Automated dashboards vs. the same old Excel: the real return
The same old Excel works fine until someone asks what date the data is from.
The master Excel gets the job done, but someone updates it by hand, it lives on one computer, and no one is sure which is the latest version. An automated dashboard reads the data straight from the source and updates itself. The question is not which one is prettier, but how much time and how many errors it saves you.
01 The cost of maintaining the Excel
Updating an Excel dashboard by hand usually takes 4 to 6 hours a week between pasting data and reconciling. That is 200 to 300 hours a year, USD $3,000 to $6,000 at USD $15 to $20 per fully loaded hour.
200 to 300 hrs/year in maintenance
02 Fresh data, fresh decisions
An automated dashboard shows today's figure. Deciding on last week's data has a cost that never shows up on an invoice but does show up in the results.
03 A single source of truth
No more three versions of the same file with different totals. Everyone looks at the same source and meetings stop arguing over whose number is right.
04 When Excel still wins
For a one-off, exploratory, or single-use analysis, Excel is perfect. The dashboard pays off when the same report gets consulted often and by several people.
// A typical illustrative case
Picture a sales dashboard someone updates 5 hours a week today: 260 hours a year, close to USD $4,700 at USD $18 per hour. Connected straight to the database, it updates itself and that time is freed up, plus leadership stops waiting until Monday to see the close. Illustrative numbers.
Illustrative example with typical market figures, not a specific client.
// next step
Note which reports more than one person consults, and how often. Those are the candidates for an automated dashboard; we connect them to your data at a fixed price.