What is Free Excel Dashboard Software

Free excel dashboard software refers to components, often "plug-ins" that provide Microsoft Excel with additional capabilities for the purposes of creating dashboards. Through free excel dashboard software companies can try to create performance dashboards that will be used in the organization for the purposes of tracking goals vs. actual performance. While free excel dashboard software is not relatively easy to find, there are options available but they come with a number of associated issues and perils. Alternatives to free excel dashboard software are available that, once the cost of man power and the cost of time is factored, are often more affordable than free excel dashboard software.

Finding Free Excel Dashboard Software

The first part of the challenge will be to find free excel dashboard software. For the most part there is no central repository of free excel dashboard software that might be able to provide either reference or to provide guidance on the subject. Plug-ins for Excel are available and can be found on Microsoft sites, but for the most part they are not free excel dashboard software and are also often associated with other third party business intelligence dashboard systems that simply use Excel as a mechanism.

Benefits of Free Excel Dashboard Software

The benefits of free excel dashboard software of course are obvious. The most important one is that with free excel dashboard software the initial cost of purchasing the free excel dashboard software is negligible. The challenge with free excel dashboard software, however, is that once the time to research the availability of the software is factored into the equation the cost of acquiring free excel dashboard software is in fact significantly higher than zero.

Using Free Excel Dashboard Software

Using free excel dashboard software also has it's own set of challenges. When free excel dashboard software is actually available, it most often is available without detailed instructions and with only a limited set of functions. The reason for this is that like any "free" product there is little if no incentive for the developers of the software to continue development and to keep the product updated on a regular basis.

Other Drawbacks to Free Excel Dashboard Software

Beyond the drawbacks already discussed there are also other risks associated with free excel dashboard software. Chief among them is security. Whenever purchasing "free" software, the end user must consider the source of the product and the reliability of the developer. While many of the free excel dashboard software products available are published by students or other hobbyists with good intentions, there are free excel dashboard software products that may be published with malicious intent. These risks are often too great for any organization to rely on free excel dashboard software.