Why Does Everyone Still Use Excel?

The reason is simple. Microsoft Excel offers an unparalleled combination of flexibility, power and usability. Excel remains one of the most important pieces of business software in the world. In fact, almost 90% of companies use Excel for budgeting, planning and forecasting operations.

 

That said, Excel isn’t perfect. The spreadsheet solution suffers from several glaring shortcomings, including excessive manual drudge work, poor collaboration options and time-consuming data merges.

 

Its problems notwithstanding, when used in conjunction with a specialized data management solution, Excel can function as the backbone of a powerful business intelligence operation that is reliable, secure and highly scalable.

The king of data management solutions

Excel is far-and-away the best all-round option for the general user with its very ubiquity as a core strength — it’s no exaggeration to call Excel the universal standard of data analysis. Businesses continue to rely on Excel — so much so that financial professionals say you’ll “have to pry Excel out of their cold, dead hands” before they ever give it up.

 No other analytical tool does so many things well with so little effort. When companies do implement specialized solutions, they nearly always rely on Excel to “grind” the data produced by those alternatives. That means Microsoft’s iconic spreadsheet software isn’t going anywhere soon.

 

To be sure, Excel is not without its alternatives. The market has witnessed a flurry of would-be contenders for Excel’s crown, including spreadsheet solutions, analytical platforms, data visualization solutions, CRM software, and business intelligence tools. 

 

However, most are designed for very specific purposes. Solutions often come with steep learning curves, too, costing companies time and money while employees learn the ropes.

Unmatched strengths

What does Excel do so well that Microsoft’s spreadsheet solution remains on top even three decades after it was launched?

 

    • Universal adoption: Another chief strength of Excel is its universal adoption. The software may have over 1 billion users worldwide. Put bluntly, it’s the global standard of spreadsheet solutions. Bar none.

 

    • No training required: Employees can be brought up to speed on Excel with little or no training. The software’s interface is so intuitive that anyone can learn its basic steps in no time. And it takes no training at all to open a spreadsheet and edit cells.

 

    • Data and system compatibility: Being the global gold standard of spreadsheet solutions, Excel seamlessly integrates into a wide range of CRM, inventory, and data management tools commonly found in today’s businesses and organizations. With Excel, you can easily import logs and databases to access important pieces of data.

Cherry EXON: Excel, But Turbofied

The market’s only solution that is 100% compatible with Excel, Cherry EXON takes the world’s most beloved spreadsheet solution to the next level. It leverages all of the popular spreadsheet solution’s flexibility, ubiquity and ease of use while adding automation and data management functionality to turn Excel into a tool of exceptional power and sophistication.

 

EXON connects Excel with a ‘database’ that can span a near-infinite number of data sources and locations. With just a few clicks of the mouse, you can import raw data from your database into web application in real-time. No SQL knowledge or IT help is needed.

 

If you can do it in Excel, you can do it in EXON. Use all the formulas, functions and macros you love in Excel to analyze live data and produce tables, charts and more.  

To learn more about Cherry EXON,

 

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