This is post two of a series, important backstory here.
End-users live in perpetual doubt. Every morning (or meeting!) starts with the same ritual: “Is this the latest file? Did someone email a new version at 2 a.m.? Which tab has the real assumptions?”
They run numbers twice, once in the blessed spreadsheet, once in the “official” system, and pray the answers match. When they don’t, trust evaporates and decisions stall. They know the models are powerful, but they also know one hidden circular reference or errant copy-paste can wreck everything.
Meanwhile, Audit, Compliance, and Risk Management are waging a losing war. They beg for version logs that don’t exist, chase change histories that live only in someone’s Outlook, and discover critical P&L drivers buried in unprotected sheets named “Final_Final_v27_REAL_FINAL.xlsx.” SOX walkthroughs become theater; nobody can prove who changed what and why. They all respond as best as they can: more sign-offs, more checklists, more bodies. It's often the cheaper way. Operational friction skyrockets, yet the real risks of undocumented logic, favor-from-my-buddy data pulls, and End User Computing running amok, remain unsolved.
End-users just want speed and certainty. Compliance just wants proof and control. Both are exhausted, and the spreadsheets empire gives neither.
Sound familiar? And yes, this is just part of the picture. Here's the rest of it.
How does ClearFactr solve this? Here are just some of the ways:
https://www.clearfactr.com/engagement
https://www.clearfactr.com/webapp-understanding