How was data sharing traditionally performed before Delta Sharing?

Data sharing, prior to the introduction of Delta Sharing, was primarily conducted through proprietary vendor solutions or secure file transfer protocols (SFTP). This approach often involved organizations using established, often costly, vendor-specific tools designed for data sharing, which led to challenges such as vendor lock-in and interoperability issues. Additionally, SFTP, while widely used for secure file transfers, required significant management overhead and was not efficient for sharing large volumes of data or for real-time access.

By leveraging vendor solutions, organizations typically had access to specialized features such as data governance, security protocols, or integration with existing business intelligence tools. However, these methods often lacked the flexibility and efficiency of modern data sharing platforms. Delta Sharing aims to address these limitations by enabling open and standardized data sharing across cloud data platforms, improving accessibility and collaboration in data-driven scenarios.