At 5000fish, we frequently refer to Microsoft Excel as the number one business intelligence (BI) tool in the world because it is the most used business application by far. On the surface, it’s a simple tool for even the most novice user. If you’re an Excel expert, you can program, script, and create amazing presentations and Excel dashboards. We’ve discovered that for many companies, Microsoft Excel is the primary tool used to communicate information among teams because it is so versatile.
However, there are several drawbacks to using an Excel dashboard as your BI solution. For smaller teams of three to five people, Excel might be a viable solution for disseminating information and data. Once your team grows and your need for information increases in size and frequency, the Microsoft Excel method of creating dashboards and reports can become complicated and cumbersome.
Below are the five most common drawbacks to using an Excel dashboard as your primary dashboard solution:
Companies that need more business intelligence functionality than Microsoft Excel can provide have two options: First, companies that want to transition to a product that leverages Excel can use Microsoft Power BI for more complex reporting. Microsoft Power BI has eliminated most of the above drawbacks, however, companies will likely need to bring in a Microsoft Power BI expert to help them navigate its complexities, which requires a lot of time and money.
The second alternative is to transition to a self-service, agile tool like Yurbi. For teams that generate and update reports frequently, purchasing a true BI system that easily creates and updates reports is well worth the investment because of the man hours saved and the security gained. A BI solution will remove a lot of the human error in data calculations and increase data integrity. It will also allow data to be updated in real-time and for users to collaborate more easily around the data.
If you’re searching for a secure BI solution that can produce dashboards and reports in real-time, contact us for a demo!
Business Intelligence For Companies Ready To Grow