ModelSheet Launches the Spreadsheet Customizer - Create Professional Spreadsheets that Meet your Needs, Quickly and Easily
Cambridge, MA (PRWEB) October 19, 2010
ModelSheet Software announced the general availability of the Spreadsheet Customizer, a new online service that can create customized spreadsheet solutions. Users can choose an existing customizable spreadsheet model, fill in an online form to provide their specs, and download a conventional Microsoft® Excel® Workbook that is made to order. There is nothing new to learn. The service offers customizable solutions in finance, marketing and sales, operations analysis, economics, education, and other management areas.
Customizable spreadsheets resolve the main drawback of conventional spreadsheet templates: pre-fabricated templates rarely do exactly what users want, so users must manually edit thousands of formulas written in the unreadable language of cell addresses. This process consumes large amounts of specialized manpower, and limits the expressiveness and reliability of models.
The customization process that users see with the Spreadsheet Customizer is deceptively simple. Users can customize and download professional, easy-to-use spreadsheet templates in minutes, by filling in an online form in English. There is nothing to learn. Manually creating or customizing a comparable spreadsheet template can take days.
Behind the scenes is cutting-edge technology for reliable authoring and customization of complex and expressive spreadsheet models. Spreadsheet users and model authors can build and test small models, and blow them up by a factor of 100 with very reliable operations. The founders say they have never seen a bug in a large model that was not present in a much smaller model of the same design. Whole classes of manual errors are eliminated by automation of the underlying processes.
"We aim to improve spreadsheets where they are weak - in authoring and custom editing - and to retain what is great about them without displacing them. ModelSheet technology strikes a better balance between visual layout and modeling structures by employing named variables, formulas written with named variables, time series, and dimensions that conventional spreadsheets lave out to keep it simple enough for everyone to build basic models. The final output is conventional Microsoft® Excel® workbooks," said Richard Petti, co-founder and President.
The company offers unprecedented low prices for custom templates, typically - 0 with some specialty items at higher prices. "Our low prices are possible because the process is 100% automated, including promotion, customization, production, and delivery of the final product. There has never been a custom software supplier with a cost structure remotely like this," said Howard Cannon, co-founder, Chairman, and CTO.
Indeed, some associates have suggested that the low prices may impair the perception of quality. The ModelSheet team believes the technology has such broad benefits and low costs that they would rather bet that most people recognize the benefits when they see them, and keep the prices at levels that encourage large penetration among spreadsheet users.
Behind ModelSheet are cutting-edge, object-oriented software, symbolic mathematics software, and patent-pending automation methods. The technology has its roots in computer science research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which both founders attended. While on the M.I.T. Research Staff, co-founder Howard Cannon invented the first multiple-inheritance, non-hierarchical object oriented programming system, later named "Flavors". He co-founded M.I.T. spinoff Symbolics, Inc., where he engineered major pieces of the company's hardware and software, founded and ran the Graphics Division, and as VP of Product Marketing managed the introduction of several key products.
The business applications that utilize the technology were designed by co-founder Richard Petti. His analysis experience traces back to math and economics at M.I.T., finance and marketing at the University of Chicago, business modeling at General Electric, and consulting at McKinsey & Company. The two founders collaborated at Symbolics and in running M.I.T. spinoff Macsyma Inc., a symbolic math software vendor, in the 1990s.
The spreadsheet products deliberately hide the advanced spreadsheet authoring technology. Howard and Richard say they plan to commercialize the powerful authoring technology in the coming months.
ModelSheet has served several satisfied customers through business analysis and model development engagements. One of the earliest customers was John Fallou, former regional director of Microsoftâ??s consulting division and co-founder of several analytic consulting firms. He used one of ModelSheetâ??s financial plan products and model development services to develop a business plan that was far richer than he could have by conventional methods. Mr. Fallou called ModelSheet, "one of the most promising innovations I have seen in spreadsheets in my twenty years of professional involvement."
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