TRINIDAT-WIKI
Modernize Excel: The advantages of a modern web application
What can you do when Excel reaches its limits?
The Microsoft Excel spreadsheet program has been used by countless private and, in particular, professional users since the 1990s. It is therefore not surprising that surprisingly powerful Excel applications have often been developed in a number of departments of German companies, but that these often now reach their limits. These can be seen in many areas, from data security, compatibility and scalability to user-friendliness. At the same time, Excel is still used as a central application for managing business-critical data in many places.
We will show you, using specific examples, the problems that existing Excel applications can cause in companies and the possibilities that modernization offers.
Excel Applications: Problems and Solutions
When working with Excel, numerous problems arise, especially in a multi-user environment. The more intensively an Excel application is used in companies and other organizations, the stronger the desire for a solution becomes. We analyze typical problems with Excel applications and show possible solutions.
Are you familiar with these problems with Excel applications?
Problems with large data sets
Yes, Excel can handle more than a million rows per sheet. However, the program is not designed to process large amounts of data and becomes slow and error-prone when handling large data volumes. When using Excel in mission-critical areas, the unreliable performance poses a serious risk. By contrast, web applications allow for virtually unlimited amounts of data to be processed in databases such as Microsoft SQL Server. The rows correspond to data sets. The number of data sets is only limited by the available memory.
Is your Excel spreadsheet reaching its limits?
We advise you on modernizing Excel.
Get non-binding advice now.
Insufficient security
Excel offers only limited data security. Although a worksheet can be protected by a password, anyone who knows the password has unrestricted access to the worksheet. In a web application, user accounts are usually managed. Each account has a separate password and specified access rights. This way, users can be granted granularly defined access rights. These ensure that data can only be viewed, written or edited.
Data quality too low
Human error, such as incorrect data entry or fields left empty in data records, can cause major problems for company processes. We are aware of cases in which salaries have been paid out incorrectly due to an improperly sorted table, and this was only noticed days later. In contrast, a web application stores the data in normalized tables and manages relationships between these tables. If referential integrity is also activated, the integrity of the database is also prevented during data changes and deletions.
Poor traceability of changes
Excel stores all data and calculations in a file, and Windows remembers which user last saved the file and when this happened. It is a little more convenient when using SharePoint. Excel displays a history here and a file version can be retrieved from the history at the push of a button. At the same time, problems often arise when multiple users are working on an Excel spreadsheet at the same time. A typical example of this is confusion about which version of the file is the final version. Accidentally overwriting data or entering data into outdated file versions are classic mistakes when using Excel. In a web application with specified access rights, such collaboration problems and dangers are excluded from the outset.
What advantages do database applications offer over Excel?
Many Excel applications cause companies all kinds of headaches for the reasons mentioned above. One solution can be to use web applications with a linked database instead of Excel. We have already seen some of the advantages of web-based applications. To summarize, the following advantages can be listed.
- Faster and more powerful: Excel is limited in the amount of data it can handle, and working with large amounts of data can be slow and tedious. Web applications don’t have these problems because they are designed from the ground up to process large data sets quickly and efficiently.
- Consistency and security: We program mechanisms into our applications that ensure the correctness, consistency and completeness of data. In addition, we offer the option of integrating customer-specific requirements, such as user rights management, encryption and backups.
- Analysis and reporting: Powerful tools for data analysis and validation and specifically usable reporting functions offer practical advantages over Excel applications.
- Integration and workflows: Web applications offer many more possibilities in terms of integration and workflow: automated workflows for recurring tasks and activities can be implemented in individually tailored applications. Another advantage of individually developed web applications over Excel is that they have precisely fitting interfaces for integration into existing systems.
- User-friendliness: Unlike the limited options offered by Excel, individually developed web applications offer intuitive user interfaces that can be programmed and customized to meet the specific requirements of your business.
Overall, replacing Excel with a web application offers a range of advantages and is much more than just a problem solver. When it comes to sustainability and technological development, database programs as web applications have a clear advantage over the limited options offered by Excel.
Is your Excel spreadsheet reaching its limits?
We advise you on modernizing Excel.
Request a consultation now.