Scaling Excel

Excel That Scales

High-Performance, Scalable Excel Solutions, powered by GigaSpaces


Business Challenge

Across industries, Microsoft Excel is used for complex calculations and modeling applications that must receive and rapidly process large volumes of data. This often results in lost productivity as users’ desktop computers are overloaded with long processing times – and frequently crash altogether. Collaboration among multiple Excel spreadsheet users and the ability to scale are virtually impossible. Traders and quants in financial services, drilling engineers and geoscientists in Oil & Gas, and analysts in retail and manufacturing are just a few examples of users facing these challenges.

Solution Overview

The joint solution from Microsoft and GigaSpaces combines the latest Microsoft technologies – Office Excel (2003 and 2007), SharePoint Server and Windows HPC Server 2008 (Windows Compute Cluster Server) – with the GigaSpaces eXtreme Application Platform (XAP) to deliver unparalleled usability, performance, and scalability.

The solution harnesses the power of the data center to scale Excel-based applications:

  • Offload data from Excel to the GigaSpaces “memory cloud “ (in-memory data grid)
  • Offload calculations to a grid of servers, enabling them to run in parallel and close to the data

Benefits

  • Handle infinite amounts of data in a reliable manner
  • Dramatically reduce processing times and enable real-time decision making
  • Share data among multiple Excel users and enable better collaboration
  • Free up desktop resources
  • Shield users from desktop and server failures
  • Enable Excel applications to scale up (and down) to meet varying loads

Additional Resources:

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