Excel to Web: 8 of the Most Fascinating Success Stories We’ve Ever Heard

Companies, even the biggest ones, have chronicles wherein a spreadsheet played a major role in catastrophic plot twists.

JPMorgan Chase’s copy-and-paste error resulted in trading losses of around $6.5 billion, and it was all because the formulas within the copied cells were not adjusted accordingly. Kodak overstated $11 million in severance payments due to an Excel encoding error that simply included an extra zero. These are just a couple of horrific examples.

Want to hear more? Check out our blog on the most terrifying Excel spreadsheet horror stories.

This article will focus on the brighter side though.

We’ve witnessed companies that have shifted from Excel to web applications and benefitted greatly from the jump. These are their fascinating stories and why you too should start turning your spreadsheets into web apps.

Watch our ultimate video guide and learn how to turn an Excel spreadsheet into a web app today!

Turning Spreadsheets Into Apps: 8 Success Stories

From ensuring data security to making information more accessible to clients, the creation of custom applications from spreadsheets has enabled businesses to improve operations. Take a look at these eight stories.

1. Chemily Solves Secure Access to Online Data

Chemily Information Management Company manages other companies’ accounting data. Their biggest challenge was allowing users to safely access data online, ensuring that only certain users are able to access specific data. They also needed to do this while integrating multiple tools into one system.

Chemily solved the problem by building an online database secured by Caspio’s user authentication technology. They simply imported their Excel data into Caspio instead of encoding everything from scratch.

Today, thousands of the company’s clients are able to securely view their utility bills online.

2. S&S Provides Centralized Database for Employees Worldwide

Amusement rides builder S&S Worldwide needed to quickly process engineering requests from around the globe while adhering to strict regulatory compliance. However, scattered databases and numerous spreadsheets made pulling information from various sources a challenge.

Using Caspio, S&S Worldwide merged their data into a standardized online database that employees can access from different locations worldwide. They bridged all their databases and created one master form that pulls information from multiple sources. They also utilize Caspio’s dynamic charting abilities, something they always wanted but couldn’t achieve with Excel.

3. Gray Project Ramps Up Productivity, Efficiency

For years, construction risk and warranty management provider Gray Project Solutions used Excel and MS Access to handle data. Their clients, meanwhile, had to deal with manual encoding and even post-it notes from years ago.

CEO Michael Gray realized they needed a solution that will ramp up productivity and shrink timelines, enabling them to help clients more efficiently. Using the Caspio Application Platform, Gray built a robust application that allowed the company to move away from Excel and Access.

“When your business starts to grow, you really need to find something that’s more streamlined. If I didn’t have Caspio, I would still be stuck in the dark ages of Excel and Access,” Gray said.

4. J-W Power Augments In-House IT Resources

J-W Power Company had limited in-house IT resources but had unlimited requests to build custom business applications. And like many companies, they used Excel spreadsheets to manage data. They realized they needed to go beyond traditional development if they were to meet all requests with their scarce resources. Applications manager Paul Woolsey then found Caspio and started building custom business apps from Excel spreadsheets, the low-code way.

“You can simply take a spreadsheet that you have today or import it directly into the Caspio workbench and create full-fledged applications… immediately.”

Paul Woolsey
Applications Manager, J-W Power Company

And since Caspio is cloud-based, J-W Power no longer needed additional internal infrastructure to host applications, further increasing savings for the company.

5. Emory Healthcare Streamlines Decision Support Workflow

Emory Healthcare, the largest healthcare system in Georgia, used spreadsheets to gather data and email for sending out reports. The entire process was time-consuming and the company needed to find a better way. “Numerous spreadsheets were taking up much productivity hours,” admitted Shane Weiberg, Emory Healthcare’s director of decision support.

Using Caspio, they were able to move operations from email and Excel to web applications. The new decision support tool also allowed them to deploy data easily and instantly to their end-users.

“Being able to have an application where we don’t need to email spreadsheets, wait for people to come back to us, and compile everything back together, we now have more time to focus on what the system actually needs,” Weiberg said.

6. Barnes & Noble College Eases Data Management for 750 Stores

“We have many more projects we will be bringing online because the whole company is talking about using Caspio.”

Daisia Lewin
Senior Inventory Analyst, Barnes & Noble College

Barnes & Noble College’s Operational Finance Department utilized Excel and Access as their main internal database systems for years. They had to wait for information from their 750 stores and then manually process that information. Inevitably, they experienced delays and errors. This prompted them to look for a solution that will allow them to work efficiently in the field while providing real-time updates for management.

After comparing several options, they decided to go with Caspio due to its extensive functionality and ease of use. “A major reason we chose Caspio was because we could easily use calculations, conditional formatting, validations, and other functions similar to spreadsheets,” said senior inventory analyst Daisia Lewin.

Since using the platform, Barnes & Noble College has seen a significant decrease in processing time, as well as an increase in accuracy and controls.

7. Black Belt Digital Improves User Experience for 3,000 Members

Black Belt Digital knew that dealing with spreadsheets and Access databases inside a business unit was a real risk. Because they provide consultation for multiple organizations, they needed a solution that will smooth out their day-to-day processes without jeopardizing data management.

Using Caspio, the digital consultancy agency created a custom web app from Excel that improved the experience of more than 3,000 users. “Users are able to enter data conveniently and quickly,” consultant Peter Barton shared. “That really shows the power of such a small app and how it was able to impact a number of users.”

8. ISU Meets Tight Deadline for Searchable Online Database

ISU Insurance Agency Network (ISU), which has 10,000 employees and 200 offices nationwide, wanted to make it easier for its members to access policy and risk data through a password-protected area of their website. Javier Hernandez, ISU VP of operations, was given a tight deadline to make it happen.

With the clock ticking, Hernandez built a scalable, secure and versatile online database quickly and easily using Caspio. The searchable online reports he created replaced their old spreadsheets.

“Not only is the management team happy, the end users are very pleased about it, too,” he said.

How to Turn an Excel Spreadsheet Into a Web App Without Coding

Read these stories and you’ll see the common theme: while Excel is a powerful computing tool, it is not the best solution for businesses that have unique workflows and requirements. If you want security and scalability, Excel simply isn’t enough anymore.

Caspio enables businesses to convert their Excel spreadsheets into robust, feature-rich custom web apps. Imagine having the computing power of Excel while also being able to grant secure access to your clients and generating visual reports in real time—all without having to code.

Ready to rewrite your own Excel story now?

Watch our Ultimate Video Guide: How to Convert Spreadsheets Into Web Apps Without Coding to learn how you too can leverage Caspio to escape the limits of spreadsheets.