These slides are from the 5/29/08 webcast:

Managing Your Excel Addiction.

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Or…when it comes to marketing analytics projects, is your department running around with their hair on fire?

Managing your Excel Addiction

Agenda

• Name the problem

• Recognize the symptoms

• Typical scenario

• Understand the addiction

• How to fix the problem

• Take aways

• Survey

• Q&A

• Roundtable invitation

Name the problem

EXCEL ADDICTION or EXCEL HELL

Recognize the symptoms

Rapidly increasing demand for measurement

Difficulty in getting support from IT

Excel picked because of skill set not best technology fit

Just do it in Excel –Quickly!

You lack confidence in the results

Understand the addiction

Excel is a powerful, user-friendly tool but . . .Not a data management toolVersion controlOften too manual

The analytics group is swampedGood analysts are in short supplyNew analyses are requested all the time with short noticeEverything is top priorityThere is insufficient time to fully explore the problemNo time is left to help interpret the meaning

Once an “Excel solution” is found, there is no time to evolve the analysis to a more sustainable platform

Why you need to fix the problem

Provide the highest level of value that you can

Eliminate confusion

One version of the truth

Better understanding of the value being delivered to the business

Repeatable results

Deliver actionable information

Better use of resources & assets

Less frustration and turnover in the team

How to fix the problem

• Understand your organization’s maturity

• Get control of your workload

• Documentation is key

• Analyses have a lifecycle

• Use your resources in the most powerful way

• Make sure you have the right mix of skills

• Change the way data is managed & perceived

• Increase communications

• Manage your assets

Understand your organization’s maturity

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Get control of your workload

Sensible intake processWhat is the business problem?What business strategy is it supporting?What is your current capacity?What priority is this new work relative to the current work?

Turn off low-value workWhat is the current value of producing each report?Does the original requestor still need it?Use “subscription” methodNo one “owns” turning off an on-going analysis

Documentation is key

What to documentData sourcesCleansing methodsFiltering methodsCalculationsValidationsRepeating issues

Why to documentBetter understanding of the workRepeatabilityResource portabilityBasis for automation – if justified

Analyses have a lifecycle

FEEDBACK(Improvement or retirement)

InitiationInitiation

RequirementsRequirements

DesignDesign

DevelopmentDevelopment

ExecutionExecution

Automation (if justified) }

Use your resources in the most powerful way

Senior analysts need to be focused on what they do best –requirements, design and development

Too many senior analysts are caught in the execution of on-going analyses

If well documented, on-going execution can be passed to junior analysts with oversight from the senior analyst

Make your senior people leadersDevelop your junior people into future leadersJob enrichment across the board

If justified, the analysis should be automated

Use multi-disciplinary teams

Make sure you have the right mix of skills

Marketing is getting progressively more technical

Often there is too much focus on marketing expertise and not enough on technical skills

Include some technical people in your teamData managementData warehousingDevelopersProject managers

Change the way data is managed & perceived

Data sources are used in many analyses

Define a lead analyst to be the expert for each source

Understand it intimately

Understand how it is changing and what the change means to your business

Stop blind-siding analysts with changes

Who owns the data?

Increase communications

ExternalUnderstanding the business problemsWhat do the results mean to the business?Involvement and feedback from the business

InternalCommon languageImprove standardizationTalk about repeating issues – share lessons learnedWhy is a given method used . . . not just how to do it

Manage your assets

If you spend a lot of time locating assets or the versions of assets, it is valuable manage them better

If an analyst disappears on you, can you find the assets they were using and producing?

Can you quickly locate the reports from last month or last quarter? Can your customer find them on their own?

Recommendation: develop a Sharepoint portalYou probably already have itManage and share filesImplement an intake processTrack feedbackCapture standards

Take aways for Analytics & Department Managers

Understand your department’s maturity

Ensure your team is producing the greatest possible value to theorganization

Move steadily forward building accuracy, repeatability and efficiency –this is mostly about process

Use your senior analysts in the most powerful way

Build new senior analysts over time by providing a clear career path

Reuse your lessons learned

Analysis lifecycle

Provide your internal customers more insight into what the data is telling you – rather than just producing a report

Take Aways for Senior Analysts

Understand your department’s maturity

Pass repetitive work to junior talent

Always understand the business objectives behind any request for analysis

Documentation of requirements and analysis method

Enable tiering

Increase quality and repeatability

Change the way you think about technology

Spend more time on the exciting work

Best practices group forming

Aquent’s IT Solutions group is conducting a series of no-cost best

practice round-tables and interactive conference calls for companies

seeking to escape their Excel Addiction.

To participate, please complete the survey located at…

http://public.aquent-it-solutions.com/Pages/mayama.aspx

Or contact Dan Neff via email (dneff@aquent-it-solutions.com) for an

invitation.