Mitigating Spreadsheet Risk in Complex Multi-Dimensional Models in Excel

Abstract: Microsoft Excel is the most ubiquitous analytical tool ever built. Companies around the world leverage it for its power, flexibility and ease of use. However, spreadsheets are manually intensive and prone to error, making it difficult for companies to control spreadsheet risk. The following solution is designed to mitigate spreadsheet risk for a set of problems commonly addressed in a spreadsheet defined as "complex multi-dimensional models". "Complex" referring to certain types of applications that require functionality such as sophisticated algorithms, challenging hierarchies and database write-back (i.e. planning, forecasting, etc.) and "multi-dimensional" referring to providing capabilities such as reporting, data input forms and ad hoc analysis on the different attributes associated with the resulting model. The solution is defined as a "PivotModel" because it works similarly to a PivotTable but is designed to leverage the robust capabilities of the Microsoft Excel platform.