New “Office add-in” offers easy to use Monte Carlo simulation, plus mathematical optimization in a web browser, using a point-and-click interface familiar to millions of business users.
INCLINE VILLAGE, NV – May 29, 2019 – Frontline Systems, developer of the Solver in desktop Microsoft Excel®, has released Analytic Solver® V2019, a SaaS (software as a service) cloud and desktop platform that offers Excel-savvy business analysts point-and-click tools to create Monte Carlo simulation and mathematical optimization models themselves, without help from data scientists or programmers.
Available now in Microsoft AppSource, Analytic Solver is the only currently-available optimization and simulation software that works in a browser with Excel Online, as well as in desktop Excel for Windows and Macintosh. A companion ‘Windows desktop-only’ version is also available for download from www.solver.com, for users without an Office 365 subscription.
Analytic Solver V2019 has been rewritten from the ground up using JavaScript, REST API, Azure and Office 365 technologies, but it inherits the full power and ease of use of Frontline Systems’ analytics software from over 25 years’ experience supporting business analysts using these methods in practice.
“Prescriptive analytics is the ‘new’ way to deliver business value,” said Daniel Fylstra, Frontline’s President and CEO, “but Frontline has thousands of customers who have already realized big payoffs.”
Monte Carlo Simulation and Risk Analysis
Analytic Solver V2019 users can build sophisticated Monte Carlo simulation models, with a Distribution Wizard, 50 probability distributions including compound distributions and automated distribution fitting, 50 statistics, risk measures and Six Sigma metrics, rank-order correlation and several types of copulas, and rich facilities for multiple parameterized simulations with reports, charts and graphs. Simulations can be run at extremely high speeds in the cloud, even if the user has only a web browser on a low-power PC.
Conventional and Stochastic Optimization
Analytic Solver V2019 features powerful optimization capabilities, upward compatible from the Excel Solver – including fast linear, quadratic and mixed-integer programming, and conic, non-linear, non-smooth and global optimization, using a dozen of the world’s best Solver Engines, such as the Gurobi and Xpress Solvers for mixed-integer problems, and the Knitro® and OptQuest® Solvers for non-linear and non-smooth problems. Users can easily incorporate uncertainty – using the tools from Monte Carlo simulation – and solve using their models using simulation optimization, stochastic programming, and robust optimization methods.
User Interface Familiar to Business Users
Analytic Solver V2019 offers a user interface with a Ribbon and drop-down menu choices, a Task Pane for model analysis and navigation, and the full range of Excel features for model building, whether it’s used in a browser, on Windows, or on Macintosh. All the elements of simulation/risk analysis and optimization models are saved in the user’s Excel workbook, which can be transferred freely between cloud and desktop. Unlike other prescriptive analytics tools, models and their results are ‘fully transparent’ as Excel spreadsheets, readily understood at all levels of management.
Easiest-Ever Model Deployment to Power BI, Tableau and Web Applications
Where deploying a model in a production application was once a difficult process that often meant rewriting the model in a programming language, Analytic Solver V2019 models can be prepared for deployment by simply clicking the Create App dropdown menu – which immediately yields a self-contained, working application in Power BI®, Tableau®, or even in a standalone web page, using JavaScript and Frontline’s RASON® service. RASON models also work readily with C/C++, C#, Java, R and Python, and are flexible enough to run on desktop PCs, on-premise servers, or on websites or in mobile apps, using REST API calls to Frontline’s cloud service.
Frontline Systems Inc. (www.solver.com) is the alternative to analytics complexity, helping business analysts and managers gain insights and make better decisions for an uncertain future, without the cost, delays and risk of ‘big vendor’ tools. Its products integrate forecasting and data mining for “predictive analytics,” Monte Carlo simulation and risk analysis, and conventional and stochastic optimization for “prescriptive analytics.” Founded in 1987, Frontline is based in Incline Village, Nevada (775-831-0300).
Excel® and Power BI® are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp. Tableau® is a registered trademark of Tableau Software Corp. Knitro® is a registered trademark of Ziena Optimization, Inc. OptQuest® is a registered trademark of Optimization Technologies, Inc. Analytic Solver® and RASON® are registered trademarks of Frontline Systems, Inc.