- ModelSheet
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Not to be confused with model sheet, a character study used in animation.
ModelSheet Software LLC 
Type Private Industry Business intelligence, business analytics Founded 2007 Headquarters Arlington, Massachusetts Key people Richard Petti, President & Founder[1]
Krishnan Badrinarayanan, Marketing Manager[3]
Howard Cannon, Chairman, CTO & Founder[2]Products ModelSheet Customized Spreadsheets
Consulting service
ModelSheet Authoring Environment[4]Employees 3 (2010-11-20)[5] Website http://www.modelsheetsoft.com/ ModelSheet Software LLC is a venture-funded software company focused on business analytics and based in Arlington, Massachusetts.
Contents
History
ModelSheet was founded by two MIT graduates, Richard Petti and Howard Cannon who earlier worked together at Symbolics, and later in the division spun out as Macsyma.[6] After the Macsyma episode in 1980s and 1990s the pair took separate career paths (Petti at The MathWorks, Cannon at Groton NeoChem and SciQuest), then rejoined to found ModelSheet in 2007.[7]
Strategy, products and services
ModelSheet Software was founded to put more desktop modeling power in the hands of business experts without requiring them to become programmers. The spreadsheet is the classic example of such an end-user development tool, but its cell-based paradigm has its limitations. ModelSheet technology attempts to addresses these limitations with two types of products: Custom Spreadsheet Solutions, and the ModelSheet Authoring Environment.
By filling in a simple form, Custom Spreadsheet Solutions yields a custom spreadsheet model. Users can set three aspects of spreadsheet models: time series (time range and time grain), dimensions (e.g. a list of products) and turning on or off model features, without editing spreadsheets or cell formulas.[8][9] ModelSheet offers Custom Spreadsheet Solutions for many common business tasks (financial plans, sales plans, marketing program effectiveness, etc.)[10] Users can download the Custom Spreadsheet Solutions as Excel workbooks, or upload them to an account on Google Docs.[11][12]
The ModelSheet Authoring Environment provides all functionality needed to build spreadsheet models from scratch and edit existing models.[13] It retains the visual flavor of spreadsheets, while adding in model structures such as named variables, symbolic formulas with varying scopes, time series, dimensions, and controls for optional features and automated operations. ModelSheet Authoring is the technical backend of Custom Spreadsheets. For intermediate cases (where more flexibility is needed, but the customer doesn't require frequent use of the Authoring Environment itself) the company offers consulting services in which a ModelSheet engineer uses the Authoring Environment to create a spreadsheet to the customer's specification. ModelSheet Authoring is available for testing but it is not yet commercially available on a regular basis.
Criticism
Testing a pre-beta version in 2008,[14] journalist Dennis Howlett of ZD Net concluded that ModelSheet was "good in theory" but "needs more work." Howlett criticized several aspects: Windows-only platform support, bugs, poor usability, choice of fonts, and dull quick start guide. Although "bemused" by the product, Howlett did concede "Modelsheet is at an early stage of development and I’m sure [it] will improve over time."
Speaking of a later version, John Fallou (former Regional Director at Microsoft Consulting) said "ModelSheet technology is one of the most promising innovations I have seen in spreadsheets in my twenty years of professional involvement. I would highly recommend the templates and consulting services to anyone with a complex spreadsheet modeling challenge."[15]
See also
- Macsyma (for information on founders' earlier work together there)
- Microsoft Excel
- Spreadsheet
- End-user development
- Business Analytics
- Business Intelligence
Notes
- ^ "Richard Petti". TechCrunch. http://www.crunchbase.com/person/richard-petti. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
- ^ "Howard Cannon". TechCrunch. http://www.crunchbase.com/person/howard-cannon. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
- ^ "Krishnan Badrinarayanan". TechCrunch. http://www.crunchbase.com/person/krishnan-badrinarayanan. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
- ^ "ModelSheet Authoring". TechCrunch. http://www.crunchbase.com/product/modelsheet. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
- ^ "ModelSheet Software". TechCrunch. http://www.crunchbase.com/company/modelsheet-software. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
- ^ "ModelSheet: About Us". http://www.modelsheetsoft.com/about-us.aspx.
- ^ "ModelSheet Launches the Spreadsheet Customizer - Create Professional Spreadsheets that Meet your Needs, Quickly and Easily". PR Web. http://www.prweb.com/releases/modelsheet/customized-spreadsheets/prweb4659294.htm.
- ^ Diego Oppenheimer and Richard Petti. "Extending Excel® to Build Models for You". Microsoft Corporation. http://blogs.msdn.com/b/excel/archive/2010/10/08/extending-excel-174-to-build-models-for-you.aspx.
- ^ Richard Petti and Howard Cannon. "Customized Spreadsheet Solutions – The Promise of Templates Fulfilled". PRWeb. http://www.modelsheetsoft.com/doc/WhitePaper_CustTemplates.pdf.
- ^ "ModelSheet Software - Templates". Microsoft Corporation. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CT010290111.aspx.
- ^ "Getting Started With Spreadsheets on Google Docs Just Got Easier". ModelSheet Software. http://www.prweb.com/releases/modelsheet/google-spreadsheets/prweb5205484.htm.
- ^ George Wong. "ModelSheet Spreadsheet Customizer now works with Google Docs". übergizmo. http://www.ubergizmo.com/2011/03/modelsheet-spreadsheet-customizer-google-docs/.
- ^ Richard Petti and Howard Cannon. "The ModelSheet® Authoring Environment for Spreadsheet Models". ModelSheet Software. http://www.modelsheetsoft.com/doc/Whitepaper_AuthoringIntro.pdf.
- ^ Dennis Howlett (2008-08-20). "ModelSheet: good in theory, needs more work". ZD Net. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/enterprisealley/modelsheet-good-in-theory-needs-more-work/222. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
- ^ "Case Study: Financial Plan for Medical Service Startup". ModelSheet. http://www.modelsheetsoft.com/case-study-medical-service-startup.aspx.
References
- http://www.manta.com/c/mtbr350/modelsheet-software-llc
- http://venturebeatprofiles.com/company/profile/modelsheet-software
External links
- Official web site
- YouTube channel
- User community (requires login on Yahoo!)
- Blog
Categories:- Software companies of the United States
- Companies based in Arlington, Massachusetts
- Companies established in 2007
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