JohnH-
Given the size of your project and the Excel template requirement, I think the best course of action is to stay with your DDE solution. Is there something wrong with that, or are you just looking for something more "up-to-date"?
Perhaps going forward, you could look into Eric's solution of bringing ODS CSV (or HTML) output into a separate sheet in the workbook using an Excel Web Query or similar method. In the pre-formatted worksheet, use standard Excel cell references to point to the cells in the worksheet that contains the ODS output. This will populate the cells in the pre-formatted worksheet with the appropriate ODS data.
If you use SAS/IntrNet or SAS Stored Processes in conjunction with the Excel Web Query, you can add dynamic update capability (refresh the ODS output on demand).
For information on using Excel Web queries with SAS, refer to these papers:
"Techniques for SAS® Enabling Microsoft Office Applications in a Cross-Platform Environment"
http://www2.sas.com/proceedings/sugi27/p174-27.pdf
"A Beginner's Guide to Incorporating SAS® Output into Microsoft Office Applications"
http://www2.sas.com/proceedings/sugi28/052-28.pdf
Additionally, this paper contains some good general references for Excel Web Queries.
Good luck.
Vince DelGobbo
SAS R&D