Compares spreadsheets and BI systems from standpoint of SME businesses. Compares both with new customizable spreadsheets.

1. Choices for SME Businesses
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2. Need to plan and manage creates typical
SME dilemma
 Suffer pains of (conventional) spreadsheets
• Many manual operations to build and maintain
• Inflexible after they are built
• Reliability and control
• Collaboration and learning
OR
 Suffer pains of BI systems
• Expensive
• Hard for non-IT staff to use to build reports
• Hard to reconfigure reports to answer questions

3. Business Intelligence Systems
Strengths Pains
 Larger models  Expense
• Handle very large models • Expensive to purchase and support
 Easy for users of basic reports  Less suitable for innovation
• So long as users don't have to edit or • Harder for business experts to build
reconfigure reports reports
 Control • Dependence on IT programmers
• Better IT control of data, model logic  Harder for advanced report user
 Transaction summary reports • Reconfigure reports
• Many repetitive records • Add side-computations
 Rate of failure of BI projects

4. Conventional Spreadsheets
Strengths Pains
 Adaptable, powerful  Size limits
• Function libraries, pivot tables, • Lower size limits than for BI systems
graphics, database access…  Flexibility
 Business experts build models • Once built, hard to make changes
• Easy to learn  Reliability
 Inexpensive or “free” • Many manual operations increase
• Free if you have Excel or Google frequency of errors
Docs  Productivity
 Managerial analysis • Many unreadable formulas – can take
• Handles complex computations weeks to create / adapt new models
 Collaboration
• Hard to communicate, learn how
models work

5. Now there’s a 3rd way...
customizable spreadsheets
 No more building complex formulas or layouts
• Just customize a prebuilt model for your business needs and
enter your data
 No expensive software or specialist skills
• Standard spreadsheet output requires no training to use
• Online model management and data entry via a simple
(prompted) online form

6. Customizable Spreadsheets
Turn spreadsheet pains to strengths – with no BI investment
Strengths Pains
 All strengths of conventional  Size limits
spreadsheets • Lower size limits than for BI systems
• Deliver conventional spreadsheets
 Flexibility
• Customize models to your needs
• Easy to use web-based customizer
 Reliability
• Automation, few manual operations Spreadsheet pains
 Productivity converted to strengths
• Customization is 10-100x faster
 Collaboration
• Fewer, readable symbolic formulas

7. Customizable spreadsheets are
powerful business planning tools
Large
models
BI Systems
Customizable Spreadsheets
Spreadsheets
Small
models
Transaction summaries Management analysis
Simple reports Innovation

8. Summary
Attribute BI Systems Conventional Customizable
Spreadsheets Spreadsheets
Large models +++ ++ ++
Adaptable, powerful ++ ++ +++
Empowers business experts + ++ +++
IT control of data, models +++ + ++
Easy for users of basic reports +++ ++ ++
Users can reconfigure reports + +++ +++
Reliability ++ + ++
Productivity for authors ++ + +++
Collaboration ++ ++ +++

9. Conclusion for SME Businesses
 Use accounting SW for basic financial reporting
• Financial results, Basic sales reporting
 Use customizable spreadsheets for analyses
• Financial planning, sales planning, budgeting
• Sales analysis
• Marketing programs effectiveness
• Customer and product profitability
• Pricing tests and analyses
• Analysis of investment projects
 Use conventional spreadsheets for innovation
• Translate to custom spreadsheets or BI later.

10. Thank you
Read more on BI vs custom spreadsheets
http://bit.ly/tgIZoi
For more information contact:
Richard Petti
ModelSheet Software, LLC
Tel: +1 781-648-7856 / cell: +1 617-694-0164
Email: rjpetti@modelsheetsoft.com
URL: http://www.modelsheetsoft.com