Thirteen years ago, I left OLAP vendor Applix (TM1) with the belief that Excel was doomed to extinction. I thought by now everyone would be using some sort of BI (Business Intelligence) tool, and many are. But Excel is not just surviving; it thrives as the tool of choice for all kinds of users from the enterprise to the mid-market to high tech startups. At the enterprise and mid-market today, Excel peacefully co-exists with BI tool and financial analytic applications like budgeting, modeling and financial reporting. As good as many of these tools and applications are, some users just can’t live without Excel. For startups, Excel is the tool of choice because it’s cheap, flexible and you can do a lot of sophisticated things with it.

But despite its broad acceptance and enthusiastic support, doing work in Excel can be a pain in the ass. That’s not just one man’s opinion, it well documented that building large models in Excel can be a challenge, especially when you need to change it. And who doesn’t need to change it?

There are several purposes for this blog. I’m a marketer, and will be watching the financial analytic market to share my perspective about what’s happening in it, particularly as it relates to financial analytics applications that incorporate (embrace?) Excel.

John Calahan is the domain expert. He’s going to share his thoughts about developing financial analytic applications in Excel. You’ll be intrigued by John’s creativity, and impressed with his knowledge and expertise.

We can’t deny that the ultimate reason for the blog is to promote XCELLEGEN, which we have positioned as a better way to do budgeting, financial reporting and planning in Excel. We think that if you are committed to using Excel for financial analytic applications, you’ll want to get XCELLEGEN as soon as you can.

But since our target market is the heavy Excel user, we figure we can’t go wrong if this blog helps you get more out of Excel and become more productive. We will strive to deliver useful information that you can apply either directly or indirectly to your job situation in a positive way.

Lawson Abinanti, director of marketing, CFOsoft