fx ExcelSpecialist Nederlands
Case

Resource planning for 7,500 users worldwide

  • Client: anonymised
  • Built in: 2018 · still running

The situation

An international technology company plans its projects using two measures: euros and person-hours. Both must be accurate for each project, department and period, and both are entered by people across the organisation.

That's exactly the kind of process for which a spreadsheet feels ideal — right up until more than a handful of people work in it. Then come locked files, changes that cannot be merged and multiple copies in circulation.

At this organisation, something else made the problem fundamentally different: the users are spread across the world, in different time zones. There's no moment when it's quiet. There is no evening when someone can tidy up the file, and no weekend when a change can go through unnoticed. What's a quiet hour in the Netherlands is the busiest part of the day somewhere else.

What we built

A resource management system used by around 7,500 people worldwide. The users work in Excel, on their own computer — but the Excel file is a read-only template that stores nothing. All data lives in a central database. As a result, two people can never change the same data at the same time: if you want to change something a colleague is already working on, you see straight away who that is. No error message afterwards, but clarity beforehand. Anyone who only needs to read can view the data while a colleague is editing it.

Because the system is in continuous use, maintenance was part of the design from the start: changes must be deployable while users elsewhere in the world continue working.

How it fits together

Users work in Excel, but the file stores no data; it serves as the interface. The data lives in one central database, which allows one edit per record at a time.

Diagram of the resource management system On the left the users: 7,500 worldwide, spread across every time zone, each with an Excel file that is a read-only template and stores nothing itself. Arrows run both ways to the middle, where one central database sits that allows one edit per record at a time. On the right what the system produces: euros and person-hours, per project, per department and per period. User in Excel read-only template User in Excel read-only template User in Excel read-only template … 7,500 users worldwide every time zone, never quiet Central database all the data lives here one edit per record Euros and person-hours per project, per department and per period
On a narrow screen the diagram scrolls sideways. The text above says the same thing.

The result

The system was delivered in 2018 and is still running today, on the same database.

That's perhaps the most telling figure in this case. An application still running after eight years without a rebuild isn't a coincidence; it is the result of a well-structured design, written documentation and a clear separation between users, administrators and developers.

Use the same approach for your team: Excel for multiple users at once.

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