Next Evolution of Data Integration into Microsoft Excel - Toolbox.com

Next Evolution of Data Integration into Microsoft® Excel Bringing Live Data Feeds to the Business Analyst via Web Services within Microsoft® Excel

By Bob Brauer, President, StrikeIron

StrikeIron®, Inc. 2520 Meridian Parkway, Suite 500 Durham, NC 27713 USA Telephone: +1.919.405.7010 Fax: +1.919.405.7025 www.strikeiron.com [email protected]

Table of Contents Building the Case for Next-Generation Data Integration in Excel ......................................... 3 The Pros of Traditional Data Integration in Excel...................................................................... 3 The Cons of Traditional Data Integration in Excel..................................................................... 3 The Solution: Next-Generation Data Integration in Excel ........................................................ 4 Starting with the Basics: What is a Web Service? .................................................................... 5 The Dynamic Value of Web Services......................................................................................... 5 Why are Web Services Becoming So Pervasive?....................................................................... 5 The Best of Both Worlds: Bringing Real-Time Data into Excel via Web Services............... 6 Turning Spreadsheets into Enterprise Applications.................................................................... 6 Defining Web Service Integration Targets ................................................................................. 7 Leveling the Analytics Playing Field.......................................................................................... 7 Challenges Facing Web Service Integration............................................................................... 7 Integrating Web Services into Excel: Buying Guide ................................................................ 8 Your Solution: StrikeIron OnDemand Web Services for Microsoft Excel ......................... 10 Benefits of StrikeIron OnDemand ............................................................................................ 10 Exciting Features ...................................................................................................................... 12 Practical Applications ............................................................................................................... 12 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 14 Information.................................................................................................................................. 15

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Building the Case for Next-Generation Data Integration in Excel The Pros of Traditional Data Integration in Excel Microsoft® Excel has long been a trusted source of manipulating, analyzing, and reporting data using spreadsheets. Excel has evolved into a powerful business tool with many advanced charting, graphing, and algorithmic/statistical capabilities, making it a favorite among analysts. As a result, it has been estimated that 50% of the world’s business logic is contained within Excel spreadsheets. Spreadsheets can be amazingly simple or amazingly sophisticated and evolve easily with changing business needs. Excel enables an organization to turn data into information that can be analyzed, communicated, and shared between departments, enterprises, and across the world. Spreadsheets often represent a window into an organization, providing quantifiable data used as the basis for critical, strategic decision-making. Traditional data integration into Excel usually takes the form of hand entry of data from a paper source, importing data from another file (database, spreadsheet, delimited text file, etc.), or writing an intermediate program (Visual Basic, macro’s, etc.) to pull that data from another source. This data is usually a snapshot in time and most often requires secure access although that is often defeated with the circulation of paper versions. These more traditional integration techniques are usually designed to prevent the original data from being changed yet allow the user to take full advantage of the flexibility of Excel. Thus a wider audience of potential users can utilize the data in a tool they have familiarity with and for the strong analytical abilities in Excel.

The Cons of Traditional Data Integration in Excel Although the end result of traditional data integration methods is a lot of useful information, these methods typically require extensive processing, cost organizations valuable bandwidth, time, and resources, increase the probability of errors, and lead to a management nightmare regarding accuracy, revision control and data security. Security becomes very problematic because once the data is in a spreadsheet, it can easily be transported with almost no way to have centralized control. In addition, the very notion of providing a snapshot of data for a given point in time means that the data is most likely “out-dated” as soon as the analysis begins because traditional methods do not provide realtime data access. Therefore, each time an updated set of data is required, users must begin the cycle again - extracting data, importing to Excel, and reformatting as necessary. With each repeated cycle, the amount of database support, development time and potential error increases. With so much time spent “reinventing the wheel” by continuously extracting, exporting, and reformatting data, little time is left to actually analyze trends and make adjustments and other businesscritical decisions. These problems become exacerbated when business models dictate their use by workgroups or across enterprises. If contained to a relatively small group, sharing information via spreadsheets is a viable option. However, trying to reconcile data among groups of 20 or more individuals can be cumbersome

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and leaves even more room for error. In this scenario, process-related issues start to arise with increasing difficulty of version control, change consolidation, and security. Some alternatives include using packaged applications or developing applications that have better management controls. However, the increased costs for the software, integration into existing systems, training and support can lead to there own problems while greatly reducing the flexibility and analytical available that make spreadsheets so powerful.

The Solution: Next-Generation Data Integration in Excel How can a business have the flexibility of Excel spreadsheets combined with the power of real-time data access and reduced the cost of data integration while improving data security. Answer: Next-generation data integration using Web services.

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Starting with the Basics: What is a Web Service? “Web services” are self-contained, self-describing, modular software components based on industry standards that allow software to communicate with other software over the Web (or any network). Since they are based on standards, any software that utilizes those standards can “communicate” with the “Web service” regardless of the software platform or hardware it is running on. The results are easier accessibility and re-use thereby reducing costs, speeding up development, easier and faster integration of systems, and easier access to real-time, on-demand data and applications.

The Dynamic Value of Web Services A practical example describing the dynamic value of Web services is the evolution of email. When email first arrived on the scene many years ago, users could only send email to other users on the same email system, such as Lotus's cc:Mail, IBM Profs, or Eudora. Naturally, users wanted to send email to others using different email systems, so the industry responded by creating a series of email standards, such as Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), that enabled this to happen. Since email was primarily text-based, SMTP enabled email to be sent and received by users with completely different hardware/software platforms. As a direct result, anyone could send and receive email to and from anyone else in the world – becoming the driving force behind the Internet boom. Everyone wanted email access and needed to get on the Internet in order to have it. Therefore, in the same way that email enabled people to communicate over the Internet, Web services enable machines to communicate over the Internet. The Internet (or your internal network) has the possibility to transform itself from being a static informational entity accessed via a Web browser, to a dynamic executable entity that can truly become an information superhighway, passing data back and forth and performing actions between points on the network.

Why are Web Services Becoming So Pervasive? There are many benefits to using Web services that have allowed them to become increasingly pervasive within the industry. Web service standards allow for greater communication between systems that would ultimately benefit from more automation, whether internal or external. Not only do Web services allow for access to real-time data without the worry of maintaining and managing that data, but functional capabilities can be made available for re-use by any application when provided as a Web service. Perhaps the most compelling reason Web services are becoming so pervasive is their positive effect on IT organizations. As organizations develop their architecture framework, they are faced with determining the best solution for accessing, managing, and sharing enterprise data. Web service technology enables organizations to extend their data reach across the enterprise, joining fragmented elements into one cohesive data architecture. In addition, Web services can dramatically reduce the #1 cost to an IT group – application integration. Web services can be developed as “wrappers” around existing access methods thus “opening up” an existing legacy architecture to become a “service oriented” architecture. Thus Web services allow IT organizations to grow organically by hooking into the functionality of existing software systems for more cost effective integration and growth.

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The Best of Both Worlds: Bringing Real-Time Data into Excel via Web Services In the past, most spreadsheets were continually built by hand, transferring data primarily by cutting and pasting from various browsers and other applications or by importing data from various databases or applications. These hand-built worksheets become static and the accuracy, relevancy, and usefulness quickly erode as data within organizations changes. Given that spreadsheets typically reflect mission-critical business models and that Web services are the ultimate window to the information assets of any organization, it seems natural for Web services to become a primary way for accessing data. Web services can bring down departmental walls with its standardized, cross-platform benefits, making them an ideal candidate for integration with Excel. The ability to use Web services as the live data feed to these capabilities is an incredible leap forward in modeling and real-time data analysis, especially given that the data can be updated automatically.

Turning Spreadsheets into Enterprise Applications Web services can provide the implementation underpinnings for building enterprise-wide applications that leveraging existing business models, expertise, and other resources. More and more companies are developing Web services for accessing internal data and integrating their existing systems. This allows existing and new applications to more easily leverage their data across the entire company at a lower cost and with a faster response time. In addition, data providers are providing Web services to access external data. For example, Web services can now be utilized to access financial data, customer contact information, company data and many other forms of business intelligence information. These Web services can be developed into applications and provide real-time access for the most up-to-date information in the market. These Web services are offered by a variety of vendors on a subscription basis for integration into internal applications or developing new applications to improve customer information and facilitate business decisions. Utilization of Web services provides greater flexibility, better cost efficiencies, and access to real-time data without the problems of traditional database updating and supporting specialized applications. As a result, it is now it is possible to pull data from multiple sources to create sophisticated “live” spreadsheets and complete applications without extensive new programming and integration. Armed with access to new frontiers of data and functionality within Excel, the average business user can apply his or her business acumen, experience, and knowledge of data requirements to perform analysis that before seemed unrealistic or far too challenging. By turning spreadsheets into enterprise applications using Web services, business users can gain many additional benefits: • Ability to leverage existing framework and resources • Improved visibility into business model and processes • Increased efficiency and productivity • Business users encouraged to become more self-sufficient

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Defining Web Service Integration Targets Microsoft Excel is an ideal client for consuming data from multiple sources and then taking advantage of its powerful analytical capabilities. Web services provide an ideal way to access cross-platform applications and data across a network. Excel is an ideal tool because it is familiar to and in use by more knowledgeable workers around the world than any other software application used to make business decisions. These legions of business analysts are the ultimate target for Web services enabled data access. These users put solutions to use on a daily basis - driving business decisions and conducting business and are the ultimate consumers and Microsoft Excel is the number one tool of choice.

Leveling the Analytics Playing Field No longer is the business professional reliant upon whatever canned analytic enterprise applications are in place. Professionals can seek out the available data sources provided by Web services, employ the powerful analytical features available within Excel, and create a customized analytic model with less effort than building or customizing an application. In the past, this level of performance required very expensive enterprise analytics packages and unspeakable amounts of resources to build the data warehouses that fed these applications. Now, the integration of Excel and Web services brings the concept of business analytics and real-time, zero latency business intelligence to both large and small businesses. Such packaging also provides the business analyst the ability to truly customize what he or she wants to see.

Solving the Data Consistency and Security Problem Data consistency can be improved across an organization by maintaining a single source that can only be accessed by Web services using Excel. Only one source of data has to be maintained and all spreadsheets accessing the data are provided with the latest real-time feed thus everyone is working with the same level of information in making their decisions. Furthermore, by controlling access to the data through the Web service, only those authorized to access the data can actually view it. This can be coupled with the ability to control access to the spreadsheet and not allow changes thus providing an even greater level of security. The combination of Web services and Excel can bring the concept of data consistency, security, business analytics and real-time, zero latency business intelligence to businesses of any size.

Challenges Facing Web Service Integration However, making the transition from static spreadsheets to importing live data sources through Web services also has its share of issues. Traditionally, an organization’s IT department must get involved in order to develop a Web service for accessing the data. Then, organization members must know those services exist, where they are located, what data value inputs are required to operate properly, and how it will behave upon execution. In addition, to utilize Web services in Excel required not only understanding the Web service code itself, but writing additional code using Visual Basic or macro scripts to access the Web service, provide the required inputs and then deliver the returned output into the Excel spreadsheet. This begs the question of what is the best way to integrate Web services into Excel and are there easier ways that could allow the millions of business analysts and non-programmers to take advantage of this exciting new technology.

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Integrating Web Services into Excel: Buying Guide When searching for the most viable Web service integration solution, you should focus primarily on the following aspects: •

Ease of use – is the solution easy to use and understand? Does the solution require significant training time? Are there features to assist the user and facilitate understanding and integration? The ideal Web service integration solution should be easy to use, capitalizing on user familiarity with common business productivity applications such as Excel. It should provide features to enable understanding of the Web service and not require you to view the code to understand what is required for input and what is provided for output. Web service operations should integrate smoothly and easily into the spreadsheet, allowing users to customize how data is input and formatted. Helpful features such as operation labels and cell comments can also provide valuable shortcuts and make the application more useful.

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Search requirements – can the solution help you find a Web service you need? Does the integration solution provide a facility for easy search and tools for enabling understanding? The ideal solution will have the ability to search for Web services so you do not have to call the IT department every time you need a Web service. Web services will usually be kept in a directory following a standard in the market known as the Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) technical reference. Once you know your Directory’s location, you should be able to search for internal Web services. Also, there are a variety of public directories on the Internet that can be searched for finding and accessing external Web services.

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Integration requirements – does the solution require additional programming and development time to integrate? Does it provide an easy way to understand what input is required and what kind of output is provided? The ideal solution would require no additional programming to integrate a Web service. In the ideal solution you only have to drag and drop the fields of the Web service directly into spreadsheet. However, in lieu of that, is the integration solution structured in such a way that it significantly reduces application development time and expense. The solution should have features that let you easily view what is available through the Web service, what input is required and what output is provided. Additional features that provide online documentation explaining the Web service would be ideal to further enable self-service. By providing mostly self-service application development as opposed to specialized integration, organizations can save significant amounts of IT time and cost.

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Scalability and flexibility – does the solution leverage existing framework and resources? Is it flexible to allow easy customization without IT involvement? Web service integration solutions should leverage existing investments, including an organization’s architecture framework, resources, and external and internal data sources. This includes easily scaling to handle multiple Web services and different data access requirements. In addition it needs to be flexible and allow easy customization for changing or different needs across the organization.

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Performance and reliability – does the solution support large amounts of real-time data without sacrificing performance and quality? Are there ways to tune performance? This becomes critical for Excel when accessing real-time data because it is often tied to a spreadsheet refresh. The integration solution needs to provide controls over how and when the data is refreshed to handle data dependencies and make a distinction between development and runtime utilization. When a spreadsheet is being developed you will only want to refresh specific Web services at defined times to test the Web service and not upon every data or formula change or entry. On the other hand, in runtime mode you may want just the opposite to occur analyze the dynamic affects of real-time changes.

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Security – does the solution provide secure access to data? What security measures are in place to allow for access control to the data? How does the solution address unauthorized viewing and modification? Is there a way to automatically erase the data when the Excel spreadsheet is closed so that no can “walk away” with company information thus providing another level of protection?

The following chart provides a quick buyer guide overview: Web Service Integration Solution Buyer’s Guide Feature Ease of use

Search requirements Integration requirements

Scalability and flexibility

Performance and reliability

Security

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Check List • Is this solution easy to use and understand? • What, if any, additional training time is required? • Are there features that enable easy understanding and integration? • Are Web service operations smoothly integrated? • Is data input and formatting customizable? • Are shortcuts provided? • Is there a search facility to help you find Web services internally? • Is there a search facility to help you find external Web services? • Are there tools to help you understand what inputs are required and what outputs are provided? • What amount of additional programming is required to integrate? • How much estimated development time is required? • Does the solution leverage existing investments in software and training? • Does the solution easily scale to fit the organization’s requirements? • Is it flexible to allow for easy customization? • Does the solution support large amounts of real-time data? • Are there ways to tune performance? • Are there ways to determine refresh dependencies? • • • •

Does the solution provide secure access to data? What security measures are in place to allow for access control to the data? How does the solution address unauthorized viewing and modification? Is there an option for the data to be erased when the spreadsheet is closed?

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Your Solution: StrikeIron OnDemand Web Services for Microsoft Excel StrikeIron OnDemand Web Services for Microsoft Excel is the first simple, easy-to-use Excel add-in that let’s you drag-and-drop Web services directly into Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. By working with a familiar spreadsheet environment, StrikeIron OnDemand uses Web services to let you connect to realtime data and processes from multiple sources. Financial analysts can integrate real-time internal data into their spreadsheets to create “live” applications for making better business decisions. Composite financial applications that combine internal and external data can easily be developed for better business intelligence on markets and companies. Marketers can access internal customer data for analysis without IT involvement. Internal and external customer data can be merged for real time information on customer contact information improving marketing efforts. A whole new world of financial, data quality and enhancement, eCommerce, communications such as text messaging, company research, and much more is available at your fingertips, without any programming required. Now it is possible to pull data from multiple sources to create sophisticated “live” spreadsheets and complete applications without extensive programming and integration from the I.T. department. Technical issues on finding, understanding, accessing and integrating Web services into Excel are eliminated by StrikeIron OnDemand. The product takes advantage of StrikeIron’s powerful underlying “dynamic invocation” technology that require no compiling, no programming skills, and no additional software. StrikeIron OnDemand is the only product to not only provide “drag-and-drop” integration of Web services and dynamic invocation but also provide integrated access to search facilities, direct access to the largest public directory of Web services in the market and integrated access to additional tools and services through the StrikeIron Web Services Business Network™ (WSBizNet™) at www.strikeiron.com. In addition, this integration provides easy access to the StrikeIron Premium Web Services which are most trusted and reliable external Web services on the market across a broad spectrum of business needs.

Benefits of StrikeIron OnDemand With StrikeIron OnDemand you can quickly realize the following benefits: •

Enhanced usability including search capabilities Get up and running very easily by simply dragging-and-dropping Web services operations directly into Excel spreadsheet cells. Search facilities are integrated for easy finding of Web services whether internally or externally. The Web service is represented in a graphical tree format for easy understanding of the input and output fields. A variety of options are available to facilitate integration including, for example, automatic labels, field cell comments and more. “Favorites” can be stored for increased productivity and integrated access to the StrikeIron Web Services Business Network provides additional enabling tools and Web services access.

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No programming required No additional programming, no additional software and no re-compiling are required. OnDemand allows for significant reductions in application development time and expense by offering realtime integration to critical external and internal data through Web services. OnDemand also provides an extensible development platform with access to the OnDemand API. Your organization can experience increased IT savings by providing self-service application development instead of requiring specialized data management.

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Increased scalability and flexibility StrikeIron OnDemand allows organizations to leverage their existing investments and workflow architecture. Any number of Web services, either internal or external, can be integrated with access to any amount of data. An application can easily be customized for varying needs across the organization with no affect on the backend database.

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Optimize performance tuning and assured reliability OnDemand provides options for controlling the refresh of Web services individually, on the basis of time intervals, upon re-calculation, no refresh and more. This allows for the best utilization during development versus runtime utilization. In addition, you can control the order of refresh to manage data dependencies when on Web service utilizes the output of another. In addition, StrikeIron offers a broad spectrum of external Web services through the StrikeIron Web Services Business Network for the most trusted and reliable Web services commercially available in the market.

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Enhanced security features Three different types of security are available for greater protection of your assets. Users can utilize all the security features afforded in Excel. Web services can require a license key or access key to ensure that only those authorized can access the data. StrikeIron OnDemand also provides the unique Automatic Invisible Link option that erases data upon closing the workbook for security purposes to prevent viewing by unauthorized users.

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Easy access to trusted, external Web services StrikeIron OnDemand provides easy access through its search facilities to the StrikeIron Premium Web Services. These are the most trusted and reliable external Web services available on the market covering a broad spectrum of business needs. For example, Web services are available for company and market financial data, customer contact information, ecommerce data and much more. These services enable you to build real-time business intelligence, enable your CRM systems to be real-time interactive solutions and improve your Web site contact information for reduced costs and improved productivity.

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Exciting Features The following provides an overview listing of the key OnDemand features: • -

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Ease of Use Simply drag-and-drop Web services operations directly into Excel spreadsheet cells. Automatically drop operation labels which then can be easily customized. Automatic inclusion of cell comments for easier field identification. Integrated access to StrikeIron Knowledge Base (available from the StrikeIron Web Services Business Network at www.strikeiron.com) for additional field information to assist in faster understanding of external Web services. Easily control whether input/output fields are dropped vertically or horizontally. Automate color coding of alternating rows for easier readability. Save and manage “Favorite” Web service definitions for future use increasing productivity. Ability to save the Web service WSDL locally to develop off-line. Data Management (Performance, Security, Flexibility) Control Refresh calculation individually, all, at timed intervals, or in a specific order to handle development versus runtime utilization and refresh dependencies. Perform any Excel calculation or function on Web services output. Web services can be used across multiple sheets within a workbook for additional flexibility. Automatic Invisible Link option to erase data upon closing the workbook for security purposes to prevent viewing by unauthorized users. Search Capabilities Search access to over 1000 external Web services including the StrikeIron Premium Web Services through integrated access to the StrikeIron Web Services Business Network. Search access to internal and external UDDI directories. Extensibility OnDemand API access to leverage Visual Basic with your Web services. Integrated access to the StrikeIron Web Services Business Network for enhanced search services, Web Services Knowledge Base, Web Services Analyzer, and Premium Web Services.

Practical Applications A few examples of how Web services can be used include: •

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Financial and Business Analysts Business and financial analysts can access internal financial, inventory, manufacturing and orders data in real-time and improve data consistency by mandating a single source and methodology. Business and financial analysts can quickly access Web services to get real-time, on-demand external financial and company data for better decision making at a more cost effective price point. For example, a spreadsheet can be updated with live values reflecting a current stock. An inventory system making use of real-time weather data to adjust geographic inventory levels.

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A purchasing system using Web services to automate the price comparison and purchasing of various goods in real-time for better decision making. Optimizing pricing based on real-time competitive and industry dynamics Electronic exchange and analysis of shipping data with customers and business partners. Marketing and Sales Marketing and sales can access real-time customer information from the internal CRM systems for real-time interactive customer interaction and tracking. Sales can track and analyze pipeline and customer sales cycle information from internal systems in real time for better customer information. Marketing can do real-time customer contact verification and enhancement to improve marketing productivity, reduce costs of unnecessary mailings and improve response rates. Customer contact information can be verified and enhanced to reduce cost of nonproductive calls and improve customer intelligence at a lower cost and with better response times. Customer Do Not Call lists can be checked in real-time to improve productivity and compliance as well as reduce the costly of monthly database maintenance, integration and cleanup required by traditional methods. Real-time alert systems can be set up using text messaging solutions to notify company individuals and sales people in the field. Integrating real-time business intelligence on companies into the internal data warehouse for improved customer interaction and targeting potential business. Geographical analysis using images and live geo-data for business intelligence. eCommerce An e-commerce Web site making use of Web services to access real-time, on-demand customer data to verify postal and email addresses, phone numbers, obtain current sales tax rates, or validate credit cards before a transaction takes place to reduce cost and improve productivity. Integrating geographical information or census information related to zip codes for better targeting of cross selling promotions. Live integration of company information that can be integrated with internal data for business-tobusiness communication, ordering, and tracking. Integration of internal order/shipping information for customer web sites and customer. Developers Developers can integrate on-demand capabilities into Web sites and current applications or building new on-demand applications faster, with lower maintenance and support costs, and with greater flexibility for future changes. Developers can transform data access applications into on-demand applications and making data access Web services available to a broader market of potential users. Data and Web Service Providers Expanded market opportunities providing an alternative to traditional methods. Reach new customers in the mid and small business market with a more cost effective solution. Provide more cost efficient access methods reducing internal costs and improving margins. Custom Web services spreadsheets promoting your Web services and creating exciting new cross selling opportunities for new and additional products and services.

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Conclusion Web services provide the next generation evolution for integrating data into Excel. The combination of Excel and Web services provides the flexibility of Excel spreadsheets combined with the power of realtime data access and reduces the cost of data integration while improving data security. Most importantly, solutions are now finally available that remove the barriers to Web services utilization so that a broader audience of Excel users can now take advantage of Web services. We can now expect a new era of knowledgeable business user productivity to unfold. Now that technology exists to almost effortlessly pull data feeds via Web services into Excel, the creativity and innovation will be limitless. Productivity and profitability based on this surge of information will in turn provide an incentive for more Web services to be created, reinforcing the Web services and Excel partnership for further exploration. The tools are in place for departments to be interconnected start-to-finish, as well as enterprise–to-enterprise, partner–to-partner, customer–to-vendor and vendor-to–customer. In addition, these new solutions free up IT resources development and support requirements so they can be re-allocated to business critical efforts. The combination of Excel and Web services with the right integration solution enables self-service by a broader audience improving productivity, enabling better decision making, and effectively reducing costs. Combining Excel with Web services using the right integration solution can improve your bottom line.

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Information For More Information and Free Trial For a free trial and more information about StrikeIron OnDemand Web Services for Microsoft Excel please visit www.strikeiron.com/htmls/ondemand.aspx. For more information about the StrikeIron Premium Web Services visit www.strikeiron.com/htmls/premium_web_services.aspx. For more information about the StrikeIron Web Services Business Network visit www.strikeiron.com.

About Bob Brauer Bob Brauer is the visionary behind StrikeIron with a zeal for exploiting new technologies to create exciting products and services. As President, he is responsible for StrikeIron's product vision and strategy, as well as providing an integrated direction of sales, marketing, and technology. Prior to StrikeIron, Mr. Brauer was the founding Chief Executive Officer for the DataFlux Corporation, an innovative database management software company launched in 1996, financed by the Aurora Funds and several private investors, and acquired by SAS Institute in June of 2000. Mr. Brauer is a frequent guest speaker at software industry technology conferences and has appeared as an author in several industry publications, including Web Services Journal and Webservices.org. In 2004, Mr. Brauer received the Triangle Business Journal's 40 Under 40 Leadership Award. He was nominated for Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2001 and 2004, and was chosen to the Research Triangle area's Impact 100 presented by Business Leader magazine. Mr. Brauer holds a B.S. in Computer Science from The Ohio State University.

About StrikeIron Based in Research Triangle Park, NC, StrikeIron, Inc. StrikeIron has a clear mission of creating products and services that allow business users and developers to take advantage of the wealth of global information made accessible by the emerging set of Web services technologies. StrikeIron is responding to a compelling need for easier-to-use Web services tools and services that require less investment, lower risk, and enable a broader audience of potential customers. Based on a software-as-a-service model, StrikeIron's Web Services Business Network breaks down the barriers to using Web services and implementing SOAs. StrikeIron OnDemand Web Services for Excel add-in extends the advantage of Web services all the way to the desktop for a broader audience of users. Copyright © StrikeIron 2005. All rights reserved. Reproduction, adaptation, or translation without prior written permission is prohibited, except as allowed under the copyright laws. StrikeIron, StrikeIron OnDemand Web Services, Web Services Business Network and WSBizNet are trademarks of StrikeIron, Inc. Windows, MS Excel and all related Microsoft software and logos are registered trademarks and the property of Microsoft Corporation. All other brands or product names are the property of their respective holders. For inquiries or additional information, contact: [email protected]

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