Classic Outlook v’s New Outlook

Why You Might Want to Wait Before Switching

Note: This blog post refers to Classic Outlook as the traditional M365 Outlook for Windows Desktop Client that has been a staple in business environments for many years

You may already be using the New Outlook or perhaps you have seen the ‘Try the new Outlook’ switch appearing in your Outlook Client. What is clear is that it will eventually replace the Classic Outlook, but the transition will be gradual. Microsoft plans to support the Classic Outlook for Windows until at least 2029.

What is the New Outlook (Project Monarch)?

The New Outlook, previously known by the codename Project Monarch, aims to provide a unified experience across platforms (Windows, Mac, and web). It features a modern web user interface, improved performance, and better integration with M365 technologies like Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, Power Automate, and Copilot.

This is not just an update to an existing product like we are used to when moving from Outlook 2016 to 2019 to 365, etc. This is a complete rebuild of the product on new technologies.

The big win for Microsoft here is that the different versions across all platforms (Windows, Mac) will be built upon a common codebase and design, making them much easier to manage and update. The big win for us users is that we will have a similar user experience across all our devices.

Why Might You Hold Off Switching?

Well, a lot of us don’t like change, and in this case, with valid reason! Many key features from Classic Outlook are still missing in the New Outlook or are not quite the same as they were. This will change with updates, so keep an eye on this Microsoft comparison page.

However, two of the biggest issues are the lack of support for COM Add-ins and VBA scripting. These issues will never be fully resolved.

COM Add-ins: Classic Outlook supports COM add-ins for extensive customisation and integration with other software. This technology is incompatible with the New Outlook. Instead, the New Outlook uses Office web add-ins based on HTML and JavaScript. This means that some companies will likely release new versions of their add-ins over time, but many will not, particularly in the case of legacy systems.

VBA Scripting: VBA (Visual Basic for Application.) in Classic Outlook allows for task automation and is the gateway that allows integration with other custom-built Microsoft Office solutions. This technology is incompatible with the New Outlook. Instead, it seems the preferred method of automation going forward will be to use Power Automate. Many businesses rely on custom VBA tools built in the likes of Excel or Access that interact with Outlook, for generating automated emails, sending bulk mail merges, monitoring inboxes for certain mail items, and automatically setting up calendar events.

Conclusion

While the New Outlook offers new features and improvements, the loss of COM add-ins and VBA will be significant drawbacks for many. This will likely lead to many organisations sticking with Classic Outlook or rolling back in order to maintain their existing workflows and custom solutions.

On a side note, hopefully, they come up with a better name than New Outlook soon!

Olas's Application Development Team

Our Application Development team specialises in finding custom solutions for our clients. Over the years, we have both created and supported many Microsoft Office solutions that rely heavily on VBA or COM add-ins for Outlook. Going forward, we will continue to find new solutions to adapt to the challenges posed by changing technologies and to inform our clients of the implications of these changes.

Fergal O'Connor

Senior Technical Consultant

fergal.oconnor@olas.ie
Mobile: +353 86 841 3708

MS Forms Integration in Excel Desktop App: A Game Changer for Data Collection

Exciting news for Windows Excel 365 users! MS Forms is now integrated into the Excel Desktop App, bringing two of our favourite M365 products closer together and streamlining the data collection process.

With this new feature, you can create and link an MS Form directly within an existing Excel workbook. This means that live-form response data can be accessed inside a related project’s workbook seamlessly. Users can now collect data via an MS Form, and the responses will feed directly back into their Excel workbook. From there, the data can be viewed and reported on, eliminating the need for manual data entry and consolidation.

This integration simplifies the process of transferring response data between files, making data management more efficient and less error-prone.

Getting Started

Save Your Excel File: Ensure your Excel file is saved to an online cloud location such as SharePoint or OneDrive.
Enable AutoSave: Turn on the AutoSave function.
Insert a New Form:
- Go to the Insert tab
- Select Forms > New Form.

This will open a blank MS Form in a web browser window. From here, you can create an MS Form as usual. Once completed, you can submit a survey response. The response data will flow directly into the worksheet where you added the form.

With an MS Form linked to your worksheet, you will find additional quick MS Form options available within Excel, allowing you to navigate quickly to your form without opening MS Forms separately:

Preview Form
Edit Form
Send Form

Availability & System Requirements

This new feature is available to Windows Excel users using Version 2410 (Build 16.0.18227.20000) or later.

To check your version:

Go to File > Account.
If you are not on the latest build, you may be able to update it using the Office Updates section found in the same location.

Olas's Application Development Team

Our Application Development team specialises in finding custom solutions for our clients. MS Excel and MS Forms are two commonly used tools in many of our clients’ solutions, and this new functionality will only enhance our capabilities. This will lead to even better and more streamlined solutions.

Contact us today for assistance with creating an Excel or MS Form solution, or to discuss potential solutions for your projects.

Fergal O'Connor

Senior Technical Consultant

fergal.oconnor@olas.ie
Mobile: +353 86 841 3708

Application Development M365 Microsoft Excel MS Forms MS Office

Creating an Automated 180 Survey Process

Creating an Automated 180 Survey Process 180 or 360 surveys are tools commonly used in performance management and employee development within organisations. Both involve gathering feedback on a participant from a range of sources, such as peers, direct managers, and self-assessments. They provide a holistic view of an employee’s performance, identifying strengths and areas for improvement from […]

Application Development Automation Mail Merge Microsoft Access Microsoft Excel Microsoft Forms Microsoft Word Online Survey Tool

Excel to XML Conversion Tool

Olas can assist your team with some short training in the basics of getting MS Excel setup for XML conversion. But even better still, we can deliver simple tools developed in MS Excel using VBA Macros to simplify/automate the process further.

Application Development Excel to XML Microsoft Excel MS Office XML Conversion

The Versatility of Microsoft Access – Configuration Setups to Suit All Projects

There are many different configuration options to consider when designing a MS Access application, or migrating between setups. In this blog we will look at some of the most common configurations.

Application Development Azure SQL Microsoft Access MS Access MS Office SharePoint Lists SQL Server

Word Docs with Embedded Links to Excel

EMBEDDED LINKS TO EXCEL WITHIN WORD

Did you know you can link live Excel charts and tables within a connected PowerPoint presentation or Word document?

In a recent project that came to us a client was looking for a way to bring multiple sections of an Excel document into different parts of a Word document. The Excel file would be continually updated, so the need was for these live updates to automatically be reflected in the Word document without the need for the users to complete lengthy edits of the Word document every time.

There are a few ways this could have been achieved:

In this particular instance, the Excel file in question was a fully fledged file in its own right that would be updated/accessed outside the need to just update the Word file and so the embedding method was ruled out. The custom VBA approach would require too much development time for this project. So, the linked Excel route was taken.

The Copy and ‘Paste Special’, ‘Paste Link’ method can be used across multiple charts/tables or ranges of cells to bring in multiple separate objects/sections into the Word/PowerPoint doc.

Once the linked objects were now in place, upon opening the Word file the user would receive the following message.

Upon selecting ‘Yes’, MS Word would seek to update any of the linked elements in the document with the very latest data available.

A few things of note here;

It is best to keep the linked files stored within the same root folder and to not rename the Excel file. If stored in the same location and the Excel file is not renamed, they should remain linked.
If the link between Word and Excel does become broken it can be reset in Word by going to File>Info>Edit Links to files.

If you select ‘Yes’ while the Excel file is closed, Word may take upwards of a minute to open and refresh the data. If, however he linked Excel file was opened first, this updating process is instant. As a result, it is highly recommended to first open the Excel file, then open the word file and to select ‘Yes’ to the update links message. This is particular true where there is more than one object/section linked.

If you have a project where linking to Excel is a requirement, please do not hesitate to contact Olas to discuss how we can assist you on the project.

Fergal O'Connor

Senior Technical Consultant

fergal.oconnor@olas.ie
Mobile: +353 86 841 3708

Application Development Microsoft Excel Microsoft Word MS Office

Power Query For Excel

Power Query is a powerful business intelligence tool inbuilt in Excel, that allows you to import data from any number of sources, clean it, transform it, then reshape it accordingly. This once off created query can then be re-used over and over again by simply refreshing it

Application Development Microsoft Excel MS Office Power Query

Development Case Study: Executive Level Procurement KPIs Dashboards Reporting: Microsoft Power BI and Microsoft Excel

Development Case Study: University Thesis Database: Microsoft Access, SharePoint, Word and Excel

An Application Development Team Case Study:

Executive Level Procurement KPIs Dashboards Reporting: Microsoft Power BI and Microsoft Excel

Technology: Microsoft Power BI and Microsoft Excel
Client: Large distiller and distributor of some of the most famous Irish and internationally spirit brands
Year: 2020

Our client was seeking to develop a new global reporting suite of dashboards for the procurement side of the business, detailing high level spend reports across the business with a focus on a number of newly created KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) across areas such as Cost Optimisation, Risk and Innovation. In this instance the Microsoft Power BI business intelligence platform was chosen for the project.

The Power BI dashboards were developed for a top senior level executive audience. Data was reported summarised up to the highest level but then with interactive abilities for the user to delve into the detail using slicers to filter the data and to step further down the data hierarchies in place. The reporting suite created, took in data relating to budgets, capex spends and P&L data and produced a very visually pleasing, easily readable, very clearly presented factual figures. With the ability to filter by procurement categories and sub categories.

Olas worked closely with the client to firstly help finalise the metrics/formulas of the newly created KPIs and to help gather all the required data to perform those calculations. The next task was then to design MS Excel templates that would be used to capture all the necessary data. In the end, we ended up with three source data MS Excel based files, that would be maintained and updated by the procurement team for continual data input going forward. Once the data was captured and we had a blueprint on paper of what we needed to achieve from a reporting perspective, Olas then proceeded to take those inputs and to transform the data into a powerful suite of carefully thought-out Power BI dashboard reports. The end result provided very clear views of detailed analytical data covering procurement KPI’s and spend right across the entire global operation. We took advantage of the powerful business intelligence capabilities of the Power BI platform to seamlessly merge and transform data from separate inputs together and to produce interactive reports and visualisations.

The reports were created using Power BI Desktop with an end goal of making the reports more readily available for the wider business audience using the Power BI Service platform so as to be able to host the reports in a web browser. In this instance, by storing the three MS Excel source files from an OneDrive location, the automatic refreshing of the reports could also be achieved. Meaning that users would be able to access these reports themselves in a web browser, loaded and refreshed with the very latest data available to them at that moment in time.

Application Development Microsoft Excel Power BI

Why Microsoft Power BI?

Power BI is Microsoft’s self-service Business Intelligence platform which has taken off massively in recent years and ever continues to grow in popularity. It is a space where creativity and analytics collide!

Business Intelligence Dashboards Power BI

Desktop Automation

Wouldn’t it be great if we had robots to do everything for us? Okay, maybe not everything but certainly the mundane and the tedious!

Automation Macros VBA

Classic Outlook v’s New Outlook

Classic Outlook v’s New Outlook

Why You Might Want to Wait Before Switching