what is the use of importing data from external data sources?
Answers
You can import data into Excel from a wide variety of data sources and the sections that follow show you how. For more information on what to do with your data once it's imported, see How data journeys through Excel.
Workbook
File: Text/CSV
File: XML
File: JSON
File: PDF
File: Folder
File: SharePoint Folder
Database: SQL Server
Database: Microsoft Access
Database: Analysis Services
Answer:
The main benefit of connecting to external data is that you can periodically analyze this data in Microsoft Office Excel without repeatedly copying the data, which is an operation that can be time-consuming and error-prone. After connecting to external data, you can also automatically refresh (or update) your Excel workbooks from the original data source whenever the data source is updated with new information.