Transcription
Microsoft ExcelVSZoho AnalyticsA detailed comparison study on whyspreadsheets are not best suited for analytics
IntroductionSome say that data is the new oil, and information is the currency ofthe future; and not without a reason. The data we utilize in ourorganizations come to us from various sources, and is becomingdiverse. We save a lot of this data without analysing andtransforming them into valuable insights that we can consider tomake critical business decisions.With every organization aiming to enhance productivity and providegreat business value to their customers, deep analytics has becomethe backbone of businesses today.Data crunching, reporting and analysis — for most organizations (big orsmall), the spreadsheet, especially Microsoft Excel, has become thede-facto tool for both business analysis and reporting. But, there areareas in which spreadsheets can be really limiting as your businessintelligence and analytics tool.In this guide, we shall discuss some of the major pitfalls you wouldface if you are using Microsoft Excel (and other spreadsheetsoftware) as your analytics tool. We will also be presenting you witha detailed comparison study on how a specialized BI tool such asZoho Analytics is better than Microsoft Excel.
Major drawbacks of Microsoft ExcelWide range of data sources: The sources from which data can be fetchedare limited. There are no direct integrations with third party businesssolutions (CRM, Helpdesk, Finance etc.,) which means one has to enterthe either data manually or find ways to convert it into a file format thatcan be fed into Microsoft Excel.Big Data: Business applications generate huge data which needs to beanalyzed to make informed decisions. But, spreadsheets can't handlelarge amount of data as the maximum row limit in Microsoft Excel is ggishresponsiveness.Visual analysis & Exploration: Uncovering hidden insights is the ultimatepurpose of data analysis. With Microsoft excel, user needs to know theend result he/she needs to achieve way before starting the analysis.Microsoft Excel does not support auto-analysis. In addition to that, thecharts are static. User can’t interact with charts, drill-down or slice anddice data. This model will only enable users to create reports which canhelp them find out - " the whats" instead of “the whys".Collaboration: Once the data is shared, it is completely available to theperson it has been shared with. The owner can't limit the access to aparticular dataset or certain reports/dashboards. Setting permissionssuch as read-only/read-write etc is not possible too. This forces theowner to create multiple copies of the same piece of information to beshared differently with different users.
Detailed feature comparisonMS ExcelFeatures(Desktop)MS Excel(Online)ZohoAnalyticsData sourcesDifferent sources from which data can be added/imported. Integrations withexternal applications for analysis.Enter data / copypaste dataImport data upto 1billion rowsAutomaticsynchronizationResponsive and faston large dataIntegrationsZoho CRM, Zoho Books,Zoho Projects, ZohoDesk, Zoho Survey, ZohoRecruit, Zoho BugTracker, ZohoCampaigns, ZohoCreator, Zoho PeopleSalesforce CRMHubSpot CRMMicrosoft DynamicsCRMAnalyze otherCRM data usingFlatlyMailchimp
Google AnalyticsGoogle Teamwork ProjectsZendeskManageEngineServiceDesk PlusManageEngineSupportCenter PlusUpload data from major cloud storage/drivesZoho DocsBoxGoogle DriveMicrosoft OneDrive
DropboxUpload via EmailUpload from files and feedsCSVTSVAny version of XLS,XLSXJSON, XML or HTMLfilesData from Web URLFTP serversPull data from relational databasesMS AccessSQL ServerOracleMySQLSybasePostgreSQLSQLite
DB2DB2 AS/400FireBirdSAP HANATeradataAny JDBC DriverSupported DatabasesConnectivity to cloud databasesMicrosoft SQL AzureAmazon RDSAmazon Redshift clouddatabasesGoogle Cloud SQLNoSQL databasesMongoDBHadoop/HiveCassandraJDBC driver supportedNoSQL databases.
Data Modeling & PreparationBlending data from multiple sources, establishing relationships, and preparingthem for meaningful analysisRelating dataAuto-joinVlookupData cleansingQueries and filtersQueryingSQL based queryingFilteringVisualizationAbility to create rich visualizations on collected dataVisualizationInteractive and intuitiveVariety of charts andtablesPivot tablesSummary views
KPI WidgetsIntuitive drag-and-dropinterfaceVisual analysisSlice and dice dataAbility to do deep diveanalysis by drillingdown and deriving keyinsightsView underlying dataDashboardsCombine multiplereports into adashboardChoose from a varietyof themesAdd formatted text,images, and widgetsAnalyticsMethodologies to derive meaningful patterns and insightsFormulaPowerful formula engineto easily derive anybusiness metric
Prebuilt AnalyticsDomain specific prebuiltmetrics, reports &dashboards (eg: Salesanalytics, Financeanalytics etc.,)Automated AnalysisAuto generated reportsand dashboardsSharing and CollaborationAbility to share and collaborate with peers/colleaguesCollaborative AnalyticsSharing data/reports/dashboards withoutduplicatesShare data/reports/dashboards to a specificuserShare data/reports/dashboards to a groupof clients/colleaguesCo-admin
PublishingPublish Accessible URLof your Reports &DashboardsMake views publicEmbed reports &dashboards inapplications, blogs andwebsitesDisplay as a slideshowExportingExport as PDF, CSV, PNG,JPEG and XMLScheduled EmailsSecurityAbility to assign different roles and permissions to different usersViews and permissionsData access upon loginOnly shared reports anddata are viewable to therespective usersGrant fine-grainedpermissions likeread-only, read/write, etc
CostPricing and plansFree planUpgrade/Downgrade toany plan anytimeBuy individually forevery machineIT maintenance costand upgradesNot requiredOthersAccessibility frommobile devicesAPI availability
Top takeaways in favor of Zoho AnalyticsConnects to different types of data sources and has direct integrationswith popular business apps.Big Data handling: Zoho Analytics is fast, responsive and handles largevolumes of data with ease.Visual analysis: Enables you to visualize data by creating rich reports anddashboards through easy-to-use drag and drop interface.Powerful formula engine: Allows you to build KPIs, derive business metricsand carry out in-depth analytics.Sharing and collaboration: Zoho Analytics lets you share specificreports/dashboards to certain users/groups. You can publish and embedreports/dashboards on your blogs, websites and applications.Data integrity: Everyone works on the same file without any duplicatecopies.Secure and safe: The fine-grained acces control lets you set permissionssuch as read only, read-write etc ensuring your data is safe and secure.Analysis on the go: Mobile App means you can access yourdata/reports/dashboards no matter where you are.In conclusion, Microsoft Excel is meant for simple analysis. When it is usedinstead of a BI & Analytics tool, it can result in lost productivity and slowertime-to-insight and human-errors. It's time to make the switch to apowerful, full-fledged BI tool. Go beyond Microsoft Excel, carry out in-depthanalysis, and make data-driven decisions with Zoho Analytics.
www.zoho.com/analyticsUSUK 1888 900 9646 44 (20) 35647890AUSTRALIAINDIA 61 2 80662898 91-44-67447000support@zohoanalytics.com
Major drawbacks of Microsoft Excel Wide range of data sources: The sources from which data can be fetched are limited. There are no direct integrations with third party business solutions (C
