Excel Addin slow with 2007

[Reimer]

Hi,

I use software from Cognos (Analyst ver 8) for budgeting. There is an Excel Addin that can create reports based on the Budget database.
We are switching from Excel 2003 (running on XP) to Excel 2007 (still XP).
I used the Addin while in Excel 2003 to create a report that showed the budget detail (each department on a seperate sheet).
For 107 departments, it took less than 2 minutes.

When I created the exact same report using Excel 2007 with the Addin it took an 90 minutes to create.
Does anyone have any experience with the Cognos 8 Analyst Addin for Excel (that had to switch from 2003 to 2007)?

This testing was done on a freshly rebooted PC and the same PC was used to create both reports.

Any insights would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Chuck Reimer

[HansV]

Have you upgraded your hardware too? Each new version of Office is heavier on resources, so if you run it on the same hardware as a previous version, it'll seem much slower.

[Reimer]

Hans,

The hardware was upgraded prior to the install of Office 2007.
Intel Duo CPU
E8400 @ 3.00 GHz
2.99 GHz, 3.49 GB of RAM

I figured the hardware was good enough.

Thanks

[HansV]

I agree that should be good enough. It is to be expected that Excel 2007 is slower than Excel 2003 on the same PC, but the difference that you report is extreme.

I don't have any experience with Cognos software myself, though.

[Reimer]

Hans,

Thanks for looking at it. I agree it is pretty extreme 2 minutes vs 90 mintues.
Maybe someone else on the forum has encountered this and has insights.

Or, maybe I will just have to put in a purchase req for a Cray Super-Computer. LOL

Thanks again,

[StuartR]

Have you asked Cognos?
If the performance difference is as extreme as this it is likely that they already know about it.

[Reimer]

I notified the Software company Cognos/IBM and asked if this is normal or is there a different AddIn to use when switching to Excel 2007.
I figured there might be a newer AddIn.

I was told they would "Look into it". Over a month has passed, and nothing.

Thanks

[Jan Karel Pieterse]

Is their addin a "normal" excel addin (does it show in the list of VBAprojects)?

[Reimer]

Hi Jan,

It is an xla. It is visible but locked.

[steveh]

Hi Chuck

I am not a Cognos user but I have noticed that lots of people are reporting slow calculations in 2007 due to the 'big grid' perhaps this MSDN article will help you http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa730921.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

If it does could you please close the post on the Woody's lounge and refer back to this post so others can use the solution.

[Reimer]

Steve,
Thanks for the tip.
I am reading it now, but will be surprised if it supplies the answer. There are no calculations in the workbooks. They consist of data pulled from a database. The workbook consists of 108 sheets each with data in A1:D163. Each sheet is a separate department budget (or roll-up). The roll-ups (in the Workbook) do not use formulas they are also stored in the budget database. If I do find something in the article, I will post back.

Thanks again

[steveh]

Hi Chuck

Maybe I am being an old cynic but as MS have released a new product that includes the SQL DB etc. to compete with these type of software companies it would not surprise me if, how can I put it, they have done something deliberate

[Reimer]

Hi Steve,

Agreed. But I would expect the Software company to be aware of the General Slowdown and tell users that that is the best they will get when using the Excel interface. The software company actually sells Reporting software too and that would boost their sales...
I think it is just something I am missing. We checked the ODBC drivers to make sure they were up to daye - they were. We see a slow down when the we run this during the day when the network is more active, but not enough to explain the difference of 2 minutes to 90 minutes.

Back to the article (which is actually very interesting - thanks again)