The Evolution of Text Based End User Computing (EUC)

The background to this point of view was that all business processes should be delivered to the organization in IT supported systems. This was the view of most analysts back then and, to be fair, there are still some who think that now.  

Their nemesis was Microsoft Excel. This seemingly simple application that sat on all users’ desktops, enabled some innovative users to create very powerful applications to support key processes within organizations.

Replacing EUC Tools

Despite the best efforts of many organizations, it has proved impossible for IT to deliver applications that can cover all of the use cases / new processes that an organization requires to run business operations.

There have been countless Finance Transformation projects that have promised to replace all of these “off system” processes or EUC tools, which at best replace 70-80% of the EUCs that were in scope when the project started. The issue is that, in a best case scenario, 20% of EUCs are not replaced and, as the business evolves, new EUCs are continuously created.

The Impact of SOX in EUCs

The other major shift in mindset was caused by SOX. No matter whether firms sell widgets or credit derivatives, finance teams love a good spreadsheet. This forced US listed firms to start acknowledging and putting processes in place to control these spreadsheet EUCs.

During the 2010’s not just US listed firms started to accept that spreadsheets were a necessary tool to enable an organization. Some on their own volition and others with pressure from external auditors and/or regulators recognized the key role spreadsheets play within an organization.

Businesses started to create specific EUC or spreadsheet policies. Many of these were written with an IT perspective trying to force a standard SDLC (SoftwareDevelopment Life Cycle) onto spreadsheet users or defined IT controls that could not be met.