Spreadmart
Encyclopedia
A spreadmart is a concept describing the tendency of spreadsheet
s to "run amok" in organization
s. 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.
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.
Spreadsheet
A spreadsheet is a computer application that simulates a paper accounting worksheet. It displays multiple cells usually in a two-dimensional matrix or grid consisting of rows and columns. Each cell contains alphanumeric text, numeric values or formulas...
s to "run amok" in organization
Organization
An organization is a social group which distributes tasks for a collective goal. The word itself is derived from the Greek word organon, itself derived from the better-known word ergon - as we know `organ` - and it means a compartment for a particular job.There are a variety of legal types of...
s. Typically a spreadmart is created by individuals at different times using different data sources and rules for defining metrics
Software metric
A software metric is a measure of some property of a piece of software or its specifications. Since quantitative measurements are essential in all sciences, there is a continuous effort by computer science practitioners and theoreticians to bring similar approaches to software development...
in an organization, creating a fractured view of the enterprise
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
. The concept was coined in 2002 by Wayne Eckerson at The Data Warehousing Institute (TDWI) in his article Taming Spreadsheet Jockeys.
Usually, spreadmarts grow where standard Business Intelligence
Business intelligence
Business intelligence mainly refers to computer-based techniques used in identifying, extracting, and analyzing business data, such as sales revenue by products and/or departments, or by associated costs and incomes....
(BI) reporting is too inflexible and too slow. A Business analyst
Business analyst
A Business Analyst analyzes the organization and design of businesses, government departments, and non-profit organizations; BAs also assess business models and their integration with technology.-Levels:...
uses the "export to Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel is a proprietary commercial spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications...
" 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
Business Intelligence 2.0
Business Intelligence 2.0 is a term that refers to new tools and software for business intelligence, beginning in the mid-2000s, that enable, among other things, dynamic querying of real-time corporate data by employees, and a more web- and browser-based approached to such data, as opposed to the...
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.
Related technologies
- Microsoft ExcelMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft Excel is a proprietary commercial spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications...
with PowerPivotPowerpivotPowerPivot is a free add-in to the 2010 version of the spreadsheet application Microsoft Excel. It extends the capabilities of the PivotTable data summarisation and cross-tabulation feature by introducing the ability to import data from multiple sources...
as the standard - IBM Lotus Notes in Notes databases
- OpenOffice.org CalcOpenOffice.org CalcOpenOffice.org Calc is the spreadsheet component of the OpenOffice.org software package.Calc is similar to Microsoft Excel, with a roughly equivalent range of features. Calc is capable of opening and saving most spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel file format...
the open source alternative
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 SpotfireSpotfireSpotfire was a business intelligence company based in Somerville, Massachusetts. It was bought by TIBCO in 2007.-History:Spotfire's origins trace back to the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory at the University of Maryland, College Park where, in the early 1990s, Christopher Ahlberg, a visiting...
Blogging Team - The Rise and Fall of Spreadmarts By Wayne Eckerson from Information Management Magazine