When spreadsheets go bad

Spreadsheets are ubiquitous in modern organizations. However, most of the tasks they are used for would be better served by more specialist applications. In this article, we highlight some of the abuses of spreadsheets – and the consequences. We explain why spreadsheets are inappropriate in many corporate situations and point readers to alternatives. Finally, we note that spreadsheets do have a very important role to play – as tools for prototyping.