Are Greed, Lack of Oversight & Lack of Transparency to Blame?

The Financial Crisis & Spreadsheets

By Soheil SaadatSoheil SaadatPresident and CEOProdiance Corporation

In the midst of the current economic crisis, greed, lack of oversight, and lack of transparency have left an “open door” in many organizations for non-compliance, gross accounting errors, and even fraud. According to Baseline Consulting, approximately 68% of today’s corporate data is managed in IT controlled applications, and 32% is stored in key spreadsheets, Access databases, BI and management reports, office documents, and other end-user computing (EUC) applications. In many cases, these EUCs are managed in uncontrolled environments and lack the proper safeguards and controls needed to ensure that bad things don’t happen. It’s these bad things – gross errors in key spreadsheets, “undocumented” transactions hidden in invisible cells or hidden worksheets, unauthorized changes, and logic errors - that create unacceptable risk and exposure for organizations.

Are Greed, Lack of Oversight & Lack of Transparency to Blame?