Andy McDonald, Author at SQL Spreads

Power BI write back to SQL Database: 2 methods
Jan 3rd, 2025

Power BI dashboards and reports often pull data from a SQL Server database, but what happens when you need to update that data? For businesses, having Power BI write-back to SQL functionality is critical for staying agile. In this article, we’ll explore two methods for writing back to SQL, including the SQL Spreads Excel Add-In, …
Connect Power BI to SQL Server: Step-by-step Guide
Dec 24th, 2024

Power BI makes it easy to visualize your data, but first, you need to connect it to SQL Server. This guide walks you through the process step -by -step. With SQL Spreads Excel Add-In, business users can bring in and update SQL Server data themselves — all from Excel — ensuring that your Power BI …
The Best Alternative to Microsoft Access in 2025
Dec 7th, 2024

If you’ve been frustrated with Microsoft Access’s limitations or wondering if it’s still worth using in 2025, you’re not alone. With businesses moving towards more scalable and flexible solutions, SQL Spreads Excel Add-In is a powerful, user-friendly alternative. In this article, we’ll explore why Access is losing popularity and how this lean tech stack alternative …
How to Export Data from SQL Server to Excel
Nov 8th, 2024

For organizations that use SQL Server and Excel extensively, there is often a need to export data from SQL Server to Excel. In this article, we’re going to look at how to export data from SQL Server to Excel using 3 methods. We’ll also introduce a valuable feature in the SQL Spreads Excel Add-In that allows …
Excel GROUPBY Function – Guide and Examples
Nov 6th, 2024

Microsoft recently released two new aggregation functions in Excel – GROUPBY and PIVOTBY. Both these functions are useful when you want to quickly summarize data in your Excel spreadsheet. In this article we’re going to look at how to use the GROUPBY function, and in the next article we’ll cover the more powerful PIVOTBY function. …
Power BI Dashboards: Examples & Use Cases
Aug 30th, 2024

Power BI is a Business Intelligence (BI) platform. With Power BI, users can get data, analyze it, and create visualizations that help turn data into actionable information for their business. In this article, we’re going to look at creating Power BI dashboards and reports, and give some examples of how and when to use them. …
How to Build a KPI Dashboard with Power BI
May 21st, 2024

In this article, we’re going to show you how to build a KPI dashboard in Power BI for managers. The example we’ll work through uses our KPI data collection template, used by operational level administrators to collect KPI metrics. This template was built with SQL Server, Excel and the SQL Spreads Excel Add which is …
Use Case: How to build a KPI Excel template with SQL Server
Mar 6th, 2024

In this article, we’re going to show you how to build a KPI Excel template using SQL Server and an Excel Add-In. Many organizations collect performance metrics related to aspects of their business and then use KPIs to measure and track performance against targets. However, the process of collecting the data is often a manual …
Temporal Tables and how to use them in SQL Server
Feb 1st, 2024

If you want to keep track of when changes were made to your data, or see how data changes over time, you need to start using temporal tables in SQL Server. Microsoft introduced this great feature in the 2016 version of SQL Server, but is still relatively unknown. A common associated challenge with tracking changes …
Get started with Azure SQL
Jan 26th, 2024

In this article, we’re going to show you how to get started with Azure SQL. Azure SQL is one of the many services offered on Azure, Microsoft’s comprehensive cloud computing platform. And it enables organizations to run workloads and develop applications in regional data centers around the globe. Introduction to Azure SQL Azure SQL is …
Artificial Intelligence Add-Ins for Excel
Dec 6th, 2023

In this third article, in our series about using AI in Excel, we’re going to look at the best third party Artificial Intelligence Add-Ins for Excel that bring the power of AI technology to your spreadsheets. In the past year or so, there has been a great deal of interest in using AI more generally …
Excel AI Tools: built-in AI technology in Excel
Dec 2nd, 2023

In our second article looking at Excel AI tools, we’re going to look at existing features and functionality in Excel that use AI technology to some extent. Make sure you also check out our earlier article on the new experimental LABS.GENERATIVEAI function. This allows you to send prompts from within Excel to a generative AI …
AI in Excel: the LABS.GENERATIVEAI function
Aug 30th, 2023

Excel is a powerful tool for data analysis, but did you know that there is a new function that provides the power of generative AI in Excel. The experimental LABS.GENERATIVEAI function allows you to send prompts from within Excel to a generative AI model and then return the results from the model back to your …
How to copy a table in SQL Server
Jul 18th, 2023

In this article we’re going to show you a quick and easy way to copy a table in SQL Server. The new Copy SQL Server Table feature in SQL Spreads means that you can copy a table from one database to another in just a few clicks from within Excel. Introduction Although it’s not something …
SQL Spreads: a front end for SQL Server
Jul 5th, 2023

There are several options available if you are looking for a front end for SQL Server. Like most things, what is best for you will depend on a number of factors. In this article, we’re going to look at the things to consider when choosing a front end for SQL Server and how the SQL …
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