Effort prevents care - An interview
In the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of 9 August, the article "Viel Ärger mit Excel" (Much trouble with Excel) dealt with the aspects of data security and error-proneness in Excel in the times of Corona in connection with health systems. In particular, criticism was voiced about Excel as a storage location for a multitude of Corona data, i.e. as a database of health systems. In the following interview, we would like to shed some light on the aspects and problems mentioned together with our CEO Eckhard Moos and highlight the advantages we see in Excel for our products Allevo and Sparks.
What advantages does the Excel interface of Allevo offer in contrast to Excel as a pure calculation program?
Eckhard Moos: If you run Excel outside of SAP, then it has to take over the function of a database. If you use Excel as an SAP-integrated interface, SAP takes over the function of the database - including all authorisation matters, master record and posting controls. Everything that is data-, authorisation- and process-critical is taken over by the tried and tested SAP system. And everything that is critical on the last mile to the user - the calculation model, the interface, the menu navigation - is handled by Excel. This combines the best of both worlds, namely the flexibility, variability and design power of Excel and the solidity, security and process experience of SAP.
Can Allevo also be used for employees of health authorities and offices (for example, to store data for contact tracing at Corona)?
Eckhard Moos: As long as the data is recorded in SAP or transferred to SAP, then yes. Because as I already explained, the basis is the standard business software SAP as a database, as a process engine, as a security driver. If the prerequisite is that the data material is to be recorded, stored and controlled in SAP, then of course the SAP-integrated Excel interface is the first choice. This is because Excel then no longer has the critical role of a database environment in which masses of data have to be managed in a security-critical manner, but rather Excel takes on the very task of an intelligent, easy-to-model interface.
This means that all the data collected by health authorities, for example, can then be stored directly in SAP?
Eckhard Moos: Yes, provided that the authorities or other private-sector organisations carry out the data management and process control in SAP. The crucial thing is to establish security: Data, process and accounting security. SAP is simply super strong in this respect.
Is there a line or entry limit with Allevo? Or are we unlimited?
Eckhard Moos: Because Excel is the interface, Excel is the natural limit. I don't know the Excel version mentioned in the FAZ article. In the earlier Excel version, the limit was indeed just under 63,000-64,000 rows. In the new Excel versions, this is only the case at over one million rows. This would have to be examined in more detail. But that is only the secondary argument. The main argument here is that through the SAP integration and the possible differentiation of data in the frontend, not so much data accumulates. So let's assume there is an instance that has to record a large amount of data. Then you can organise the data well. Let's say we have a district for which data is collected, then we could say: "For municipality A, I collect data. The same goes for municipality B, C and D." This can be separated wonderfully in our database, which is why we don't have so much data to collect in one fell swoop. It's a little different with reporting, where you might want to keep track of everything, but reporting is less critical than the collection of data. Mind you, everything in the concept I'm talking about here is SAP-integrated.
Apparently, according to the article, it seems to have been an older version of Excel, as there was talk of 64,000 lines.
Eckhard Moos: I have to make a comment on that. Assuming that the assumption that it is an older Excel version is correct, it should have been replaced long ago anyway. It has been "out of exercise" for at least 10 years. And secondly, if someone doesn't know that the limit for such an old version is 64,000, then it's not Excel that's the problem, but the user behind the Excel. Or the administrators behind it.
What about special designations in the Excel interface of Allevo? Would an expression like "SEP1" be accepted as a gene designation or would Excel convert the format?
Eckhard Moos: First of all, I have to emphasise again that we use a completely normal Excel. There are no special features in terms of data entry, the interface and the functionality itself. An Excel cell is an Excel cell - whether it is SAP-integrated or not. In this respect, the same applies in principle. However, anyone who has been working in Excel for a few days knows that if you enter names similar to the date format, they are also converted into a date. That is fundamental knowledge. In this respect, you can't really be surprised and you can't blame Excel. This has been an issue since the very first days of Excel. In general, date-like specifications are always a problem. You could get around this by keeping the lines in text format from the start, but I would advise against that. Because at some point you will call it up in a context in which you are not working in text format but in normal format, and then you will have the same error. And that error is then carried on unattended and unknowingly. That's why you should always choose names that are database-safe, or you really have to use a professional database. But the question is whether this is worthwhile or whether it is better to use Excel-compatible designations.
What advantages does the Excel add-in and reporting tool Sparks offer in contrast to the reporting possibilities of Excel?
Eckhard Moos: Sparks follows a fundamentally different approach than the Excel standard. Sparks says: "I also use the power of Excel for the graphics themselves." Excel's own graphics only use the data that is in any of Excel's cells. But they don't use Excel's capabilities - capabilities to target and say, "Act differently on this piece of information in a data set than on another." Example: for negative data, you give a red colour to the bar showing that negative data, and a green colour to the bar for positive data. A very simple example of infinite other possibilities. By targeting the chart with formulas, you can be very specific about what you want the user to see. One can comply with a visualisation standard in a precise and standardised way. One can, for example, also specifically apply the corporate design of a company. And you are no longer at the mercy of Excel. There it is controlled by Excel itself, without you having any systematic influence on it.
How can our reporting tool Sparks support health authorities?
Eckhard Moos: My statement applies in principle, but I would like to apply it a little to the health authorities: pie charts, or also called pie diagrams, are very popular. And these pie charts are often used to show ratios to each other. For example, the ratio of those vaccinated to those not vaccinated, the ratio of those infected to those not infected, the ratio of those who had a more severe, moderate or mild course after vaccination, or no noticeable reaction at all, or whatever other interesting statistical information there is. These are often shown in pie charts. And the user can't do anything with them in terms of size, if you put the pie charts next to each other. This can be done completely differently with Sparks. On the one hand, you can design very nicely with Sparks, so that you show the proportions correctly scaled, or you can place colours across a report chain. With Sparks, you can control this in a very targeted way without having to make a big effort. If you wanted to implement something like this in Excel, you would have to place the colours anew for each chart - not to mention scaling. Excel is only capable of doing this with a great deal of effort. I am aware that the statements are aimed more at the specialist. But because it is really important information, crucial for the general public and strategic for companies, it is important to report on this information very carefully and very clearly and continuously. And because we humans are by and large eye animals and are strongly guided in our decisions by the visual impression - which is by and large not wrong, but often correct - it is all the more important to present a serious scaling and a serious colour continuity. Only in this way can one decide, compare over time and correct and realign oneself as necessary. It is therefore of central importance to work without great effort but with the utmost care. Because effort prevents diligence, i.e. with Sparks we reduce effort and increase quality at the same time.
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