Excel has always been a versatile tool for businesses, and to date, no company would exist without the solid backing of MS Excel. From storing employee data to managing complex accounting calculations, MS Excel does it all like a pro.
Although the software is powerful enough and one can get the best out of it with the help of Excel development services, as the saying by Napoleon Hill goes, “Work whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.”
The same applies to businesses that keep expanding over the years. There comes the point when collaborating in Excel becomes an uphill task. You cannot streamline the information, and everything seems to be all over the place.
Here are five reasons why switching to a web-based app is a great idea to overcome the challenges of MS Excel:
1. Less Human Errors
Let’s face it that no matter how organized your team or your work is, errors in spreadsheets can happen anytime. Sometimes a trivial mistake can cost millions of dollars to a business. So let me share an example of how a few zeroes landed a company in trouble.
In 2005, Kodak suffered an $11 million severance error just because of a subtle typo. A team member added unwanted zeroes to a particular severance accrual record, resulting in an $11 million overstatement. The company’s stock plummeted severely as soon as this information was made public.
Many other disasters have happened over the years due to minor errors in Excel, so many big-scale companies and enterprises move towards other reliable solutions to find a better way to get their data organized.
On a different note, you can always connect with an Excel Macro Consultant to automate some of your tasks and prevent unwanted errors.
2. Access Anytime and Anywhere
We all are aware of how technology has evolved over the years. Most of the things are accessible through apps and smartphones. If you have an app to access all the information in one go, why would you take the pain of carrying a laptop or googling stuff here and there? We all know how complex Excel is, and you can’t visualize everything with the screen view on smartphones.
3. Tracking Data Becomes Easy
When you have a handful of excel sheets, everything is in control. You consult Excel development services or an Excel macro consultant to make processes seamless and organized. But as the data and number of excel files increase, all hell breaks loose.
In a typical scenario, multiple people are working on the same project. All the colleagues keep sharing files, and tracking and maintaining all the versions is not possible.
An app can be a real sure shot solution to this problem where you do not have to keep track of each detail. For example, if multiple users are working simultaneously on a single project, an app can help restrict the view, minimizing any chances of tampering.
You can also save it as a template and keep it for reuse. It also helps to generate PDF reports to send emails instantly.
4. Safe And Secure
Excel allows users to protect their documents, but the security level can be breached easily. Interestingly, as per Cisco’s research, 38% of the Microsoft office suite file extensions make up malicious emails.
But when you decide to opt for a web app, you can get a more reliable and secure system. In addition, a web application allows you to manage visibility settings where you can control the access rights of various users.
So, if there is a formula or other confidential information that you do not want to expose to every user, a web app is the right solution.
5. Not Scalable
MS Excel is not easy to scale and doesn’t work great for growing businesses. In addition, the time and effort needed to maintain those documents throttle the efficiency and productivity of your business.
There is no way to help users keep track of real-time data sharing or send notifications to inform them of any new data changes.
So, it prevents employees from taking immediate action acting as the roadblock in the company’s progress.
We all know that no business wants to get stuck in unwanted roadblocks in their growing business.
People use MS Excel since the inception of their business, and somewhere they find it comfortable. The only thing that stops them from switching to another tool is that they do not want to come out of their comfort cocoon. But one cannot forget that you need to go out of your comfort zone to grow and progress.
Converting your spreadsheet to a web app can be the right solution for your business. Consult Excel development services to understand the technical things better.