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This is a scenario that demonstrates how remote users can work with each other in real-time to reach critical decisions. Now users can work on the same spreadsheet at the same time. From anywhere. They’ll see each other’s changes. They’ll see real-time data feeds from unlimited multiple sources. Stock market data. Asset values. Corporate sales transactions. You name it! They’ll feel right at home with the familiar, fully functional spreadsheet interface.
This is all possible today with network access, a Java 1.1 Virtual Machine and Integer, the Real-Time Collaborative Spreadsheet Server. Integer enables people to use their Intranet the way it was meant to be used. Integer is built on open standards, and the spreadsheet engine can reside on the same machine as the client, or it can take full advantage of the computational capabilities of an enterprise class server. Time-sensitive opportunities that would have been lost in the past can now be turned into profit. The client can be anything from a sophisticated workstation to a palmtop. To see Integer in action, let's take a look at the following scenario.
Out to Lunch
Introduction:
Jessica is a top-producing energy futures trader with MC2 Trading, a well-known commodities trading firm. Jessica is having lunch at a sports bar with her buddy, Arnold, who works for a rival firm.
Arnold: Yeah, Jessica, this new job is sweet. And you should see all my new equipment. My new workstation is faster than anything I’ve ever used before. Big RAM, big hard drive, huge screen…I’m going to be leaving you in the dust!
Jessica: Gee, all I have is this little laptop. But it’s always been fine…
Arnold: Well, Jessica, I got this job through my Harvard Business School network. That’s the kind of networking power that really counts!
Jessica gets a call on her cell phone.
Jessica: Sorry, Arnold. I’ll have to take this call.
Jessica: Talk to me.
The call is from Jessica’s assistant, Nick.
Nick: North Sea Crude’s skyrocketing! Quick! Get back to work!
Nick is watching an Integer real-time collaborative spreadsheet with real-time Reuters feeds on his workstation.
Jessica: No problem, Nick. I can connect to our Intranet on my laptop. It’s set up for wireless…
Jessica opens her laptop, and accesses the customized Integer real-time collaborative spreadsheet with a live Reuters feed. She sees that North Sea Crude is trending up.
Arnold leans over, trying to see what she is doing.
Jessica (to Nick on the other line): What’s going on?
Nick: A fire at one of the ports means that the tankers can’t get to the oil.
Jessica: Is there danger to the storage tanks?
Nick: I’ve got a call into my buddy in Scotland. I’ll have him scout the area.
Arnold is almost falling out of his chair watching Jessica’s screen. Arnold pulls out his cell phone and surreptitiously places a call to his assistant.
Jessica: We need to build two scenarios, one based on limited access for the near future and one based on the place burning to the ground.
Nick: Already done. Point your Integer spreadsheet to the collaborative server at internal.mc2.com/spreadsheets/scotland_badlands.html
Jessica opens the spreadsheet on her laptop and sees the two scenarios, the current and futures price of North Sea crude and a number of other crude oil prices. All the prices are trending up. She notices Arnold whispering animatedly into his phone.
Jessica (to Nick): I see you’ve built the better case scenario on the port being out of commission for the next two months. Don’t you think there’s a possibility things aren’t as bleak as all that? Let me change the better scenario to 45 days…
Jessica changes the days out of commission from 60 to 45 and the spreadsheet on her machine and Nick’s update. The futures strike price drops.
Nick: You’re probably right, given the state-of-the-art fire-fighting equipment at that port. In fact, let me reduce the probability of the port being totally out of commission to 60%.
Nick makes the change and both see the future strike price drops on both screens.
Arnold (into phone, dropping all pretenses): No! No! I said 45 days, not 85! Listen to what I’m saying and give me those numbers!
Jessica (Raising an eyebrow at Arnold, and still talking to Nick. This seems to be developing into a competition): These scenarios have been built on the assumption that the fire doesn’t spread to the storage tanks…. If that’s true, it looks like we should be selling futures at any price over $22 per barrel…
Nick: Since they’ve got such whiz-bang fire-fighting equipment, they’ve probably also dealt with the spreading contingency.
Jessica: Okay, then. Given that the price is $24 on the market right now, let’s sell two million barrels at $24.
Nick: Done.
Arnold (becoming more agitated with his assistant on the other end of the line): The price is what? How can that be? Did you plug in 45? What row did you put it in?
The sports bar t.v. is on CNN in deference to the lunch-time business crowd. A report comes on about the fire. A tall man is explaining that the fire is being contained and that there is no chance of it spreading to the storage tanks.
Jessica: Isn’t that your friend being interviewed on CNN?
Nick: Let me flip it on. Yeah! I guess he’d rather get his picture on TV than call me.
The price of oil drops to $19 per barrel on the spreadsheet.
Jessica: Hey, we just made $5 per barrel. Good thing we could work on these numbers together.
Nick: And good thing our spreadsheet is as fast as our server. Those extra few seconds just made us $10 million. It’s what I’ve been telling you about the multi-threaded recalcs…
Jessica: Yeah, yeah, enough geek talk, Nick. I’ve got to go now. I think my buddy is about to have a stroke!
Jessica closes her laptop, puts away her phone, and leans back to sip her coffee.
Arnold (screaming into the phone): God damn it, Freddy! We just lost a big chunk of change! I’ll see YOU when I get back to the office!
Arnold huffily stuffs his phone into his pocket.
Jessica (trying not to smile): Problems, Arnold?
Arnold: Okay, Jessica. How on earth did you pull that off so fast?
Jessica: Well, Arnold, even those of us who went to State U. can profit from the power of networking.
Jessica smiles sweetly.
This scenario shows how the Integer real-time collaborative spreadsheet server and a high performance server computer can be an unbeatable combination to enable time-sensitive decision-making. In a business where seconds can mean fortunes, users can share the calculation power of the back-end server, including multi-CPU recalculation. Users can collaborate remotely on a spreadsheet in real-time to immediately see each other’s changes, perform over 350 formula calculations including built-in financial functions like Black-Scholes option pricing, and get the instant information they need through real-time data feeds. Users can take full advantage of every time-sensitive opportunity.