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SQL Spreads
What Is SQL Spreads?
SQL Spreads is an Excel Add-In to easily let your non-technical end-users update data in SQL Server in a controlled manner.
The SQL Spreads Designer will create and control the SQL Spreads Excel document by setting up the connection to the database, configuring the settings and selecting the desired database tables that need to be edited. This document is shared with a Data Editor (a limited access license) to start editing and saving back to the database.
Who Uses SQL Spreads?
SQL Spreads is used to empower people who know their data the best - non-technical business users - to securely update and maintain data in SQL Server using everyone's favorite tool, Excel.
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Reviews of SQL Spreads
Alternatives Considered:
This was the best value software purchase of my career, and I just scratched the surface
Comments: SQL Spreads was the perfect tool for our use case. As a rapidly growing company, we found ourselves outgrowing Excel alone but not quite large enough to justify a heavy-duty planning software. We knew the critical dimensions we wanted to plan on, and designed the SQL structure around this. SQL Spreads was the final puzzle piece to build the lightweight planning infrastructure we needed to remain agile yet institutionalize our plans.
Pros:
It is very easy to connect to your database and get going quickly. Anyone on the team can make specific changes to the table templates. This saved us a ton of time during the company's liminal space between start-up models and heavy-duty planning software.
Cons:
Licensing took a bit of time to figure out, but customer support was helpful.
Lightning solution to get data in and managed effectively without a whole load of development time
Comments: Pleasantly surprised at such an obvious solution - use Excel grids for data entry and management (with Primary Key as link). It worked nicely, integrated well with Excel and support was great when needed. Job done, with many opportunities for data maintenance.
Pros:
SQL Spreads makes it easy to create data entry and management screens at the speed of lightning - practically instant forms. And when you want more advanced tuning, their support is very dedicated.
Cons:
If many Tables/Views are being managed (more than 10), using the Excel Tabs for each one can be a little clunky. But that's rarely the case for any one user's workbook, and the licence allows any number of them.
Obnex Technologies Response
2 years ago
Hi Phil, thank-you for the review and for your feedback on having more than 10 Excel tabs in a document. We will use this as input into our discussions on how to improve SQL Spreads in the future.
Alternatives Considered:
SQL Spreads a Lifesaver
Comments: Was a critical tool for an early stage startup to collect and control input of data from a non digital source like farming records and surveys.
Pros:
SQL Spreads was an essential solution for our team to have non-technical users interact directly with a central database. They were able to do so in a comfortable and controlled manner using careful design of SQLSpreads workbooks and using an Excel worksheet format they they were already familiar with.
Cons:
Would have been nice to be able to easily limit the options for input to a table where our users select from a drop down based upon another SQL Table
A Simple Solution That Works Wonders!
Comments: Customer service in this company is amazing. You get to deal with real people. I even get emails asking how things are going and if there is anything they can do to help. When you need help, they are very responsive and the first person you talk to solves the problem.
Pros:
I love this product and the support I receive. It's amazing. As a SQL programmer, it makes my job a lot easier. Using Excel for user interfaces is great because the learning curve for end-users is minimal. I also use it to edit my SQL tables through Excel instead of writing update queries. With SQL Spreads, I can spend my time programming instead of creating and managing user interfaces through inefficient programs that aren't user friendly.
Cons:
The only thing I don't like about SQL Spreads is that I didn't find it sooner.
SQL Spreads is a game changer!
Comments: I wish I knew about this tool years ago. We were able to get a complete budget process up and running in a matter of weeks using just SQL Spreads and our existing data warehouse in SQL Server.
Pros:
SQL Spreads is easy to install, easy to configure, and works very well with SQL Server. My end users love it because it acts like a normal excel spreadsheet for them. The toolbar and tree filters are easy to use and understand, and are not intimidating to users who have no database experience.
Cons:
I did have to set up some views to best format dimensions to work in the tree filters. But it was easy to do and not overly burdensome.
