The Proper Spreadsheet

Spreadsheets represent one of the most popular applications on the planet. This is because they are the reporting and analysis tool of choice for many professionals.

Philip Howard, Bloor Research wrote an article on the problem of spreadsheet last April. According to him, there are five major problems with spreadsheets: the potential for errors, lack of security, the absence of an audit trail, the misperception that spreadsheets are not an enterprise resource, and productivity issues.

After 10 months, Philip reckons that the best solution so far to the problems is Mobius ABS for Spreadsheet Compliance.

ABS for Spreadsheet Compliance reduces the risk of errors and restores confidence in your financial reporting by ensuring that spreadsheets are used correctly and managed responsibly. It centralizes and manages the lifecycle of enterprise spreadsheets, including versioning, security and audit trail.

As a spreadsheet lover, I am more anticipating Microsoft Office Excel 2007. The only problem I have with Microsoft Office Excel 2003 is the lack of security. I am not very comfortable to see so many products on the market that can help you to recover or break into Excel sheets (often by brute force) that might store sensitive information.