Frequently Asked Questions - ME Cloud

Marketing Engineering for Excel is an add-in for the Windows version of Microsoft Excel. As such, the software cannot be installed on the Mac OS. For Mac users that cannot install our add-in, we offer the ME Cloud service. The ME Cloud is a Windows-based server that users can connect to through a web browser. Once connected, the user can access the Windows version of Microsoft Excel on the ME Cloud server (with our add-in already installed) in order to run the analysis required for classes. 

If you have access to a Windows computer locally (either a separate Windows computer or on your Mac thru Bootcamp, VMWare Fusion, or Parallels), it is recommended to follow the instructions for Windows users and install the Marketing Engineering software on your local computer (this will provide a better performance than accessing a Windows computer over the internet).

To access the ME Cloud:

• Students should visit the Access Software page.
• Instructors should visit the Get Instructor Software page.

Currently, the ME Cloud server is only available for academic use.

The ME Cloud server allows access to Microsoft Excel on a remote server. As such, the PDF versions of the business cases are not located on the ME Cloud. You will need to access/download the business case PDFs from our DecisionPro website.

The Excel data sets that are associated with the business cases are located on the ME Cloud server. After launching Excel on the ME Cloud, the data sets can be found by going to File -> Open within Excel. The directory with the data sets will open by default.

 

To open an Excel data set stored on your personal computer, you must first upload it to the ME Cloud server. After uploading the file to the ME Cloud server, you will be able to open it.

1. Launch Excel via ME Cloud server from the Student Access Software page.
2. After Excel opens, you will see a pink toolbox icon floating over your Excel ribbon. This toolbox is used for transferring files to and from your local computer to the ME Cloud server.
   
3. Click the toolbox to expand your options.
   
4. The icon in the middle containing the arrow pointing up is the upload button. Click this button to open the standard file selection option where you can choose a file from your personal computer to upload the to ME Cloud server.
5. After selecting a file, you will be asked where you want to place the file on the server. By default, the file will be placed in your personal Documents folder on the server. This is the recommended location to upload your files.
   
6. To access your uploaded file, go to Excel -> File -> Open and click the Documents link under "Favorite Links"  in the top left pane of the Open File window.
7. You may then select your document to open and work with it in the ME Cloud version of Excel.

To save an Excel spreadsheet from the ME Cloud to your personal computer, you must first save the Excel file to the ME Cloud server and then transfer the file to your computer.

1. Launch Excel via ME Cloud server from the Student Access Software page.
2. After creating the spreadsheet that you want to save to your personal computer, go to File -> Save As... in Excel.
3. In the Save As dialog box that appears, click the "Documents" folder in the left hand pane under Libraries. You can then change the file name and click "Save". This will save the file to your personal storage area on the server. The next step will be to transfer the file from the ME Cloud to your personal computer.
4. You will see a pink toolbox icon floating over your Excel ribbon. This toolbox is used for transferring files to and from your local computer to the ME Cloud server.
   
5. Click the toolbox to expand your options.
   
   The icon containing the arrow pointing down is the download button. Click this button to open the standard file selection option where you can choose a file from the ME Cloud server to download to your local computer. (If the directory does not default to the "Documents" directory, click the Documents link under Libraries in the left window pane.)
6. After selecting a file, click "Open". The file will begin downloading to your personal computer. By default, it will download wherever your browser normally downloads files.

The Solver add-in is required for some DecisionPro business cases. To enable Solver in the ME Cloud:

1. Launce Excel via ME Cloud.
2. Go to File -> Options.
3. Click Add-Ins.
4. Towards the bottom of that screen is an option to Manage Add-Ins.
   
5. From the drop down list, select "Excel Add-ins" and click "Go..."
6. A list of available Excel Add-ins will be displayed.
   
7. Place a check next to "Solver Add-in" and click OK to activate the add-in.

For more details, visit http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/microsoft-office-excel-2010-solver-add-in/.

The Analysis Toolpak add-in is turned off by default but can easily be activated in your ME Cloud.

1. Launce Excel via the ME Cloud.
2. Go to File -> Options.
3. Click Add-Ins.
4. Towards the bottom of that screen is an option to Manage Add-Ins.
   
5. From the drop down list, select "Excel Add-ins" and click "Go..."
6. A list of available Excel Add-ins will be displayed.
   
7. Place a check next to "Analysis ToolPak" and click OK to activate the add-in.

Due to limitations in server technology, interactive 3D positioning is not available to users of the ME Cloud.