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Excel is entrenched as the world‘s leading spreadsheet software, empowering users across every industry to analyze data, create detailed financial models, and visualize information with charts and graphs. However, the desktop version has limitations in today‘s highly connected world. Cloud-based Excel through Microsoft Office 365 unlocks new potential – from anywhere, any device.
What is Office 365?
Office 365 is Microsoft‘s cloud-based subscription service providing access to popular productivity apps like Excel, Word, and PowerPoint via the internet. This means the software and files are hosted on remote servers accessed online, rather than taking up storage space on a local hard drive.
Over 300 million people now use Office 365 according to Microsoft, highlighting the accelerating shift to the cloud for productivity needs.
Transforming Businesses with Office 365
Global research firm Forrester surveyed nearly 200 large enterprises on their adoption of Office 365:
- 82% reported increased productivity
- 59% accelerated business processes
- 50% improved collaboration
Forrester VP J.P Gownder commented: "Office 365‘s cloud-based delivery and robust collaboration capabilities represent a platform for business transformation".
Benefits of Excel Online
Excel online delivers broad Excel functionality through a web browser on any device – PC, Mac, tablet or phone. While not as full-featured as the desktop application, the key advantages are:
- Work from anywhere with an internet connection – home office, coffee shop or traveling
- Real-time collaboration on spreadsheets with team members across multiple locations
- Latest updates without manual installs
- Scalable cloud storage for large datasets instead of local devices
- Seamless integration between Office 365 apps like Word and PowerPoint
Key Features
Excel online contains many core features of its desktop cousin. However some advanced capabilities remain exclusive to the thick client for intensive tasks.
Editing, Formatting and Formulas
Within the Office 365 suite, edit Excel workbooks just as you would in the desktop program. Format cells, enter formulas utilizing hundreds of powerful functions, create named ranges, insert basic charts and more.
Example limitations:
- No support for importing/modelling unstructured data sets
- Lack of some advanced syntax options like dynamic array formulas
Fortunately, most daily spreadsheet editing and analysis is smoothly enabled by Excel online for flexible access.
PivotTables, PivotCharts and Dashboards
PivotTables summarize spreadsheet data for insights, while PivotCharts visualize the information graphically. Excel online enables the same drag and drop reporting functionality of the desktop version.
However, some features power users rely on are missing:
- No timeline slicer option
- No data model or power pivot for large datasets
- Can‘t add slicers/tables to dashboard views
The basics are covered for summarizing data on the fly but intensive modeling work is better left to the desktop application.
Use Cases
Here are a few examples of Excel via Office 365 accelerating productivity:
Financial Modeling
Excel is ubiquitous on Wall Street and in accounting departments for analyzing numbers, projecting earnings, and mapping investment returns.
Benefits of cloud access include:
- Model building and number crunching from home/remotely
- Live collaboration between analysts rather than email attachments
- Centralizing models and analysis in SharePoint/OneDrive for on-demand access
JPMorgan Chase CFO Jennifer Piepszak commented: "Our associates increasingly rely on Office 365 for fast secure collaboration as we digitally transform our business processes".
Data Analytics
While Excel online handles moderately large datasets for analysis, integration with Microsoft Power BI offers more muscle.
Power BI connects live to immense datasets then filters, sorts and visualizes that information in online dashboards. Combined with Excel online for additional modeling power, analysts have end-to-end analytics at their fingertips.
Company Performance Dashboards
Organizations rely on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track progress over time. Excel‘s interactive dashboard creation tools enable powerful self-service reporting.
Cloud accessibility via Office 365 means any employee can refresh data from integrated sources and maintain dashboards from anywhere without complex desktop installs. Managers get access to up-to-date views as the very latest figures come in.
Real-time Cloud Collaboration
Collaboration represents one of the signature benefits of the Office 365 platform. Excel files stored in SharePoint or OneDrive become simultaneously accessible & editable across departments.
Benefits like co-editing, version histories and threaded conversations anchored in context transition Excel from an isolated offline tool to a true "hub of teamwork" in the cloud.
As an example, finance analysts can crunch investment data then seamlessly pass models to sales teams for integrating into quarterly projections – smoothing inter-departmental workflows.
Integrating Office 365 Apps
Tight integration between online apps like Excel, Word and PowerPoint enables users to maintain data consistency while collaborating.
For example, rapidly update Excel charts placed inside PowerPoint presentations so slides are always up-to-date as source figures refresh. This maintains accuracy across programs through cloud connectivity.
Security, Compliance and TCO Savings
Although the advantages are plentiful, some organizations justifiably ask – is the public cloud secure enough to entrust vital data?
Fortunately, Microsoft dedicates tremendous resources to cloud security and compliance:
- Regular 3rd party audits of data centers with stringent controls
- Encryption for sensitive assets both in transit and at rest
- Threat monitoring with AI to continually harden environments against attacks
- Strong access controls, auditing and activity logging for audit trails
Additionally, migrating to Office 365 as a subscription service allows organizations to smoothly transition CapEx spending to a more predictable OpEx model – achieving considerable savings versus traditional models:
| On-premise | Cloud Office 365 | |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront Costs | High for perpetual licenses, local server hardware, setup fees | Low monthly/annual payments |
| IT Overhead | High for maintaining infrastructure, installing patches/updates | Low as Microsoft manages cloud backends |
| Agility & Scalability | Low, limited to fixed onsite capacity | High, elastic cloud resources |
| Hardware Refresh | Required every ~3 years | None, handled by Microsoft |
| Total Cost of Ownership | High over multiple years | Potential 50%+ savings |
The Bottom Line
Excel in Microsoft Office 365 amplifies productivity by combining the power and familiarity of desktop spreadsheeting with cloud-enabled mobility, real-time collaboration, and next-generation intelligence.
Unleashing Excel globally across devices and locations smooths analyzing, visualizing and sharing data for faster aligned decisions. Users retain functionality to handle moderately complex data tasks from anywhere while keeping the desktop version for niche advanced use cases.
With industry-leading security protections and substantial TCO savings, Office 365 represents a secure path to transform business productivity.