Excel

Description

Microsoft Office Excel 2007 is a powerful tool you can use to create and format spreadsheets, and analyze and share information to make more informed decisions. More information can be found on the BI Wiki.

Audience

Current Excel Users:
Excel is a very powerful tool for Business Intelligence. With software add-ins and configurations, it can:

• Connect to external data sources directly, including the data warehouse data sets directly without using BusinessObjects
• Create dashboards and scorecards

There is a learning curve to configure Excel to use these features against MAIS data. For instance, Excel does not provide a graphical front-end to the fields in the data warehouse. However, since end-users are typically comfortable with Excel, advanced users may find it worth the investment to learn how to connect to external data sources. 

New Excel Users:
If you are unfamiliar with Excel, product information is located on the vendor website.

Access & Training

No special access is required. Training is available through Excel's online help and from U-M ITCS. There is no documentation specific to U-M about configuring Excel to use MAIS Data sources.

System/Application & Data Sources

Excel is installed on PCS in campus computing sites and is available over the web through virtual sites.

Cost

See current pricing information from ITCS.