How to decide when to use Smartsheet over Excel and vice versa?

Bradhickswa
Bradhickswa ✭✭
inSmartsheet Basics

Hi All,

I am doing my first "training" for one of my teams within my company. Right now (like many people who don't currently use Smartsheet), they are mostly using Excel to gather and analyze data, create schedules and timelines, and for reporting. One of the questions they want me to answer is deciding when to use Smartsheet and when to use Excel. I am embarrassed to say that prior to learning Smartsheet, I never really had exposure to Excel or even had to use it in my previous jobs, and so I'm not as familiar with everything it has to offer. I know the short answer is: "Smartsheet all day, every day!", but since I cannot ask them to simply quit using Excel cold-turkey, how could I best answer this question? I understand this is a silly question, but I know this is a friendly community, so I figured I'd throw it out there.

Thank you!

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@Pamela Wagner<\/a> - Hello<\/p>

The column mapping you setup in the DataMesh configuration is used to determine what information needs to link or copy and where it needs to go. The Execution Frequency<\/strong> is what tells the system when to run the DataMesh workflow.<\/p>

Execution Frequency: Scheduled execution frequency to update DataMesh values.<\/p>

The Update Immediately<\/em> execution frequency isn't supported when using a report as your source. If using a report this could be why you are not seeing updates immediately.<\/p>

As far as what triggers a workflow to run when \"Update Immediately\" is selected, DataMesh looks for matching cell values and these could come from manual entries, formulas, or cell links. When there is a successful mesh you can see the CONFIG LOGS by clicking the paper icon.<\/p>

\n
\n \n \"Screenshot<\/img><\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

After clicking the paper icon a CONFIG LOGS window will pop up showing a history of all the successful and errors.<\/p>

\n
\n \n \"image.png\"<\/img><\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

If it is unsuccessful the paper icon will be red or in the CONFIG LOGS it will show the error.<\/p>


<\/p>

If further investigation is needed I recommend to click here<\/a> to open a Smartsheet support ticket. If you do make sure you include any screenshots without personal or confidential information displayed.<\/p>"}]}},"status":{"statusID":3,"name":"Accepted","state":"closed","recordType":"discussion","recordSubType":"question"},"bookmarked":false,"unread":false,"category":{"categoryID":343,"name":"Add Ons and Integrations","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/categories\/apps-and-integrations","allowedDiscussionTypes":[]},"reactions":[{"tagID":3,"urlcode":"Promote","name":"Promote","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":5,"count":0},{"tagID":5,"urlcode":"Insightful","name":"Insightful","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0},{"tagID":11,"urlcode":"Up","name":"Vote Up","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0},{"tagID":13,"urlcode":"Awesome","name":"Awesome","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0}],"tags":[]},{"discussionID":106986,"type":"question","name":"Orderable Charts","excerpt":"Good morning, I've done several searches here but now I'm going in circles. I have a sheet with records of usage of certain scripts we have. Each row has the user name, the script they used and the time they saved by using each script. My goal is to create a dashboard with two bar charts: user name vs total time savings…","snippet":"Good morning, I've done several searches here but now I'm going in circles. I have a sheet with records of usage of certain scripts we have. Each row has the user name, the script…","categoryID":321,"dateInserted":"2023-06-27T22:49:55+00:00","dateUpdated":null,"dateLastComment":"2023-06-28T10:12:46+00:00","insertUserID":162870,"insertUser":{"userID":162870,"name":"Floretti","title":"Mr","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/profile\/Floretti","photoUrl":"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/a\/AAcHTtepzFRISfVceGRfv0bCcNLArPYeXU7TR7XoUKYU-Q=s96-c","dateLastActive":"2023-06-28T11:26:54+00:00","banned":0,"punished":0,"private":false,"label":"✭"},"updateUserID":null,"lastUserID":91566,"lastUser":{"userID":91566,"name":"Genevieve P.","title":"Community Manager","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/profile\/Genevieve%20P.","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031209\/uploads\/userpics\/KHY4Y67W0VRX\/nF76D5N9MFB28.png","dateLastActive":"2023-06-28T17:06:03+00:00","banned":0,"punished":0,"private":false,"label":"Employee Admin"},"pinned":false,"pinLocation":null,"closed":false,"sink":false,"countComments":8,"countViews":34,"score":null,"hot":3375858161,"url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/discussion\/106986\/orderable-charts","canonicalUrl":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/discussion\/106986\/orderable-charts","format":"Rich","lastPost":{"discussionID":106986,"commentID":382777,"name":"Re: Orderable Charts","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/discussion\/comment\/382777#Comment_382777","dateInserted":"2023-06-28T10:12:46+00:00","insertUserID":91566,"insertUser":{"userID":91566,"name":"Genevieve P.","title":"Community Manager","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/profile\/Genevieve%20P.","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031209\/uploads\/userpics\/KHY4Y67W0VRX\/nF76D5N9MFB28.png","dateLastActive":"2023-06-28T17:06:03+00:00","banned":0,"punished":0,"private":false,"label":"Employee Admin"}},"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Home","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/"},{"name":"Using Smartsheet","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/categories\/using-smartsheet"},{"name":"Smartsheet Basics","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/categories\/smartsheet-basics%2B"}],"groupID":null,"statusID":3,"image":{"url":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031209\/uploads\/ZTQTKTUZ3MCG\/2023-06-28-08-45-55-smartsheet-com.png","urlSrcSet":{"10":"","300":"","800":"","1200":"","1600":""},"alt":"2023-06-28 08_45_55-Smartsheet.com.png"},"attributes":{"question":{"status":"accepted","dateAccepted":"2023-06-28T04:11:53+00:00","dateAnswered":"2023-06-28T03:42:08+00:00","acceptedAnswers":[{"commentID":382742,"body":"

I understand. Unfortunately, there is no other option that I see. One thing to make it easier for you to add the name is to have a helper column in the source sheet with a formula to identify duplicates. If there is a record with no duplicate (i.e., a new name added), you can get notified through a workflow and use that to add the name to your metric sheet.<\/p>"}]}},"status":{"statusID":3,"name":"Accepted","state":"closed","recordType":"discussion","recordSubType":"question"},"bookmarked":false,"unread":false,"category":{"categoryID":321,"name":"Smartsheet Basics","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/categories\/smartsheet-basics%2B","allowedDiscussionTypes":[]},"reactions":[{"tagID":3,"urlcode":"Promote","name":"Promote","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":5,"count":0},{"tagID":5,"urlcode":"Insightful","name":"Insightful","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0},{"tagID":11,"urlcode":"Up","name":"Vote Up","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0},{"tagID":13,"urlcode":"Awesome","name":"Awesome","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0}],"tags":[]},{"discussionID":106962,"type":"question","name":"Issue with cross-sheet =INDEX(MATCH()) formulas","excerpt":"I am consistently coming across an error where my cross-sheet referenced =INDEX(MATCH()) formulas are pulling the incorrect information. I am fairly certain my syntax is correct and that this is a bug. This is happening across multiple sheets I have. I have included one example, but note that I have found this to happen…","snippet":"I am consistently coming across an error where my cross-sheet referenced =INDEX(MATCH()) formulas are pulling the incorrect information. I am fairly certain my syntax is correct…","categoryID":321,"dateInserted":"2023-06-27T15:24:54+00:00","dateUpdated":null,"dateLastComment":"2023-06-28T16:36:47+00:00","insertUserID":162821,"insertUser":{"userID":162821,"name":"egardner","title":"IT Project Coordinator","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/profile\/egardner","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031209\/uploads\/userpics\/4VRPFNVQ0MWG\/n8WTXSBZQZI0N.JPG","dateLastActive":"2023-06-28T13:32:15+00:00","banned":0,"punished":0,"private":false,"label":"✭"},"updateUserID":null,"lastUserID":45516,"lastUser":{"userID":45516,"name":"Paul Newcome","title":"","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/profile\/Paul%20Newcome","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031209\/uploads\/userpics\/082\/nQPUTVFKKWDJ2.jpg","dateLastActive":"2023-06-28T17:08:51+00:00","banned":0,"punished":0,"private":false,"label":"✭✭✭✭✭✭"},"pinned":false,"pinLocation":null,"closed":false,"sink":false,"countComments":6,"countViews":61,"score":null,"hot":3375853301,"url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/discussion\/106962\/issue-with-cross-sheet-index-match-formulas","canonicalUrl":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/discussion\/106962\/issue-with-cross-sheet-index-match-formulas","format":"Rich","lastPost":{"discussionID":106962,"commentID":382887,"name":"Re: Issue with cross-sheet =INDEX(MATCH()) formulas","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/discussion\/comment\/382887#Comment_382887","dateInserted":"2023-06-28T16:36:47+00:00","insertUserID":45516,"insertUser":{"userID":45516,"name":"Paul Newcome","title":"","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/profile\/Paul%20Newcome","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031209\/uploads\/userpics\/082\/nQPUTVFKKWDJ2.jpg","dateLastActive":"2023-06-28T17:08:51+00:00","banned":0,"punished":0,"private":false,"label":"✭✭✭✭✭✭"}},"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Home","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/"},{"name":"Using Smartsheet","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/categories\/using-smartsheet"},{"name":"Smartsheet Basics","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/categories\/smartsheet-basics%2B"}],"groupID":null,"statusID":3,"image":{"url":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031209\/uploads\/I4UKI5HYCYIO\/formula-png.png","urlSrcSet":{"10":"","300":"","800":"","1200":"","1600":""},"alt":"Formula.PNG"},"attributes":{"question":{"status":"accepted","dateAccepted":"2023-06-28T13:34:39+00:00","dateAnswered":"2023-06-28T13:01:09+00:00","acceptedAnswers":[{"commentID":382813,"body":"

The problem is with a misplaced parenthesis. That zero at the end is technically part of the INDEX function, but you want it as part of the MATCH function to denote an exact match.<\/p>


<\/p>

You have:<\/p>

INDEX(.........MATCH(...........), 0)<\/strong><\/p>


<\/p>

You want:<\/p>

INDEX(.........MATCH(..........., 0))<\/strong><\/p>"}]}},"status":{"statusID":3,"name":"Accepted","state":"closed","recordType":"discussion","recordSubType":"question"},"bookmarked":false,"unread":false,"category":{"categoryID":321,"name":"Smartsheet Basics","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/categories\/smartsheet-basics%2B","allowedDiscussionTypes":[]},"reactions":[{"tagID":3,"urlcode":"Promote","name":"Promote","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":5,"count":0},{"tagID":5,"urlcode":"Insightful","name":"Insightful","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0},{"tagID":11,"urlcode":"Up","name":"Vote Up","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0},{"tagID":13,"urlcode":"Awesome","name":"Awesome","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0}],"tags":[]}],"initialPaging":{"nextURL":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/api\/v2\/discussions?page=2&categoryID=341&includeChildCategories=1&type%5B0%5D=Question&excludeHiddenCategories=1&sort=-hot&limit=3&expand%5B0%5D=all&expand%5B1%5D=-body&expand%5B2%5D=insertUser&expand%5B3%5D=lastUser&status=accepted","prevURL":null,"currentPage":1,"total":5422,"limit":3},"title":"Trending in Using Smartsheet","subtitle":null,"description":null,"noCheckboxes":true,"containerOptions":[],"discussionOptions":[]}">

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