Excel Project

           There are many aspects of Microsoft Windows that many people in the general population will never experience.  Whether it be for personal use or for the workplace, Microsoft Windows, specifically Microsoft Office, contains a few of the most vast, intricate, yet user friendly applications on the market.  Microsoft Excel, for instance, allows anyone to create spreadsheets with accuracy, ease, and a certain ‘pizazz’ when used to Excel’s full potential.  After completing the Excel Project for ISM3004, I have learned that a person, such as myself, with a fairly knowledgeable background with computers can expand their skills and knowledge of Microsoft Excel even further with the right tools and time to explore such a wonderful application.

            PivotTables have opened my eyes to a new and extremely helpful new office tool.  Not only can you create very easy to read tables in addition to the ‘raw data’ of the original spreadsheet, but these new tables can calculate an unimaginable amount of information from such data in a matter of seconds.  With very little effort whatsoever, a multitude of calculations of huge amounts of data can be displayed, edited, and adapted to almost any need of the user.  An example of a PivotTable from the Excel Project that calculated a percentage from 500 ROWS of data is expressed easily as you can see here:

With very little effort and a few clicks of the mouse, the PivotTable gathered, calculated, and displayed a neat and precise visual representation of the ‘raw data’.

Before starting the Excel Project, I had a pretty good idea of what Excel had to offer.  Whether it is the ability to generate enormous amounts of information from a simple data spreadsheet or to complete complex calculations with a few clicks of the mouse, Microsoft Excel has always been an awesome (often intimidating) tool for use around the house, school, or office.  Prior to this taking ISM3004, I had some background using Excel with previous classes completing spreadsheets using simple calculation commands such as “=SUM” and “=AVG” but had no previous knowledge of PivotTables and how extremely capable PivotTables really are.  This project included several tasks including adding columns, using the Freeze Pane capability, inserting and executing several functions and their calculations, as well as the before described PivotTables.  I will personally never use another application for organizing and manipulating numerical data.  All in all, Microsoft Excel is an unimaginably useful and indispensible addition to anyone’s office repertoire.