Technology is evolving at record pace, meaning the challenge of staying ‘in-the-know’ is tougher than ever before. Not only that, but knowing which new tool is right for the job you’re trying to complete and when the right time is to update your tool set also provides a whole new set of challenges. And to make things just a little bit harder, the data we need to manage within the tools is also growing, becoming more complex and changing regularly – and that’s without even touching on big data! So, now more than ever, is a time to really evaluate the technology you use, and see if you really are pushing traditional tools to their limits.
Within data analysis, three of the most time-consuming tasks include formula writing; error checking and auditing. Believe it or not, although necessary tasks, they are huge efficiency drains to businesses. These mundane tasks are frequently completed with technology as old as 35-years, meaning many analysts are spending more time doing work that’s not actually analysing the data. Instead, they are spending their time getting the data into a suitable, scalable, flexible and easy to understand format. This seems a little bit odd, when you consider that these tasks aren’t value adding to their business.
I know change can be scary. But change doesn’t always have to mean a challenge. At Quantrix, we understand that your spreadsheets and data are an integral part of your business, so we want to eliminate the risk associated with change. It’s now unnecessary to rely on largely error prone, inflexible and in-collaborative tools, like traditional spreadsheets. As obvious as it sounds, having the right tool for the right job will not only improve modelling efficiency but also maximise employee productivity meaning in the long run, your analysts will be able to achieve so much more.
The cost of traditional spreadsheets goes so much further than just simply the cost of the tool itself (they are usually perceived as inexpensive as most of the time they are already on your laptop or computer)! When you look more closely at the cost of time to complete repetitive, tedious tasks, when you look at the cost of errors and the cost of limited flexibility and transparency when modelling and lastly the cost of not being able to work collaboratively – these tools actually turn out to be an extremely costly risk to your business.
Within this fast paced environment we now work in, surely eliminating risk and increasing efficiency is at the top of everyone’s agenda? If you want to look at implementing a collaborative, multi-dimensional modelling tool then do reach out. It’s far too costly to rely on a spreadsheet that could let you down at any moment.
By Holly Perry
