Extensio Extender for Microsoft Excel embeds live Extensio Information Services containing data from enterprise and web stores, within user-specified Excel cells.  With Extensio, end-users get real-time information delivery, in user-defined format, within their Excel spreadsheet.

Despite availability of Excel based publishing tools from ERP, CRM, SCM, and Portals, most business users continue to be frustrated with existing Excel tools because data is not available to them in the format that they need.  Users typically need data from more than one source to complete their information picture, but there are no tools that enable a user to mix Excel reports from multiple applications.  In absence of free format Excel tools that work across multiple sources of information, users are forced to

• Use error-prone cut-copy-paste to populate the spreadsheet they need
• Switch screens to gather data from multiple sources and verify it
• Manually update data from Excel Spreadsheets to enterprise applications

This results in manual data collection processes, loss of user productivity and user frustration.  It does not help that the usage of Excel is looked askance by regulators and process auditors as there is little control on how data comes into Excel, and how it gets updated.  The information supply chain feeding into Excel remains ad hoc and without any centralized IT control, carrying with it the following operational risks:

• Risks with data-integrity due to the required manual steps of data collection
• Risks of taking sub-optimal decisions by using stale data in the "frozen" Excel sheets
• No track of the earlier cell values for comparison or audit purposes
• IT cannot guarantee data freshness and consistency once the data reaches the spreadsheets ("spreadmarts")

Benefits of Extending Enterprise Applications to Microsoft® Excel 

Extensio extends information services to specific user defined Excel cells using a service-oriented architecture (SOA), and creates Live Excel Spreadsheets that can be refreshed with data from multiple sources with a single click.   A live Excel spreadsheet provides the following benefits:

• Enables users to create a refreshable, live Excel spreadsheet in their format, with data from multiple sources
• Eliminates cut-and-paste based data collecting mechanism from enterprise applications
• Enables users to work with real-time and accurate data, resulting in better decisions
• Enables read/write operations on information services from Excel.

With Extensio, Excel users save time, decrease operational risks, and improve data accountability.  Further, it works with Excel 2000+ onwards, and requires no upgrades!

Who Benefits from the Extensio Extender for Microsoft Excel?

Extensio bridges the gap between enterprise applications and Excel, and provides the best of the two worlds to business users.  The users that can leverage the Extensio Extender for Microsoft Excel include:

• Logistics Managers who monitor ERP and Retail sites and analyze real time stock status
• Budget Planners who track budget vs. MTD/YTD expenses across budget spreadsheets and expense data from accounting system.
• Executives who want to quickly monitor the key performance indicators
• Analysts who want to combine data-warehouse data along with other custom databases

Key Features of the Extensio Extender for Microsoft Excel

The Extensio Extender for Microsoft Excel is a full-featured Excel add-in that works with Microsoft Excel 2000 and later to provide embeddable information services within Excel, and interactive user mechanisms to create, refresh and update information within Excel.  The Extender adds a tool bar within Excel that is used by the user to select an appropriate Extensio Information Service, specify the input/output parameters, and embed it on specified Excel cells.  Once the Information Service is embedded on Excel cells, it can then be refreshed automatically or on demand.

Some of the key features include:

• Bi-directional cell-level access to information services, with data from multiple data sources
• Pick and choose specific information elements from chosen information service
• Refresh data on demand or on specific events such as opening of the Excel file, or at a specified interval
• Full format Flexibility to mix information service data with user's own custom data/columns
• Support import and refresh of custom formatted reports
• Analyze the property of each Excel cell for tracking, auditing, and debugging purposes

Deploying Extensio Extender for Microsoft Excel

Customer's IT department uses the SOA-based Extensio Information Server and its browser-based Extensio Studio to build information services that connect the target applications to the enterprise data-sources, extract appropriate data, assemble them using transform, filter or other custom operations and deliver them on Microsoft Excel as per the user requirements.

Once Extensio Information Services have been built for Microsoft Excel, the same information can be directly delivered on multiple user channels such as Desktop Gadgets, Microsoft Outlook, Web Widgets, Web Services, Partner Applications, and Mobile devices.