Support for Deletion Vectors and Databricks Runtime 14.3

30 May 2024 – For Immediate Release:

Earlier this month, Databricks implemented Deletion Vectors as the default for writing Delta Lake tables. This default caused errors and failures in applications and platforms pulling data via Delta Sharing (D2O), including Exponam.Connect and PowerBI. Last week, Exponam issued an emergency patch, remediating most failures related to Deletion Vectors. Today, Exponam issued a final, comprehensive patch for fully compliant data access from Excel using Exponam.Connect.

Roger Dunn, Exponam CTO states that “Exponam is committed to continued support for Databricks’ evolving data platform. We are proud to deliver the fastest, easiest, cheapest and most efficient methods for discovering and accessing Databricks Data. We will continue empowering business end-users with Databricks data and Machine Learning Models where they want and need it – in Excel.”

Databricks Model Execution in Excel with Exponam.Connect

24 May 2024:

Today, Exponam announced that Databricks Model Execution from within Excel is in private preview. Enterprises can now make their models available to the entire organization – analysts, operations, finance, etc. – and anyone can access model generated data in Excel. This is a milestone in the usage of Databricks Models. For the first time, Machine Learning models are directly available to end users for business analytical and predictive use.

No Databricks knowledge is required. No coding is required.

Users are guided via the Exponam.Connect UI to enter the correct input parameters for the model. The UI generates the correct custom function, populates it in Excel, and calls the Databricks model serving endpoint. The user’s spreadsheet is immediately populated with the results of the model in Excel.

See more about Exponam.Connect

Table Discovery in Excel

New Feature Alert! – Enhanced Data Discovery

For Release 5/3/2024:

The Exponam.Connect Excel Add-in for Databricks now includes easy to use data discovery features for non-technical users. This is in addition to the no-code, fast, and efficient data importing features which have been the products main feature since Databricks’ release of Delta Sharing.

Data table names are often not intuitive or meant for end-user ease-of-use. Now, instead of seeing just table names and needing to look at the column data to see if it is the desired table, users in Excel see the table description and column information immediately.

“The new table discovery feature in Exponam.Connect further simplifies the business user’s journey in accessing enterprise data,” stated Roger Dunn, Exponam CTO. “Non-technical users comprise the majority of data users within organizations. We will continue to enhance features which make accessing and using data easy for non-technical business stakeholders. Exponam.Connect is the first truly self-service data tool on the market for pulling data out of enterprise data lakes.”