Every year we seem to dust this old perennial favourite off, but sometimes you can't get enough of a good thing. Let us reintroduce you to the COM add-in 3D-Map, which is a three-dimensional data visualisation tool that lets you look at information in new ways by plotting data on Bing renders of the globe – all embedded in Excel.

Not only can you plot geographic and temporal data on a 3-D globe, you can also show it over time and create visual tours you can share with other people. We’ve actually used to embed informative videos in a PowerPoint display for example. You can use Power Map to:

• Map data: Plot more than a million rows of data visually on Bing maps in 3-D format from an Excel table or Data Model in Excel
• Discover insights: Gain new understandings by viewing your data in geographic space and seeing time-stamped data change over time
• Share stories: Capture screenshots and build cinematic guided video tours.

It's part of our new "Power" training course (you can find out more by dropping us a line at training@sumproduct.com). Check out this impressive seasonal demo from Microsoft: