Performance and systems requirements
This topic discusses factors that can compromise the performance of the Arria for Excel add-in and lists our recommended systems requirements.
Add-in performance
Arria for Excel is a Microsoft Office task pane add-in. Task pane add-ins are resource-intensive and can suffer a reduction in performance under certain conditions.
Here we describe factors that can affect the time it takes for narratives to be generated and displayed in your workbook.
Network speed and dataset size
The biggest factors affecting the time it takes to generate narratives are your network speed and the size of your selected data range (the number of rows and columns it contains). Narrative generation time increases in line with the size of your dataset.
Using a computer that meets our recommended software and hardware requirements, and assuming download/upload speeds of 50Mbps/8Mbps:
generating a moderately complex custom narrative from a dataset of around 12000 rows and 15 columns (file size approx. 750KB), may take up to 8 seconds.
generating a moderately complex custom narrative from a dataset of around 50000 rows and 15 columns (file size approx. 3MB), may take up to 30 seconds.
Datasets of around 3MB and above may result in a final data payload that exceeds the Studio and AWS gateway limits (20MB and 10MB respectively).
For guidance on how you can reduce the size of your selected data range, see Reducing the size of your data range.
For guidance on whether one of Arria's other solutions may be a better fit for your use case, see Which Arria solution is best for your Excel use case?
Complexity of the analysis and narrative
The time it takes to generate a narrative is also dependent on the complexity of the analysis and the length of the narrative.
When working with the Configure Narrative option, the selections you make in the wizard affect the complexity of the generated narrative.
For example, the generation of narratives using the Descriptive statistics option in Step 2 of the wizard can take significantly longer than of those using the Variance option.
Similarly, a narrative generated using the Tell me everything narrative type in Step 3 of the wizard can take significantly longer than one generated using the Summary narrative type.
Note
When working with large datasets, the narrative type may automatically be changed from Tell me everything to Important things.
When working with the Custom Narrative option, be aware that Studio projects that perform complex data analysis, or that include many code loops, may result in longer narrative generation times.
Complexity of mapping scripts
Using complex mapping scripts with the Custom Narrative option can also increase the time it takes to generate a narrative.
Inserting metadata and variables into JSON data or CSV payloads does not have a significant effect. However, using mapping scripts to extensively transform large amounts of data—mapping large, non-standard data tables into the desired format, for example—can significantly increase narrative generation times.
Systems requirements
Arria for Excel is supported on the following software and hardware versions:
Excel Desktop for Windows
Windows 10 version 1903, or later
Office 365 version 16.0.11629, or later
8GB RAM
Intel Core i5 or AMD A10
Excel Online
Chrome, Edge, or Safari browsers
Office for the web
8GB RAM
Intel Core i5 or AMD A10
Check your OS and Office 365 versions
OS version
To check which version of Windows you're running*:
From the Windows start icon in the bottom-left of the screen, click Settings > System > About.
Scroll down to the Windows specifications section, and check the Edition and Version numbers:
*This method may vary, depending on which version of Windows and Office 365 is installed on your computer.
Office 365 version
See Microsoft's documentation for information on how to check which version of Office 365 you're using.
