Early Access: Getting Started with Data Hub

Data Hub is BigTime’s next leap in data access, built to support advanced AI capabilities launching later in 2025. This guide walks you through how to connect to Data Hub and export your data, with setup steps for Power BI, Excel, and other analytics tools.

Key benefits include:

• Access to product datasets from BigTime and Foresight
• Easier discovery with enhanced data descriptions
• Reliable, frequent data refreshes
• Seamless multi-instance support for firms using multiple BigTime environments

Step 1: Download Your Credential File

Start by clicking the ‘Download Credential File’ button in the email from BigTime. If you didn’t receive the email, contact us at product@bigtime.net.

Important: This file can only be downloaded once and will have a '.share' extension. Store it securely, as you will need it to access Data Hub.

Step 2: Connect Data Hub to Power BI

If Power BI is your primary analytics tool, follow these steps to configure your connection:

Option 1: Use Power BI's Native Delta Sharing Connector

This method is recommended if your version of Power BI supports the Delta Sharing connector (released in late 2023).

1. Open Power BI
2. Go to Home > Get Data
   
3. Search for "Delta Sharing"
4. Select the Delta Sharing connector, then click Connect
   
5. Navigate to the .share credential file you downloaded earlier
6. When prompted, enter the Delta Sharing "server URL" found in your credential file.
   If this is the first time setting up the data source, it will prompt you to enter your "bearer token" which can also be found in your credential file
   
7. Power BI will automatically load available tables in Data Hub
8. Select the table(s) you want to use and click Load
   
   

Option 2: Use Python to Export CSV and Load into Power BI 

Use this if your Power BI version does not yet support Delta Sharing.

1. Export your data to CSV (see next section)
2. Open Power BI
3. Click Get Data > Text/CSV
4. Select the CSV file
5. Click Load

Step 3: Exporting Data to CSV or Excel

If you're not using a BI tool yet, you can still export data to Excel or CSV.

1. Install Delta Sharing Python Package. Open your terminal or command prompt and run:

pip install delta-sharing

2. Use Python to Export Data

Use the example below and replace values with your actual file path and table names:

3. After running the script, you'll see:

• exported_data.csv: Ready to open in Excel or import elsewhere
• exported_data.xlsx: Opens directly in Excel with formatting preserved

Step 4: Connect to Other Analytics Tools

Data Hub also supports other modern analytics tools, including:

• Python with pandas
• Apache Spark
• Java
• Databricks
• Power BI

General Setup Steps:

1. Download your credential profile
2. Open your preferred analytics tool
3. Use the Delta Sharing connector or API
4. Specify the path to your credential profile OR build the table referencing using the format:
   <profile_file_path>#<share_name>.<schema_name>.<table_name>
5. Load the dataset into your tool
6. Analyze, transform, or export the data

Related Articles

• Data Hub Table Glossary