In the ever-evolving world of data architecture, the so-called “modern data stack” has transformed how businesses connect, analyse, and act on their data. Microsoft Fabric, Azure Synapse, Power BI – these are names that dominate the current landscape, offering speed, scale, and impressive integration capabilities. Yet, amidst all this innovation, one platform continues to sit stubbornly on the edge of this ecosystem: Microsoft SharePoint.
For all its strengths in document management and collaboration, SharePoint remains a frustratingly opaque data source. Anyone who’s tried to plug it into a BI tool or orchestrate a clean ETL pipeline knows this first-hand. The APIs are clunky, performance is inconsistent, and direct SQL access simply doesn’t exist. It’s no surprise that for developers, business analysts, and project managers alike, working with SharePoint data often feels like trying to draw water from a stone.
That’s where SQList by AxioWorks makes its case – not as another cog in the stack, but as the missing bridge between SharePoint and the rest of your modern data infrastructure.
A Common Frustration, A Simple Fix
Imagine this. A developer has just been asked to pull data from a SharePoint list and surface it in Power BI. On the face of it, this sounds simple. But then come the API limitations, the list view thresholds, the complex lookup fields. It quickly becomes clear that this isn’t just a data pull – it’s a full-on engineering project. Time is spent writing scripts, massaging JSON payloads, and wrangling pagination – all for a handful of list items that refuse to cooperate.
This isn’t a hypothetical. It’s a weekly reality for countless IT teams. And it’s exactly why SQList was built.
SQList doesn’t try to change how SharePoint works. Instead, it offers a smarter route around the problem: it replicates SharePoint lists into normalised SQL Server tables, in real-time, using a secure, one-way sync. No code. No complex ETL. Just reliable, queryable tables that feel native to your existing data stack.
From Pain to Productivity
One of the key benefits of SQList is just how quickly it turns what is normally a pain point into a productive part of your workflow.
For developers, the appeal is immediate. No need to build brittle export scripts or learn the intricacies of Microsoft’s ever-changing APIs. With SQList, the SharePoint list is transformed into a familiar SQL structure – lookups become foreign keys, data types are preserved, and multi-value fields are handled cleanly. What once took weeks of effort can now be achieved in an afternoon.
But the real impact extends beyond the developers.
For business analysts, SQList means real-time access to SharePoint data via tools they already know – Power BI, Excel, Tableau. There’s no more waiting on dev teams or hacking together half-baked reports. The data is simply there, in SQL, ready to analyse.
And for project managers, it means improved visibility across teams and systems. With live data feeding into dashboards and reports, decisions can be made faster and with more confidence. And because the tool requires so little maintenance, it doesn’t create yet another dependency on busy IT teams.
A Tool That Understands Its Place
What’s particularly refreshing about SQList is that it doesn’t try to be all things to all people. It doesn’t compete with your lakehouse, and it doesn’t want to replace your orchestration tool. It simply solves one stubborn problem – getting SharePoint data into the modern data pipeline – and solves it exceptionally well.
In doing so, it complements the rest of your stack. Use Azure Data Factory or Synapse to orchestrate flows? Great – SQList gives you clean SQL tables to start from. Rely on Power BI for reporting? You’ll love how much faster your dashboards load once they’re querying a proper database.
Built for Real-World Use
Perhaps most importantly, SQList reflects the reality of most organisations today. SharePoint is everywhere – often deeply embedded into workflows, with years of accumulated lists and libraries. And with over 200 million users, it’s not going away anytime soon. And despite the promises of modern platforms, there remains a gap between SharePoint’s native structure and the needs of analytics teams.
SQList fills that gap. It works quietly in the background, translating SharePoint’s awkward formats into clean, queryable data. It supports multiple authentication methods, handles throttling gracefully, and even respects multi-language data.
It also scales surprisingly well. While it’s not built for mega-scale enterprise deployments with tens of thousands of SharePoint sites, for the vast majority of mid-sized teams – even those dealing with millions of rows – it’s more than up to the task.
Why SQList Still Matters in 2025
In a world obsessed with new platforms and ever-increasing complexity, SQList is a reminder that sometimes, the smartest tools are the ones that just quietly solve a real problem.
If your organisation relies on SharePoint and needs that data to live, breathe, and move within your analytics stack – without months of engineering – SQList could be the most important piece you add to your architecture this year.
Whether you’re a developer tired of writing yet another API wrapper, a business analyst waiting on yesterday’s numbers, or a project manager trying to keep everyone aligned, SQList does what so many tools promise but few deliver: it makes SharePoint useful again.
Ready to See It for Yourself?
If your team is struggling to unlock SharePoint data, SQList is the solution you’ve been looking for.
🔹 Start a free trial and see how quickly you can bring SharePoint into your analytics stack.
🔹 Or book a live demo with our team – we’ll walk you through exactly how it works in your environment, no strings attached.
Explore SQList and simplify SharePoint integration – properly, finally.
