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The History of Microsoft Excel

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The History of Microsoft Excel

The Most Powerful, Customizable, and Widely Used Business Solution.

Microsoft Excel has been around since 1982, first introduced as Multiplan, a very popular CP/M (Control Program for Microcomputers), but lost popularity on MS-DOS systems to Lotus 1-2-3. In 1987, Microsoft introduced Excel v2.0 for Windows and by 1988 began to outsell Lotus 1-2-3 and the emerging QuatroPro. In 1993, Microsoft released Excel v5.0 for Windows which included VBA (Visual Basic for Applications), aka Macros. This opened up almost unlimited possibilities in automation of repetitive tasks for crunching numbers, process automation, and presenting data for businesses. 

Present Day Microsoft Excel

Flash forward to present day with the latest release of Excel 2019 and Excel365, Microsoft Excel is the most familiar, flexible, and widely used business application in the world due to its capability to adapt to almost any business process. Coupled with the use of other Microsoft Office applications, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, etc., there is little that cannot be handled by this very powerful combination.

The uses of Microsoft Excel and the Office Suite are almost limitless. Let us consider the top 10 list of most popular and powerful built-in Excel features:

  1. Efficiently model and analyze almost any data
  2. Zero in on the right data points quickly
  3. Create data charts in a single cell
  4. Access your spreadsheets from virtually anywhere
  5. Connect, share, and accomplish more when working together
  6. Take advantage of more interactive and dynamic PivotCharts
  7. Add more sophistication to your data presentations
  8. Do things easier and faster
  9. Harness more power for building bigger, more complex spreadsheets
  10. Publish and share through Excel Services

Now, add to this the ability to customize and automate any operation via use of VBA and you have a tremendous value added BI (Business Intelligence) platform that is flexible and creative enough to tackle almost and business need. 

Interested in leveraging Microsoft Excel for your business solutions? Trust the Excel Help experts. We’ve worked with businesses large and small across every industry. From household names to mom-and-pop shops, we can help you improve your workflows with Microsoft Excel and other Microsoft solutions.

 

The Future of Excel

Where do we go from here? With the internet central to our lives and business, it makes sense that the needs of the many will prevail. As the Microsoft platforms continue to evolve, it becomes a full time job to stay up-to-date on the emerging technologies. Microsoft Excel will keep it’s position as the top platform to analyze data, create charts and presentations, and integrate with powerful tools for visual dashboards and BI workflows.

Business is moving more and more into cloud based computing for shear accessibility of data and collaboration. This is where we see the future of Microsoft Excel moving to a break-neck speed in the next few years to provide multi-user access to massive data for analysis, reporting, and considerable increases in efficiency and production.

In today’s competitive business environment, custom solutions are required to maintain the edge against competition and profits. Microsoft Excel consultancies are the foremost authorities for present and emerging technologies. Having an expert consultancy on retainer is paramount in harnessing the full power and efficiencies needed to compete in the 21st century. Contact us today for Excel solutions and Excel training.