December 15, 2009 at 5:57 pm
I'm looking forward to this product. The first thing thatanyone ever does with the information we produce using our BI tools (Hyperion) is extract the information and put it into excel as everyone knows how to use it, so all the hard work you have spent formating and making the report look good is wasted,
This product will hopefully make us totally microsoft based and means that we will be able to ditch Hyperion with its addtional costs and users will be using a familar product in excel
December 16, 2009 at 9:53 am
I am also looking forward to this product. The basic concern to making this work is "Know Your Data". If you have a good understanding of where you data source is and how it is maintained/updated, this product looks as if it will be an additional great tool for BI.
I agree that individuals that do not know or understand their data are going to be in for a long and hard ride down the BI Trail.
Joe:cool:
December 16, 2009 at 9:58 am
richard.rabe (12/15/2009)
Maybe the capability of PowerPivot is a great metaphor but implementing it in Excel just guarantees more problems down the road.
Richard I also agree with your points and the three items that you listed. There probably are more, but these three are well taken.
However, each problem also brings a possibility to the table. By bringing the data to the end user in a format and too that they are use to using and have advanced skills in they are better able to:
1. Identify the errant data and address the data quality issues in the source application, ODS extraction, or just blunders made as folks fat finger data in.
2. The user can extract out sets of data for analysis and identify trends using the skills and formulas they know of. If they are an Excel power user they dan model the data or mine it in ways they could not in a more limited tool where they would have to relearn a totally different paradigm.
3. Having the data in a new too and requiring the user to learn a more complicated method of mining or evaluating the data adds cost and an other learning curve.
4. The user also has the ability to store a copy of the data they have already created formulas and results for in a "Data Island". This is a problem. I agree, but then having the user take another snapshot of the data and run the same trend analysis etc against it allows the user the power they need to see the validity of their formula used in building the trending model etc.
So there are both adds and takeaways here, and the real problem is that we need to educate the user in correcting data in the source as well as in their snapshot, how to appropriately use the tools and what to retain.
I am not arguing with you about the items being 'bad' only that there is also a good side.
M.
Not all gray hairs are Dinosaurs!
December 17, 2009 at 12:57 am
Some of the opinions expressed here I hear businesses take umbridge at all the time. "IT knows the data better than the business", "End users do not know what they are doing", etc. No-one has said any of these phrases however it is how people interpret what has been said within this topic.
IT too often believes they know better. So does the business. But they are footing the bill.
Yes, a lot of end users do not utilise their tools effectively.
Yes, a lot of end users do not understand the effects of their "copies" of data.
And so on.
Giving users the tools to do what they want aids a better understanding of the data all round. Also, much like security, we can only help by educating users in how to use the tools available, how to manage their data and what advanced facilities IT can provide them e.g. standardisation of tools, reports and data management.
I don't want to suggest that any of the posters thinks that they DO know better, I am suggesting that some of what we say, as an industry, gets perceived in this manner.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
December 18, 2009 at 8:44 am
Gary has a good point, and ultimately, IT exists to serve business users, even if they do not use things efficiently. The idea behind PowerPivot isn't to remove IT. It's more that there are people and situations where a real IT application moves too slow. This allows an end user to quickly begin to analyze data. If they do it incorrectly, use stale data, etc., that's their choice.
Ultimately we need a balance. IT needs to respond quicker, even with less resources, and business users need to ask IT for their expertise when appropriate.
December 21, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Personally I liked the original code name "Gemini".
When IT doesn't support the business those non-IT parts of the business that are computer savvy design and build their own tools an mechanisms to get the job done. This is the JFDI methodology.
What starts out as a fairly robust set of spreadsheets quickly develops into an unfathomable monster. Let us suppose that IT and the business finally start talking to each other. The spreadsheet solution will be so complex that it defies analysis and the business will be such a slave to feeding the monster that every working minute will be spent shovelling food down its gullet.
Trying to get the business to take time to explain their monster (assuming they actually know how it all works) is impossible. Stop feeding the mission critical monster and the business starts to die.
Death by Powerpoint
Bongo by Excel
January 1, 2010 at 2:06 pm
Power users in Excel will love this and leverage it properly. Many/most of those users in my experience are in the Acctg area where there is, generally, a natural desire to get the numbers right.
I see and appreciate both sides of many points made earlier.
Sure, in the wrong hands this could be like giving a loaded gun to a monkey.
Keeping data locked down by IT as though it were 'their' data is unresponsive to business owners.
Good BI data is like a smile, useless unless given away to others who can use it (properly). I try to avoid placing blame on a new technology or capability for work environment issues that have to be dealt with in other ways.
Looking forward to using this technology in the future after seeing the demo.
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