Spreadsheets have been a critical working tool for most business processes for almost three decades. While they proved useful in the 1980s, the case is much different today owing to the increasing emphasis on technology and accuracy. This boosted use of technology in today’s businesses has made the spreadsheet obsolete. If your company is still using spreadsheets to manage and monitor its IT application portfolio, here are some reasons to make the change.
A recent whitepaper introduced by IBM proved that spreadsheets no longer served the purpose of managing IT applications as they were unsuitable. After a thorough risk analysis, it was found that over 90% of business spreadsheets contain errors while 3 in 10 attempts to fix these errors led to more complications. Today, it is important that even the smallest businesses, start-ups, and entrepreneurial ventures make a switch from spreadsheets to more modern and efficient methods.
Common problems caused by spreadsheets
One of the biggest causes for concern with spreadsheets is a growing organization. When more people are required to access spreadsheets, the chances of errors are significantly higher, especially in case of new employees. Additionally, if your business processes become more complex and intensive, so do your spreadsheets. This makes it harder for you to manage and organize your spreadsheet without spending unnecessary time on it, especially when you have to make changes in parts of the spreadsheet without affecting the rest of it.
Spreadsheets cannot be shared with other employees virtually and can create workflow problems for employees working away from the office or at different branches. While there are several online options to share these spreadsheets, they do not offer the same reliability and security as integrated databases. It is not possible to configure spreadsheets for different employees and allow them access to select files only. Allowing complete access to the database for all employees is unsafe when it comes to accuracy and IT security.
What can be done to fix the problem?
One of the best substitutes for traditional spreadsheets includes online or web-based databases that allow multiple individuals and devices to access data from all parts of the world. These databases also allow automated allocation of workflow, monitoring of job performance by managers, efficient supervision, acquiring of accurate information as well as customized and individual task lists for multiple individuals.
While spreadsheets are still commonly used for certain core business processes, it is best to adopt web-based techniques to manage your IT application portfolio.
