Arcontech enhances Excel real time add-ins

26/11/2003

Automatic updating of real-time and other data into Microsoft Excel spreadsheets has been simplified with the release of an updated software bundle from Arcontech, the London based developer of real-time data distribution and display systems.

The new combined product, Excelerator 2, allows users to take real-time data from multiple sources into a single spreadsheet or workbook and to cross-reference the data using source-independent symbology. It is capable of combining record and page-based data, for instance in looking up London Stock Exchange SEAQ Level II data using the underlying exchange symbology.

Excelerator 2 is installed as an Excel add-in, with its own menu and toolbar, removing the need for additional applications on the PC. Like other Arcontech products, it works over StarNet, which can be used over financial networks such as RadianzNet to create data sub networks connecting producers and consumers of real-time market data.

Excelerator and CityVision Excel Contributor (CVEC) are the two existing products Arcontech has packaged to make this single software suite. Excelerator pumps real-time data from information sources directly into Excel spreadsheets for manipulation by users, while CVEC is used to publish data in real-time from spreadsheets effectively enabling any user to become a data source. Both can be used over LANs. Intranets, Extranets and the public Internet.

“Combining the two products means that using only Excel, people will be able to submit and retrieve real-time data from multiple sources in a controlled and secure environment,” says Andrew Miller, managing director of Arcontech. “Any business sector where there is a need to communicate data in real-time or make automatic calculations based on frequently changing data will be able to take advantage of the ease-of-use of this approach.”

Current users of Arcontech Excel products include Abbey National Treasury Services, Her Majesty’s Treasury Debt Management Office, Sporting Index and City Index (part of the ICAP group).

Application Development Manager for the UK Debt Management Office, Andrew Wasielewski says “CVEC enabled us to set up a real-time gilt price benchmark page on multiple data services, and allows business users to perform maintenance whenever required, without involving us in a lengthy software development and upgrade cycle. It combines the strengths of the CityVision API with the speed and flexibility of Excel.”

An announcement is expected soon concerning a major strategic implementation of Excelerator2.