I have seen some very sophisticated designs using Excel to create dashboards that summarize a great deal of information. It is highly customizable and in the right hands can create beautiful reports.
I have also seen the panic when the excel expert is sick or is no longer with the firm and other analysts are pouring over hundreds of and hundreds of formulas, cells, and sometimes vba code to try and piece together a report for an urgent presentation.
A few other drawbacks for Excel Dashboards are:
- Only one user can change and update an Excel Dashboard at a time
- With a printed version, you never know if you have the latest Dashboard in your hand
- Not consistent from file to file. This is especially true when you have one dashboard per investment.
- Hard to make broad changes across all files
Benefits of Web Based Dashboards
In a web based system, any number of people can view the dashboard in a secure fashion. You can even give different levels of access to different classes of users.
It's also very easy to get the latest dashboard with simply a browser. You might be on a business trip in Europe, at home in Connecticut, or on vacation in Cancun. By logging in to your web based dashboard, you have the latest information at your fingertips.
Reporting becomes much easier when all the information is in one database. New additions, changes and reconciliations are within reach. Your data becomes more reliable. You will see fewer emails with 'one more update' being sent out to the team.
Excel still has its purposes in environments that are not uniform and each dashboard must be totally unique.
If you are facing some of the issues we outline here and would like to explore web based dashboards, give us a call.
Clevertech provides cutting edge custom web application solutions that leverage database technologies and combined with our own experts who have a knack at organizing client data. Call us to schedule an appointment to discuss your data needs at 516-869-4970.
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