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Is the End Finally Near for Spreadsheets?
[December 11, 2014]

Is the End Finally Near for Spreadsheets?


People have long predicted the demise of spreadsheets to more robust, feature-rich business applications. But despite advancements in enterprise applications, spreadsheets have remained business users' go-to app. That could be changing.

A new survey sponsored by TrackVia revealed that spreadsheet users, led by Citizen Developers, crave smarter tools that offer mobile, collaboration, rich data analysis and deeper user permissions for security. This growing appetite could signal the tipping point away from spreadsheets - causing the primary driver of the personal computer to go the way of the slide rule into extinction.

"It's ironic that the same group of people - business users - who helped popularize spreadsheets and personal computers are the ones looking for better alternatives," said Charles Var, VP of Marketing at TrackVia. "We just work differently today than we did 10 or 15 years ago. Citizen Developers, in particular, don't have the patience for tools that they can't easily access on their phones or do what they need it to do."

A survey of 1,000 workers about their spreadsheet usage revealed:

  • 85 percent of those who use spreadsheets on a phone/tablet say they are NOT able to do everything they are able to do on their computers
  • 61 percent have been using spreadsheets at work for more than 10 years
  • 63 percent say their spreadsheet tool does not offer a collaboration function
  • 55 percent say their spreadsheet tool does not offer permission management
  • 51 percent say their spreadsheet tool does not offer security control
  • Nearly 70 percent say their spreadsheet tool does not offer version control



To read more about the research, including methodology, please visit: trackvia.com/worksmarter

About TrackVia


TrackVia is a do-it-yourself mobile and web application platform for business users. We empower people to quickly build mobile and web apps to manage workflow and process for departments or entire companies. We refer to building apps with clicks, not code and deploying apps in days, not months. These apps are tailored exactly to your business needs and are a fraction of the cost of heavier enterprise apps. More than 2,500 businesses in 15 countries rely on TrackVia. Join the Citizen Developer revolution at www.trackvia.com.


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