Spreadmart
A spreadmart is a concept describing the tendency of spreadsheets to "run amok" in organizations. Typically a spreadmart is created by individuals at different times using different data sources and rules for defining metrics in an organization, creating a fractured view of the enterprise. The concept was coined in 2002 by Wayne Eckerson at The Data Warehousing Institute (TDWI) in his article Taming Spreadsheet Jockeys.[1]
Usually, spreadmarts grow where standard Business Intelligence (BI) reporting is too inflexible and too slow. A Business analyst uses the "export to Microsoft Excel" button in his BI software and creates his own report with the exported data table. By this, the number of independently generated spreadsheets dealing with a particular group of analyses grows inside the company, and the data inside each spreadsheet is uncoupled from its source. When this happens, the data reflected in the spreadsheets is no longer verifiable and is not automatically kept up to date. Usually these spreadsheet files are distributed via email to colleagues resulting in even more unlinked copies of the data. With Microsoft PowerPivot for Microsoft SharePoint, Excel spreadsheets are distributed as dashboards throughout the company, bringing the spreadmart issue to another level of uncertainty, called HyperSpreadmart.
The growth of spreadmarts and hyperspreadmarts poses a real risk for a company, since undefined and uncoupled data is floating from spreadsheet to spreadsheet, and can be used to draw false conclusions that lead to wrong decisions, which will cost time and money to discover and correct. Although Business Intelligence 2.0 software vendors claim to have overcome this issue, locally installed spreadsheet and graphing software continues to be easier to access and use, giving the business analyst the freedom to create the needed analysis quickly, and choose to live with the risk of data inconsistency that goes with it.
[edit] Related technologies
- Microsoft Excel with PowerPivot as the standard
- IBM Lotus Notes in Notes databases
- OpenOffice.org Calc the open source alternative
[edit] References
- ^ Eckerson, Wayne (July 2002). "Taming Spreadsheet Jockeys". TDWI Case Studies and Solutions. TDWI. Archived from the original on 2008-06-13. http://www.webcitation.org/5YYQIPcDF. Retrieved 2008-06-13.
[edit] External links
- Strategies for Managing Spreadmarts By Wayne Eckerson, Director of Research, TDWI
- Can the Spreadmart Beast Be Tamed By Brian Moran at SQL Server Magazine (Archived at 2008-06-13)
- Excel is the most popular decision support tool for business users worldwide from Double-Tongued Dictionary
- Business Intelligence Can Stop The Spread of Spread-Mart By David Wallace from TIBCO Spotfire Blogging Team
- The Rise and Fall of Spreadmarts By Wayne Eckerson from Information Management Magazine
