Business Use of
Spreadsheets
Steve Powell
Professor of Business Administration
Tuck School
Dartmouth College
sgp@dartmouth.edu
Foundations of Spreadsheets Conference
Rome, Italy
September 30, 2004
Spreadsheet Usage
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ubiquitous
used for data storage and tracking, routine
decision support, one-off decision making,
EIS…
interface routinely with database and ERP
systems (e.g., Oracle, SAP)…
used in concert with other PC software: Word,
Access, ….
Spreadsheet Problems
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bugs are everywhere
errors in use are suspected but rarely
documented
lost opportunities due to lack of knowledge of
Excel tools (e.g., Pivot Table, Goal Seek, Data
Validation, …)
design processes are chaotic and inefficient
testing is non-existent
standards and training are minimal or nonexistent
generating insights is not well-understood
Spreadsheet Solutions
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organizational
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improve training
establish standards and incentives
raise awareness
technical
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alternative software
auditing tools (see Spreadsheet Auditing Software, Nixon and O’Hara,
http://www.gre.ac.uk/%7Ecd02/EUSPRIG/2001/Nixon_2001.htm)
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formulation tools
analysis tools
Technical Solutions
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alternative software
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Quickbase
auditing tools
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Spreadsheet Detective
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http://www.quickbase.com/
http://www.uq.net.au/detective/
OAK
http://www.operis.com/oak.htm/
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Spreadsheet Professional
http://www.spreadsheetinnovations.com/
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SPACE
http://www.hmce.gov.uk/business/services/space.htm/
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Xlsior
http://www.xlsior.com/
Formulation tools
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ID Builder
http://www.macwayuhl.com/IDBuilder.PDF
Analysis tools
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Sensitivity Toolkit
http://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/toolkit/