Summary
In this chapter, we examined the different ways Excel allows you to bring data into it. We saw the disadvantages of copying and pasting data into Excel for dashboard-building, even though it can seem very convenient. We went through the peculiarities of working with flat files. We established that connecting to the primary data source is the best path to follow, and it’s usually a database or an enterprise application. Lastly, we went through the different issues that can come up and how to overcome them while still connecting as closely as possible to the primary data source.
In the next chapter, we will take our learning to the next natural stage: working with the data in Excel. We will do a deep-dive into Power Query, which is the recommended data transformation engine for all dashboard-creators.
