Mea Culpa
OK, so I had not actually read Wednesday's Financial Times letters page (page 22) when I posted that comment. In it a certain Dan Klein, Data Director of Zuhlke Engineering basically says exactly the same thing, but with this example:
"In 2017 the energy regulator Ofgem procured a data platform to resolve their issue with managing an £80bn market on a single Excel spreadsheet (around250 sheets with 1m lines per sheet), that was being emailed around the 900 staff with limited change control."
He goes on to ask when the NAO will audit the over use and reliance of government departments on Excel, and predicts future disasters.
I do hope El Reg finds out about this ginormous Excel spreadsheet. Maybe a competition for the largest spreadsheet used by an actual organisation for an actual essential purpose. Not sure what the prize would be, but maybe a course in data base management would fit the bill?
Biting the hand that feeds IT
