Delivering Business Analytics: Practical Guidelines for Best Practice by Evan Stubbs

Author:Evan Stubbs
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2013-01-28T05:00:00+00:00

What Not to Do

The most obvious answer is also the wrong one: Buy additional modules that extend the functionality offered by the spreadsheet! The logic seems sound. If the spreadsheet can’t do something, why not upgrade the spreadsheet by extending it?

In a small set of situations this makes sense. If the goal is research, the answer may be as simple as having the right algorithm. In this case, the spreadsheet is largely irrelevant. Once the analysts have the answer they need, their work is largely throwaway.

If the goal is business analytics, however, updating the spreadsheet is a major misstep. In the long run, it drives little (if any) real competitive advantage. Even though the spreadsheet can now do even more forms of advanced processing, it still lacks automation, governance, and effective information management capabilities.

Even worse, this additional functionality is normally only understood by the person who implemented it. If that person writes the documentation they should be writing, this isn’t a problem. Unfortunately, spreadsheets rarely get this level of process control, which is to say, the knowledge ends up with the person, not within the asset. When that person leaves or moves on to a different role, the organization’s ability to leverage their approach normally disappears with them.

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