Excel 2007 Dashboards and Reports For Dummies [Paperback]

Michael Alexander (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 4, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0470228148 | ISBN-13: 978-0470228142 | Edition: 1

What’s the use of putting out reports that no one reads? Properly created dashboards are graphical representations that put data in a context for your audience, and they look really cool! How cool? You’ll find out when you see the dazzling examples in Excel 2007 Dashboards & Reports For Dummies. And, before long, everyone’s eyes will be riveted to your dashboards and reports too!

This revolutionary guide shows you how to turn Excel into your own personal Business Intelligence tool. You’ll learn the fundamentals of using Excel 2007 to go beyond simple tables to creating dashboard-studded reports that wow management. Get ready to catch dashboard fever as you find out how to use basic analysis techniques, build advanced dashboard components, implement advanced reporting techniques, and import external date into your Excel reports. Discover how to:

• Unleash the power of Excel as a business intelligence tool
• Create dashboards that communicate and get noticed
• Think about your data in a new way
• Present data more effectively and increase the value of your reports
• Create dynamic labels that support visualization
• Represent time and seasonal trending
• Group and bucket data
• Display and measure values versus goals
• Implement macro-charged reporting

Using Excel 2007 as a BI tool is the most cost-efficient way for organizations of any size create powerful and insightful reports and distribute throughout the enterprise. And Excel 2007 Dashboards and Reports for Dummies is the fastest you for you to catch dashboard fever!

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Create dashboards that communicate and get noticed

Use pivot tables and form controls to build reports that mean something

What's the use of putting out reports that no one bothers to read? Properly created dashboards are graphical representations that put data in a context for your audience, and they look really cool. You'll find out when you see the examples in this book, and soon your dashboards and reports will be getting rave reviews.

Discover how to:

• Think about your data in a new way

• Create dynamic labels that support visualization

• Represent time and seasonal trending

• Display and measure values versus goals

• Give users an active interface

About the Author

Michael Alexander is a Microsoft Certified Application Developer (MCAD) with over 14 years experience consulting and developing office solutions. He is the author/co-author of several books on business analysis using Microsoft Excel and Access. Michael is one of 96 Microsoft Excel MVPs worldwide who has been recognized for his contributions to the Excel community. He is also the principal player behind DataPigTechnologies.com, a site that offers video tutorials to beginning and intermediate Excel and Access users. He currently lives in Frisco, Texas where he works as a Senior Program Manager for a top technology firm. Michael can be contacted at [e-mail].

Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (March 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470228148
• ISBN-13: 978-0470228142
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 0.7 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #53,074 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mike Alexander is a Microsoft Certified Application Developer (MCAD) and author of several books on advanced business analysis with Microsoft Access and Excel. He has more than 16 years experience consulting and developing Office solutions. Michael has been named a Microsoft MVP for his ongoing contributions to the Excel community. Visit him at www.datapigtechnologies.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book April 8, 2008

By Jonathan Moss

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a great book to have as a resource for not only some of the new features of Excel 2007, but also as a primer to what a data warehouse is and what it means to build one. Of course, the latter is something that can be learned in depth in many other texts, but for a user of Excel, it makes for a good launching point to other more complex concepts of data warehouses and BI (Business Intelligence).

There are many great examples that can simply make spreadsheets look and work better regardless of whether you are building a dashboard or not.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Tremendously helpful in presenting Web Analytics data April 5, 2010

By Michelle M. Wright

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I've been working with a web analytics tool to track our corporate web site performance. I found the available reports to be limiting, but recently learned that I can import the raw data into Excel. However, I needed help with what to do once I had the raw data! I want to disseminate this information throughout my organization, but don't want maintenance of the dashboard to be a full-time job. But I really wanted to be able to display trending.... that's what my users care about. So I ordered this book. I use Excel, but not extensively. I knew how to do pivot tables and charts, but had never used functions such as VLOOKUP. This book gave me the advice I needed to set up a useful, visually appealing, and maintainable dashboard. It was especially helpful in getting past my unfamiliarity with the 2007 version of Excel. Now I'm looking for a more advanced Excel book. I highly recommend this book as a first step into the world of dashboarding. If you get this book, don't forget to download the examples - it helps a lot to see how the functions interact.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Dashboard Dummie No More July 27, 2010

By Terry Newton

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is very easy to follow, takes you painlessly and logically step-by-step through the dashboard development process and using Excel to get you there. My organization was so happy to see a single dashboard that I developed using this book that used to take 6-8 Powerpoint slides to present.