Spreadsheet good practice guidelines
Spreadsheet Development Life Cycle
Like other software, spreadsheets go through a life cycle consisting of the phases:
- Planning.
- Analysis.
- Design.
- Construction.
- Testing.
- Implementation.
- Archive.
For spreadsheets, often the emphasis is on only the Construction phase. That is, we jump straight into constructing a spreadsheet without considering issues such as whether the spreadsheet addresses the problem or whether a spreadsheet is the right tool. Insufficient – or often no – time in the other phases creates risks and leads to resources being wasted.
For most spreadsheets, informal management of the life cycle is sufficient. For critical spreadsheets, or to comply with regulatory requirements, formal management and control of the lifecycle is necessary – just like it is for other software.
Guidelines:
- Understand the spreadsheet development life cycle
Spreadsheets go through a life cycle, just like other software, from the time when a problem is identified through to the time when the spreadsheet is no longer needed.
In order to use spreadsheets most effectively, we need to understand each phase of the spreadsheet development life cycle.
Guidelines:
- Manage the spreadsheet development life cycle
Beware that spreadsheets go through the life cycle whether or not the phases are explicit, so be deliberate about managing the life cycle of your spreadsheets.
Choose the degree of formality to apply to each spreadsheet, focussing most attention on the critical spreadsheets.
