Importing data from Excel to SQL Server requires going back in time, so to speak. Yes, back to 32-bits at runtime. As much as it can be a pain, a lot of projects still require that you import data ...
Both Excel and SQL databases have their pros and cons. But most people are more familiar with Excel than a database. For this reason, you might want to turn your Excel into a sort of SQL database ...
For detailed info about connecting to Excel files, and about limitations and known issues for loading data from or to Excel files, see Load data from or to Excel with SQL Server Integration Services ...