process. When viewing a .BIG file, a user can be confident that the publisher is genuine, the file properties are accurate, and the data is unaltered.

Want to know more? Go on, ask us.