Everyday, thousands of employees put their companies at risk through spreadsheet misuse. For example, some use spreadsheets to maintain critical business data. Others go even further, and distribute those spreadsheets to multiple users across different departments. Others go further still, and even base business decisions off of these spreadsheets.

If that’s happening in your company, here are two articles you’ll want to read: This article references a study that uncovered a shocking statistic on spreadsheet errors. This website highlights real-life business problems caused by spreadsheet errors.

So, what can you do about spreadsheet misuse? What’s the alternative to spreadsheets? The answer: Put that data in a database, and build web applications over the database. Here are three reasons why that approach is better than spreadsheets:

1. It’s safer

You can’t control who accesses your spreadsheet, or who shares it with whom. With a web app, you control which users can access the application. You can even control which data each user sees in the application.

2. It’s easier to access

To access a spreadsheet, each user must store the spreadsheet locally on their computer. If that spreadsheet isn’t saved on the device you’re using, you’re out of luck. On the flip side, web apps are accessible from any web connected device.

3. It gives you more options

When you store your data in a database, you have more options. You can create all types of web and mobile web apps over that data, like pivot tables, mobile apps, interactive reports, dashboards, and much, much more. Once it’s in your database, the possibilities are truly endless.

How to do it

Now that you understand why you should move spreadsheets to the web, let’s explore the “how”. How can you turn your spreadsheets into database-driven web apps? To learn how, this short video walks you through the process of turning a spreadsheet into a simple web application. As you’ll see, it’s not as hard as it sounds.