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Using Excel to run MS SQL Stored Procs

April 13, 2010

Today I had an opportunity to install a spreadsheet for a customer.  It may seem simple…a spreadsheet…but the power it gave to it’s user was unimaginable.

I’ve been working in IT since 1993.  In that time, I’ve become the Excel champion.  Excel is cheap (relatively), installed nearly everywhere, and most everyone knows how to use it.  IT rejects Excel…because it’s cheap and easy.  We technicians like things to be complicated.  It makes us feel smart when we can deploy an app that most people would never understand.  But year after year, I find that the cheap, simple Excel spreadsheet is the one thing that can always get you a “thank you” and “you’ve made my job so easy” response from a customer.

With today’s install, I was able to get my smart guys to even look at Excel as something complex.  Using a stored procedure in MS SQL 2005 and the data connection in MS Excel, we were able to create an Excel Macro that allows a user to click on a menu item and execute that stored procedure using parameters in the Excel spreadsheet.

After creating the connection, the next step was to establish parameters/prompts in the spreadsheet.

Now that the parameters were established, the user could bring back the data into a table in Excel to view the results.  We chose to hide that tab and instead allow the users to manipulate with a simple but elegant Pivot Table (this did require some macro work).

THERE!  DONE!

Now, with some additional time, we could clean up the macro, create some error handling and actually move the running of the stored proc to the macro…with…some…additional…time. The solution is clean and simple and the user is happy.  For prototyping and user solutions that are going to just a few people, sometimes easier and faster is better.

- Jodie

Written by Jodie Heflin · Filed Under Business Intelligence, Featured, Technology | 2 Comments 

Business Intelligence Symposium May 6th!

April 6, 2010

Join us on Thursday, May 6, 2010 at the NKU METS Center for a half-day symposium of collaborative learning, focused on business intelligence.  The Business Intelligence Symposium brings together regional business & IT executives to learn how their peers have been implementing data analytics, business intelligence solutions and Dashboarding.  The emphasis of the symposium is to share ideas, stories, experiences, and business cards. Case studies, along with live demonstrations will be presented. Breakfast and lunch will be provided in a collaborative environment that facilitates peer networking and BI discussions for an enhanced learning experience.

View the agenda below and register today for $49 at the following link: http://tinyurl.com/yef3khh

Agenda:
7:30am – 8:00am         Registration and Breakfast

8:00am – 9:00am        David Holcomb, PhD – Director, Data Management, Western Union Simplicity and Transparency – How to do Effective Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence (Presentation)

9:00am -9:45am          Mr. Steve Hangen – CIO, WinWholesale BI Roadmap – A Project, a Journey, a Culture (Presentation and Demo)

9:45am -10:00am        Coffee Break & Conversations

10:00am – 10:45am    Mr. John R. Ward – Director, Health Systems Integration, TriHealth The New Era of Healthcare Clinical Information Systems Unstructured Data – Internal/External

10:45am –11:30am      Mr. Jeff Shaffer – Vice President of Legal Operations, Unifund Visualization – Running a business with Dashboards and Scorecards (Presentation and live Demo)

11:30am – 1:00pm       Lunch /Panel Discussion led by Dr. David Holcomb and guest speakers

Written by PatrickRyan · Filed Under Business Intelligence, Featured, LUCRUM News | 3 Comments 

Business Intelligence Symposium Save the date!

April 2, 2010

LUCRUM Inc. is proud to announce The Business Intelligence Symposium being held on May 6th 2010 at the Northern Kentucky University METS Center http://www.themetscenter.com/center/default.aspx located near the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport.  Check back for more details over the coming weeks.

Written by PatrickRyan · Filed Under Business Intelligence, LUCRUM News | 7 Comments 

Twitter Updates for 2010-04-01

April 1, 2010

  • Join us as we demo the new @TARGIT BI Suite 2K9. Today!! http://bit.ly/dCsQrc #
  • I think the tech classroom could be embraced by HS and Jr. High kids too. RT @ZDNetBlogs an iPad for every student http://zd.net/a7y0Ah #
  • The iPad is coming on Saturday. Are you getting one?? #apple #ipad #
  • #FAIL :When the title of the article gets you interested to read, but the writer of the article just can't hold your attention??? #

Written by LUCRUMinc · Filed Under LUCRUM News | Leave a Comment