More than two thirds of mid-sized UK businesses rely on
spreadsheets to support decisions, a survey has revealed.
This is despite the fact that 80% of board-level decision makers
polled by research firm Quocirca admitted to having "significant
problems" with information taken from spreadsheets.
Over a third said spreadsheet use has a marked detrimental
impact on the business because of data duplication and inaccurate
information.
"In a
challenging economic climate, it's staggering that mid-market
companies are gambling critical company decisions on unreliable
spreadsheets and dodgy data," said
Clive Longbottom, service director at Quocirca.
Budget and resource planning cannot be left to chance by using
systems that allow poor quality data to proliferate, he said.
Businesses are only just beginning to realise that spreadsheets
cannot deliver reliable and accurate information, said Ged Simmons,
UK and Ireland country manager for business intelligence at IBM,
which commissioned the survey.
"Tailor-made software exists that provides enterprise-level
analysis with a mid-size price tag. Mid-market companies would be
wise to consider the choices," he said.