Late July saw Microsoft announce 12 new data transformation and connectivity features. These updates are available as part of an Office 365 subscription, or if you have Excel 2010 or Excel 2013 you can also take advantage of these updates by downloading the latest Power Query for Excel add-in here.

These updates include the following new or improved data connectivity and transformation features:

• New SAP HANA connector
• New SharePoint Folder connector
• New Online Services connectors category
• Improved DB2 connector, now leveraging the Microsoft driver for IBM DB2
• Improved Text/CSV connector, now exposing editable settings in the preview dialog
• Improved relational database connectors, now including Schema information as a part of the Navigation hierarchy
• Data Source Settings enhancements, including “Change Source” capability
• Advanced Filter Rows dialog mode within the Query Editor
• Inline Input controls for Function invocation within the Query Editor
• Support for reordering Query Steps within the Query Editor by using drag and drop gestures
• Date picker support for input Date values in Filter Rows and Conditional Columns dialog
• New context menu entry to create new queries from the Queries pane within the Query Editor.

You can read more about these new features updates by visiting Microsoft's we page here or by subscribing to our August newsletter (a subscription link can be found at the foot of any SumProduct web page).