Excel versus the rest in Business Intelligence
In the Excel versus Business Intelligence battle, there is only one winner currently. It's not a fair battle by any means however the Business intelligence, financial modelling Industry lags miles behind in second place.
Vendors and enthuasists of business intelligence/ financial modelling, demand management software have long argued that user’s preference / attachment to spreadsheets is one of the biggest preventatives to real Business Intelligence. Users maintain that spreadsheets provide all the BI capability they need.
If Vendors and supporters BI software were honest with themselves they would agree that spreadsheets are not only a data source for BI applications, but often the preferred front-end access to BI application or ERP solution data.
Making things more interesting is PowerPivot in the latest edition of Excel 2010 with a lot of BI functionality. This raises the question of whether this will mean even fewer people will see a need for dedicated BI software or help drive interest in it.
The financial Modelling and business intelligence software which we sell and implement is much more proficient, cost effective and powerful. And we are willing to be put our believes to the test against the darkness hegemony (a well known company from Seatlle, not Boeing). Thats why at MXI we offer the Excel Challenge.
Whatever happens, the tension between spreadsheet users and BI supporters will increase over the next few months as more IT organizations become familiar with Excel 2010. But in the end, it’s more likely that PowerPivot will become an integral component of just about any total BI solution.
In UK / Ireland MXI implement and develop business intelligence solutions based around SQL Server, Quantrix, Forecast PRO and Excel. Free Forecast PRO Trial