Tips on how to properly use Excel for business intelligence projects

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Tips on how to properly use Excel for business intelligence projects

Tips on how to properly use Excel for business intelligence projects

Brian Jordan, CEO, BIT Solutions

What’s your opinion on using Excel for business intelligence projects?

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We’re OK with Excel BI use as long as the data is secured in some fashion. Excel is by far the most widely used technology for BI and reporting. It’s a useful tool, but the data being sourced and then stored in spreadsheets must be governed and secured so that Excel users are utilizing the same information as all of an organization’s other BI users are.

We still see way too many companies allowing business users to be mavericks and use Excel for BI purposes however they see fit. What is the point of putting data governance processes in place and consolidating and validating your data, only to give your users the ability to do what they will outside of that controlled environment?

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This was first published in September 2010

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