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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsSpreadsheets can cost an IT team time through repeated asset reconciliation, unclear records, and updates that have to be checked or explained—not simply because someone entered a bad formula. The scale varies by workflow; there is no reliable current figure for how many hours every IT team loses. The practical test is to measure one recurring process and compare its upkeep with the cost and capabilities of a more structured system.
Where the hidden work comes from
Reconciling records
Asset information often arrives from multiple people or systems and changes as devices are bought, assigned, moved, supported, or retired. Someone has to compare records, find duplicates or missing entries, and decide which value is current. In a survey conducted in winter 2019 and reported by Ivanti on February 12, 2020, 43% of surveyed IT professionals said spreadsheets were among the resources they used to track IT assets; nearly a quarter said they spent hours per week reconciling inventory or assets. These are historical, vendor-released survey findings—not a current benchmark, a measure of every IT team, or evidence that spreadsheets were respondents’ only tracking method. Ivanti’s survey announcement provides the original context.
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Finding and interpreting information
A workbook can be technically correct and still be hard to use. A reader may need to locate the right sheet, infer what a column means, understand an assumption behind a calculation, or ask the person who built it for context. In a 2021 qualitative study of 15 people reading spreadsheets created by others, participants spent about 40% of their time seeking information needed to understand the spreadsheets; 12 of 15 went back to the author for clarification. The study by Ragavan, Sarkar, and Gordon, published through Microsoft Research and CHI, describes comprehension behavior in a small sample—not IT operations or weekly labor totals. Read the study summary.
Managing versions and control
When copies live in shared folders, local drives, or collaboration sites, people may need to identify the authoritative file and determine whether a change has been incorporated elsewhere. Microsoft’s 2012 spreadsheet-controls white paper described the difficulty of locating and governing end-user spreadsheets across places such as SharePoint, file shares, and individual PCs. That document is historical context for the control problem, not evidence about current product availability or a measurement of present-day IT workload. Microsoft’s spreadsheet-controls white paper.
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How to tell whether a particular spreadsheet is the problem
Audit one recurring workflow rather than starting with a blanket ban on spreadsheets. During a normal operating period, record the time spent entering updates, checking them, reconciling differences, comparing versions, and explaining the workbook. Also note how often work is delayed or repeated because of stale, duplicated, missing, or unclear records. This is a practical diagnostic, not a published standard; it gives your team a local baseline instead of relying on a universal estimate.
- Who owns the data, and who is permitted to change it?
- How many people or systems supply updates, and how often?
- Can users tell who changed a value and why?
- What is the consequence of a stale or incorrect record?
- Does the workflow need to connect to service tickets, procurement, licensing, device discovery, or audit evidence?
If the work is infrequent, bounded, and easy to check, improving the workbook may be enough. If the same manual checks recur, several sources disagree, or unclear records create operational risk, test whether a repeatable step can be automated or whether the workflow needs a managed system. Estimate the options against your measured baseline; do not assume a fixed return on investment.
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What an IT asset inventory should support
Asset tracking is a useful place to start because records change throughout an asset’s lifecycle. A spreadsheet register can be sufficient for a small, stable inventory, but a team should consider whether it can reliably maintain the information and controls it needs. Relevant IT asset management capabilities described in Smartsheet’s vendor guide include asset tracking, compliance and supplier information, discovery and inventory audits, process support, service-desk integration, and lifecycle tracking. These are evaluation criteria, not an independent endorsement of a product. Smartsheet’s IT asset management guide.
- Discovery and freshness: How are new, moved, or retired devices detected, and how quickly do records update?
- Ownership and lifecycle: Can the process capture an assigned user, location, status, warranty or relevant lifecycle milestones?
- Reconciliation and auditability: Can staff find duplicates, trace changes, and record why a correction was made?
- Integration: Does asset data need to flow to service management, procurement, identity, or reporting systems?
- Migration and upkeep: What cleanup, import preparation, and ongoing administration will be required?
- Fit and cost: Is the deployment effort and total operating cost justified by the inventory’s size, change rate, and risk?
Can you import an existing spreadsheet?
Sometimes; the answer depends on the product and its release. Flexera’s IT Asset Management documentation describes one-time and scheduled imports from CSV or Excel. Its import templates are fixed and can change between product releases, so an outdated template may fail after an upgrade. Check the live instructions for the specific version in use before planning a migration. Flexera’s inventory spreadsheet import overview.
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Before importing, agree on field meanings and ownership, remove or resolve duplicate and obsolete rows, and map spreadsheet columns to the destination’s required template. Validate a sample and check the resulting records before relying on a scheduled import. These steps reduce the chance of carrying inconsistent data into a new system; they do not eliminate the need for ongoing data stewardship.
A downloadable asset-register template can help standardize fields for a small inventory or prepare data for migration. It does not discover devices, enforce ownership, or keep records synchronized by itself. Smartsheet’s guide includes Excel asset-tracking templates.
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Reduce repetitive work without automating blindly
Microsoft’s Power Platform Well-Architected guidance recommends documenting routine, as-needed, and emergency operational tasks using procedures, checklists, or automation. It advises automating repetitive tasks prone to human error, with IT service-management ticket generation as an example, and reviewing procedures as teams and workloads change. Microsoft Learn’s operational procedure recommendations.
For a spreadsheet workflow, first standardize stable inputs and clarify who owns each update. Automate the repeatable steps where the rules are clear; keep a human review for judgment calls or actions that could cause harm. A new platform will not resolve unclear ownership or inconsistent data unless the process changes too.
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