Creating an Excel Spreadsheet to Present to The Boss
Create an Excel spreadsheet to present to your boss (which just happens to be me) validating the data collected to decide whether the budget is enough or not to accomplish the given scenario. You must present the spreadsheet either way. Remember that this is your boss that you are presenting to someone that has knowledge of Excel. Hershel expects the use of formulas/functions, VLOOKUP and tab options to navigate easily through the data. Your next raise may depend on the work you do here!
Scenario
You manage the sales and marketing department at a company that generates $100 million in sales—a manufacturer of fireplace inserts and related equipment. Assume you just started the job and that at the end of your second day the corporate operations officer (COO) sticks her head into your office and announces, “I’m in a rush and have to go, but I wanted to let you know that I put $80,000 in the budget for computers for your department next year. Is that enough funding? Unfortunately, I’ve got to know by the day after tomorrow so please build a spreadsheet with all the details and share it with me. Thanks.”
How do you respond? You have 2 days to decide. If you agree to the $80,000 and it turns out to be insufficient, then sometime next year your department will lack computing resources and you’ll have a management problem. If that happens, you may have to spend over your budget.
You know that cost control is important to your new employer, so you dread overspending. However, if you ask for more than $80,000, you need to justify why you need it. You will need to document the computer equipment and software your department needs, explain why you need it, and estimate how much it will cost.
Here is what you know so far:
Tip: Sketch out the data collected here before building your spreadsheet
The IT Department will be upgrading all of your department’s computers to Windows 10 and Office 365 in the next year. IT has negotiated a site license for these products, and then allocates that license cost to each computer. For your department, you will pay $100 for each computer that uses Office 365 and another $75 for each computer that uses Windows 10. Most computers will use both.
You are not required nor allowed to buy any software for new computers. If the computer comes with software, that software will be destroyed by the IT department’s standard installation process.
The IT department assesses each computer an annual $1,200 fee for network, server, and other overhead costs.
You are required to buy the new computers and equipment from Dell, HP, or Lenovo. Price out the computers by class as identified in the figure below. The minimum main memory, RAM, and disk storage requirements for each class of user are shown in Figure #1 below.
Figure #1
Class of Computer
Current Hardware Specifications (Main Memory, Processor, Disk) Required Hardware Specifications (Main Memory, Processor, Disk) A 1GB, 1GHz, 80GB 8GB, 2.3GHz, 100GB B 2GB, 2GHz, 150GB 8GB, 2.7GHz, 250GB C 4GB, 2.3GHz, 250GB 16GB, 3.3GHz, 500GB Figure #2 shows the job titles of employees in your department, the number of employees of each type, the class of computer they require, and whether they use a desktop or a laptop. You are a new employee, do not yet have a computer, and can specify your own requirements (so don’t forget to add one for you).
Figure #2
Assume that tele sales personnel will grow by 10 percent in the next year but there will be no other changes in the number of personnel in your department.
Here is what you need to submit for this assignment:
Develop an Excel Workbook/Worksheet(s) and use formulas/functions/VLOOKUP to assist you with this analysis. Create different tabs with the calculations and name the tabs to align with the worksheet content. The first tab should be a summary sheet of your analysis.
Format your spreadsheet with the use of tables, charts, titles and currency formats.
Title your spreadsheets and add your name to the A2 location. Save your spreadsheet as CST201_A6_LastName
Upload your Excel spreadsheet as an attachment to this assignment. Remember you will have to give this spreadsheet to your new boss so make it look professional.
In the Blackboard assignment, use the Write Submission button (not the Comment Area) and write your conclusion to the given budget, is $80,000 enough? If not, how much money should be allocated in your department (as reflected in your spreadsheet)? Write a brief answer/summary for your boss.
Tips:
- Read through the What We Know list about and organize your thoughts. Sketch out a plan for your spreadsheet.
- Take advantage of formulas and functions. In other words, add important data and then use access to the data in a formula. For example, once you determine a price for the class A computers you can reference it in formulas in your spreadsheet.
- Remember that you can reuse computers which means you could transfer a class B computer to another department user if the specs match.
- Your spreadsheet can have multiple sheets but there should be a Summary Sheet with your data. Do not add multiple tables into one sheet, I should not have to scroll too far down to access content that could be put in a new sheet.
- Use our Blackboard Class Questions Discussion board if you have a question or need some advice from classmates on building your spreadsheet. I do expect your own work however.