Spreadsheet analysis and design

Reviewer: Rudolph E. Hirsch

Spreadsheets are no longer used solely for quick fixes by developers who are also the users. More ambitious applications, often designed by IS professionals for use by IS laypersons, are becoming common, but many of those laypersons are spreadsheet-literate. This paper presents a number of design methodologies to make spreadsheets secure from uninformed meddling with their design. The paper discusses measures such as using menus and macros to protect the spreadsheet, and purchasing prewritten templates. It lists the steps for the designer to go through when building a spreadsheet for others, and things that then deserve attention, such as testing, audit trails, and documentation. The authors discuss flow diagramming in a spreadsheet-building environment and even present a set of useful diagramming symbols. The paper is accompanied by numerous useful tables and diagrams that illustrate the authors' points. The authors also recognize the problems and dangers of spreadsheet use for keeping books of record: compared to classical system design, spreadsheets lose many of the controls that are effective for preserving data integrity and preventing honest and fraudulent errors; these controls are the rule in conventionally developed systems. Far from glossing over this deficiency, the authors present a useful laundry list of measures for reducing the problem to (hopefully) manageable proportions, without pretending that a spreadsheet-based system is likely to be as secure as one developed with conventional life cycle approaches.