Categorisation of Spreadsheet Use within Organisations, Incorporating Risk: A Progress Report

TL;DR

This paper investigates categorizing organizational spreadsheet use and associated risks, proposing models to better understand and mitigate errors and risks in complex spreadsheet applications within organizations.

Contribution

It introduces three models for categorizing spreadsheet use and risk levels, advancing understanding of organizational spreadsheet risks and mitigation strategies.

Findings

Proposed three models for spreadsheet use categorization

Analyzed models in context of organizational risks

Identified key risk factors in spreadsheet applications

Abstract

There has been a significant amount of research into spreadsheets over the last two decades. Errors in spreadsheets are well documented. Once used mainly for simple functions such as logging, tracking and totalling information, spreadsheets with enhanced formulas are being used for complex calculative models. There are many software packages and tools which assist in detecting errors within spreadsheets. There has been very little evidence of investigation into the spreadsheet risks associated with the main stream operations within an organisation. This study is a part of the investigation into the means of mitigating risks associated with spreadsheet use within organisations. In this paper the authors present and analyse three proposed models for categorisation of spreadsheet use and the level of risks involved. The models are analysed in the light of current knowledge and the general risks associated with organisations.