Chaos Among the Calculations

In an earlier post, I brought attention to the buzz surrounding automated software support and its possible impact on companies. Now, I want to ask an important follow-up:

Do you consider software support from a live technician a luxury in the current economy? If so, think again. Without it, your company may be inviting chaos.

Quality desktop application support usually is the first to go when budgets are cut. After all, it’s hard to quantify its return on investment, and the demand for such support is often hidden. (For a more in-depth look at hidden demand, see “5 Lessons to Learn before Outsourcing.”)

But, if you consider the results of a landmark Dartmouth College study, you get a more accurate picture of what’s at stake.

When novices get their mitts on complex Excel formulas, errors abound.

For the study, researchers looked at the quantitative impacts of errors in operational Excel spreadsheets from five different companies. Among the more notable findings:

• Within a single organization, spreadsheet practice can range from excellent to poor.
• Some organizations use spreadsheets that are riddled with errors and some of these errors are of substantial magnitude.
• There is little correlation between the importance of the application or the risk involved and the quality of the spreadsheet.

The researchers also identified the major symptoms of poor spreadsheet practice, including chaotic design and complex formulas.

“In the hands of experts,” the researchers state, “complex formulas can be used to great effect.” When novices get their mitts on them, however, errors abound.

Although the study is two years old, its findings are as applicable today as they were when the researchers embarked on the project. They may be even more so in the current economic climate, in which companies have fewer employees and just as much work to be done.(Jen Darr)

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