Xcelsius 2008: Essentials
Course Specifications
Course number: 084035
Software: Xcelsius Present 2008
Course length: 1.0 day(s)
Course Description
As a business executive or manager, you may use Microsoft® Office Excel®, or a similar application to create dashboards and other business presentations. Using spreadsheets, you can only plot static charts and graphs that present historical data. Also, the dashboards that you create in spreadsheets would be spread across multiple files or worksheets. 
With Xcelsius 2008, you can consolidate a large amount of data and present it dynamically on a single dashboard, so that you can not only appreciate historical data but also forecast or predict future performance. In this course, you will use Xcelsius to create interactive visualizations for presenting complex data in a simple way, and to conduct analysis to make critical decisions. You will also create complete dashboards that present business, project, and human resources information, all consolidated and presented in a user-friendly manner. Finally, you will publish dashboards into various file formats such as Adobe Flash, Microsoft Office PowerPoint, Adobe PDF, and also to the web. 
Course Objective: You will create, design, and publish business dashboards using the Xcelsius application.

Target Student: This course is designed for professionals who conduct data analysis and need to present robust and timely data in an interactive display.

Prerequisites: To ensure your success in this course, it is recommended that you have advanced spreadsheet knowledge, including data input, data calculation using functions and formula, and data analyzing using charts. The following Element K courses are recommended as a prerequisite: 
•	Microsoft® Office Excel® 2007: Level 2
•	Microsoft® Office Excel® 2007: Level 3
Delivery Method: Instructor led, group-paced, classroom-delivery learning model with structured hands-on activities.
Hardware Requirements
•	Intel® Pentium® IV, 1 GHz CPU or higher
•	Minimum 512 MB of RAM or higher
•	1024 x 768 resolution monitor
•	40 GB hard disk or larger
•	Display system to project the instructor’s computer screen 
Platform Requirements
•	Microsoft® Windows XP Professional
Software Requirements
•	Microsoft® Windows XP Professional
•	Xcelsius Present 2008
•	Adobe® Flash® Player 9
•	Adobe® Reader® 8
•	Microsoft® Office 2007
Performance-Based Objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: 
•	explore the Xcelsius workspace and an already created dashboard. 
•	create simple visualizations.
•	conduct data analysis using Xcelsius components that give dynamic functionality to the specified data. 
•	create a Project Management dashboard.
•	create a dashboard to consolidate and present the Human Resources information of an organization. 
•	finalize dashboards and export them to different file formats. 
Course Content
Lesson 1: Getting Started with Xcelsius
Topic 1A: Explore the Xcelsius Interface
Topic 1B: Explore a Dashboard

Lesson 2: Creating Simple and Interactive Visualizations
Topic 2A: Create a Simple Xcelsius Chart
Topic 2B: Manage Personal Finance Using Value Box
Topic 2C: Organize Levels of Information Using Filters
Topic 2D: Conduct a Comparative Study Using List Builder and Line Chart 

Lesson 3: Conducting Data Analysis
Topic 3A: Conduct Trend Analysis Using Combo Box
Topic 3B: Conduct Demand Analysis Using Label Based Menu
Topic 3C: Conduct a Region Based Demand Analysis Using Maps
Topic 3D: Forecast Revenue Using Sliders and Gauge

Lesson 4: Creating a Project Management Dashboard
Topic 4A: Drill Down the Status of Current Projects Using the Drill Down Function 
Topic 4B: Analyze Resource Efficiency Using Fisheye Picture Menu and Other Tools 
Topic 4C: Analyze Resource Utilization Using Combination Chart

Lesson 5: Creating a Human Resources Dashboard
Topic 5A: Create an Organization Dashboard Using Organization Chart 
Topic 5B: Conduct Attrition Analysis

Lesson 6: Finalizing Dashboards
Topic 6A: Create a Snapshot
Topic 6B: Publish Dashboards