Data Platform
FluxConnect vs BigQuery
BigQuery is Google Cloud's fully managed, serverless enterprise data warehouse. FluxConnect is the supplier-facing portal layer that turns retail data into isolated, accessible supplier insights.
FluxConnect vs BigQuery: supplier insight layer vs. serverless data warehouse
BigQuery is a strong choice for Google Cloud-native analytics. It gives data teams a fully managed, serverless warehouse for storing, querying, and modeling large datasets. But supplier data sharing is not only a warehouse problem. It is an external access, reporting, isolation, and onboarding problem.
Retail suppliers do not need direct access to your analytics warehouse. They need a clear view of the reports that matter to them: product performance, stock position, margin, promotion impact, service levels, and commercial opportunities. Giving them raw tables or building a custom app on top of BigQuery adds complexity before any supplier sees value.
BigQuery can power the data layer, but not the full supplier experience
To use BigQuery for supplier sharing, you still need to design the supplier experience around it. That means external identity, supplier mapping, per-supplier filtering, report creation, dashboards, access management, auditability, support, and administration for commercial users.
FluxConnect handles that last mile. SaaS gives retailers the fastest path with managed hosting and volume-based pricing. Private Deployment can reuse BigQuery inside your Google Cloud tenant and add the supplier-facing portal layer on top, so your warehouse remains the source of truth while suppliers get simple, isolated access.
Already on BigQuery? FluxConnect Private Deployment can build on it
There are two ways to run FluxConnect. FluxConnect SaaS is the fully managed option: we host everything and ingest your supplier-relevant data. FluxConnect Private Deployment is for retailers who already run BigQuery and want to reuse it rather than copy data into another platform.
With Private Deployment, FluxConnect runs in your own environment and reuses BigQuery as the data layer. We add the supplier portal, isolation, reports, onboarding, and per-report access directly on top of your existing Google Cloud data platform. Your data stays in your tenant, while suppliers get a clean portal instead of warehouse access.
Retailer cloud tenant
Azure / AWS / GCP
Existing infrastructure
BigQuery warehouse
Reused assets
Existing GCP data models and BI reports
Your governance
Security, data model, access rules
FluxConnect
Supplier portal layer
Suppliers
Supplier A
Own reports only
Supplier B
Own reports only
Supplier C
Own reports only
Feature comparison
FluxConnect comes in two editions. Where a row applies to both, the cell spans them; where they differ, you see each edition side by side.
| FluxConnect SaaS | FluxConnect Private Deployment | BigQuery | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary use case | External supplier data sharing | Serverless data warehousing | |
| Supplier experience | Curated visual reports | Data warehouse access or custom app | |
| Technical expertise needed | None, commercial teams | SQL, GCP, and data engineering | |
| Supplier onboarding | Email OTP - seconds | Google accounts, IAM, or custom auth | |
| Managed by | Purchasing / Commercial | Data engineering / cloud team | |
| Data isolation | Built-in tenant separation | Must be modeled and enforced | |
| Pricing | Volume-based from €500/month | Custom pricing | Storage, query, and capacity costs |
| Report creation | Drag-and-drop visual builder | Drag-and-drop, or embed existing reports | SQL + BI layer or custom portal |
Why choose FluxConnect
A warehouse is not the supplier experience
BigQuery can store and analyze data at scale, but supplier sharing still needs external onboarding, portal UX, per-supplier isolation, report access, and commercial administration.
No Google Cloud access for suppliers
FluxConnect suppliers access reports through a browser with email OTP. They do not need Google Cloud projects, IAM roles, SQL access, or training in your data platform.
Commercial teams can operate it
BigQuery is owned by data and cloud teams. FluxConnect lets purchasing and commercial teams build supplier-facing reports, assign access, and onboard suppliers directly.
The last mile is included
With BigQuery, you still need the supplier portal, reporting layer, access model, onboarding flow, and support process. FluxConnect provides that last mile as the product.
When to use what
Choose FluxConnect when…
- Sharing curated supplier insights without SQL
- External supplier access with built-in isolation
- Commercial teams managing report access
- Retailers that want SaaS or in-tenant deployment
- Turning warehouse data into supplier-facing reports
Consider BigQuery when…
- Google Cloud-native data warehousing
- Large-scale analytics run by data teams
- SQL-based exploration and modeling
- Organizations standardizing on GCP data infrastructure
- Internal analytics that need serverless warehouse scale
Frequently asked questions
Is BigQuery a supplier portal?
Can FluxConnect use data from BigQuery?
Why not give suppliers access to BigQuery data directly?
How does FluxConnect compare to building a portal on BigQuery?
Is FluxConnect a replacement for BigQuery?
When should we choose Private Deployment with BigQuery?
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Ready to see the difference?
See how FluxConnect compares to BigQuery for your specific use case.