Spreadsheet Migration

Excel is a great tool, its so powerful and flexible. But there are some projects where it is not the best choice. Also as applications grow and develop sometimes something that worked well on a spreadsheet actually out grows it. This could be simply needing more than 256 columns or more than 64k rows, or it could be more subtle, with the model just becoming difficult to manage or modify or even to calculate.

Spreadsheets are good when:

Initial development time is critical.
Current skill set is heavily Excel biased.
The number of problem variables is small.
The maths is fairly complex (from a business point of view).

Spreadsheets may not be the best choice when

Multiple simultaneous users are required.
Large amounts of data are analysed.
Robustness and security are a priority.

Probably the most frequent reason for migration we see is to enable multiple simultaneous users to access common elements of the model. There are several ways to achieve this, and we discuss these early on with the client to assess which is likely to work best in any given scenario.

The second most frequent reason is that the Excel model has grown too unwieldy and therefore difficult to manage and difficult to validate. Often we can maintain most of the benefits of Excel whilst just moving a few key components to a more appropriate platform (generally either a database or compiled components such as COM DLLs). This usually maintains much of the user interface, thereby protecting the investment in training, whilst improving performance and reliability.

Another common reason is that a spreadsheet is being more widely distributed and there is a need for increased robustness and security. In this case a 'Visual Studio Tools for the Office System' (VSTO) solution may be ideal, having much of the flexibility of a VBA approach, but with centralised control, powerful updating and enhanced security.

We can work on-site or off-site, although there is usually a need for regular meetings for guidance and updates. Most of the work is generally undertaken on a Codematic development machine for two reasons:

1. Our machines are set up with a full suite of best of breed developer tools, some of which are not available commercially.

2. Using a none client PC shields the corporate network from any risks during development, where, for example security settings may need to be relaxed temporarily during certain stages of development.

Please contact us with any questions.

Products for sale:

Products coming soon:

XLAnalyst Pro

(Excel VBA based spreadsheet auditing tool)

Due before the end of 2009.

This page was last reviewed on November 30, 2009

Rapid Application Development / Advanced Excel Development