Stop Using Excel to Collect Data

Microsoft PowerApps are great for quick form creation

We see it all the time in every organization. Excel spreadsheets are used for collecting data. The data becomes silo'ed, or worse, different people use different versions of the spreadsheet and things don't make sense. Excel is a great tool but not for data collection.

ThunderCloud Labs works with clients to understand how they are collecting data, verification that needs to be made on the data, how that data can be stored and shared. Using Microsoft Power Apps, we are able to quickly mockup data collection forms and add logic to ensure that date fields have dates, number fields have numbers, and so on. We work with the organization to plan where the data should be stored - perhaps a database or a SharePoint list. Additionally, we consider if the result of a Power App submission should be to initiate a process using Microsoft Automate so that the data gets processed right away.