Replace Excel with software
From a spreadsheet that nobody dares to touch anymore to something that keeps working.
Replace Excel with software: when will it be time?
Replacing Excel with software means that a spreadsheet on which your company runs is converted to a web application with users, rights, control and a history. The same function, but without the risks that a shared file entails.
Let’s be honest: Excel is genius. Almost every good business process starts in a spreadsheet, and that’s exactly how it should be. You think of something, you build it in an afternoon, it works.
It only goes wrong when that file grows. There are tabs, formulas that nobody dares to touch anymore, a version with “definition” in the name and one with “definition2.” Three people work in it, two of them in an old copy. And then the one who built it works somewhere else.
Five signals that your spreadsheet has grown too far.
Two or more? Then that file will cost you more than it yielded.
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01
There’s one person who gets it.
And when it is on vacation, the process stands still. Knowledge that is in a formula and in one head, is not knowledge but a risk.
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02
Multiple versions are circulating
Sent by mail, on a network disk, in someone’s download folder. No one knows for sure which one is the current one.
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03
Errors go unnoticed for too long
A cell that was accidentally overwritten, a formula that runs one row too short. You can tell if the numbers have already been used elsewhere.
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04
Everyone sees everything
Purchasing prices, margins, salaries: in a spreadsheet you can’t control who can see what. In an application that is an institution.
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05
You retype data from other systems
Every week the same round: export, paste, check. Exactly the work that a link Take over in one go.
What an application can do.
Control
- One current version, for everyone at once
- Rights per role: who can look, who can change
- History: who changed what, and when
- Checks that stop wrong input at source
- Automatic backups without anyone thinking about it
Convenience
- Screens that follow your process instead of columns
- Also works on the phone, also outside the office
- Automatic calculations without hidden formulas
- Notifications when action is required
- Reports updating themselves
Connection
- Data directly from your accounting or ERP
- No more overtypes between systems
- Export to Excel remains possible
- Your existing data will be transferred, including history
- Extended direction a customer portal if that makes sense
A practical example: scheduling thirty employees.
A service provider with thirty employees planned projects in a spreadsheet system that had been pushed out over the years. Occupation, availability and lead times were in it, spread over tabs with references to each other. It worked as long as no one changed anything.
We built an internal dashboard for it: real-time view of who sits where, who has space and which projects run out. The main difference wasn’t easy, but in the early signals: overload became visible before anyone fell down, instead of after.
A project like this almost always starts small. We first review the spreadsheet, identify how the process really works and build that into an initial version. Read about how this works on our approach.
Clear answers to frequently asked questions.
How much does it cost to replace Excel with software?
That depends on how much the file does. A clear administration is a process of a few weeks; a spreadsheet that runs half the business gets bigger. We first look at the file together. Then you know what you are up to within a week. See sample paths and build up your quote.Can I bring my existing data?
Yes, that’s standard part. We transfer your existing data, including history, often revealing that there are duplications or errors, and we’ll get them out right away.Will my employees need to learn a new way of working?
A little bit, but less than you think. We build the screens after the order of your existing process, not to what is technically useful. Whoever could work with the spreadsheet usually comes out within a day.Can I still export to Excel?
Yeah, for reports, for your accountant, or for a minute to count on, Excel doesn’t disappear from your life, just it’s not the place your business runs anymore.What if my process changes in a year?
Then the application changes with it. That’s exactly the difference with a standard package: you don’t depend on a supplier’s roadmap. Development runs with a fixed capacity per month.Who’s building it?
Altena, a Dutch software company of Marcel Altena. Small team, direct communication.From vulnerable spreadsheet to reliable software.
Describe in a few sentences what that one file does and who works with it. You get a clear assessment within one working day, including the answer or replacement is worth it at all.