Incline software firm launches upgrade

A software development company at Incline Village last week said it released a new version of a program that expands the capabilities of Excel.

The company, Frontline Systems, has an original equipment manufacturer agreement with Excel.

Just as adding a second engine to a train boosts its power, adding a software engine to a program boosts its capacity.

As a spreadsheet optimization program, Premium Solver Platform Version 7.0 supports Solver models spread across multiple worksheets in a workbook, with decision variables and constraints on any worksheet.

In Excel 2007, the platform supports Solver models with 16,384 columns and 1,048 rows; far beyond the 256 column and 65,536 row limits in previous Excel releases.

Who pays $1,500 for an Excel power boost?

Investors use it to optimize financial portfolios, says Jodi Maxson, vice president of sales, marketing and operations for Frontline. Or, hospitals for scheduling nurses.

"We create an engine that Excel doesn't come with," she says. And, the program can boost an existing Excel release, so people don't have to upgrade to Excel 2007.

Frontline also makes Software Developers Tool Kit, a development tool that allows people to build custom software.

Company owner Dan Fylstra was the founder of VisiCalc and editor of BYTE magazine. Frontline has been based at Incline for over 10 years, having moved from Silicon Valley.

Trial versions of its products can be downloaded from www.solver.com.