They seemed harmless at first. A quick fix. Familiar. Free! Now, they have been unleashed. Can your organization stop them?
It’s not things that go bump in the night that scare us. It’s misuse of spreadsheets!
At Rego, we’ve seen it all when it comes to spreadsheets masquerading as a portfolio and project management (PPM) solution. Excel, Google Sheets, and the like may have helped your organization in the early days and you like them because they’re “free.” But now – like an ill-fitting costume – your organization has outgrown them. The cracks are starting to show. They’re tricks, not treats.
Here are five chilling tales from clients. Do these scenarios sound eerily familiar … and frightening?
1. The Spreadsheet Monsters
They’re everywhere. These beasts multiply in the dark. And you don’t know where they’re lying in wait.
The hairs on the back of your neck stand on end as you think about your spreadsheets.
You have them for major initiatives and departmental projects. Some connect; others don’t. Some are updates; others are ancient relics. Some hold critical data; others hold things you forgot you were even tracking. You have to stay on top of multiple updates to multiple spreadsheets, each relaying similar data.
Occasionally, related documents are stored with projects, but often they are specters – floating across systems or missing entirely.
These spreadsheets ooze through your organization, lurking in mislabeled SharePoint folders, hiding in personal OneDrive accounts, or fiendishly saved on desktops where they are never backed up.
Searching for a specific spreadsheet feels like chasing millions of creatures burrowed in a maze of tunnels. And in your worst nightmares, someone urgently asks you for “the” spreadsheet, and you have no idea where to find it or if it’s updated.
You’re paralyzed.
Slay the Spreadsheet Beast
A modern PPM tool stores real-time information in one central location where it’s one source of truth! Documents (such as statements of work (SOWs) and contracts) live with projects where they can be easily found. Everyone who needs access can get it without hunting through digital graveyards. Plus, you can upload your spreadsheets to live on, eternally. It’s something you can really sink your teeth into!
2. Relying on Wizards
A secret order has been chosen. Without them, the magic dies.
Your project spreadsheets are locked in a digital dungeon, accessible only to “wizards” with spells of pivot tables, conditional formatting, and macros. These sorcerers have built complex automations that only they understand. Because of their arts, they are both indispensable and irreplaceable.
These chosen are the only ones granted access to the spreadsheet treasures. No one else dares touch these files, else the magic may fade away.
Their vacations must be planned around work. Sick days are never taken. If they ever quit, they take their arcane knowledge with them, leaving the spreadsheets to rot.
You realize with dread that without your wizards, you can’t run your business.
Dispell Magic
Move to a PPM where anyone with permission can enter data or run reports — no incantation required. Upload those “magical” spreadsheets, too, in a place where anyone – not just sorcerers – can work on them. Free your wizards to use their skills on more innovative projects. Give your team resilience; don’t let an angry “mages” depart and destroy your business.
3. Beware the Zombies: Wasting Resources, Time, and Money
Once a leader. Now a servant of the spreadsheet horde.
You were hired to manage people, deliver projects, and make strategic decisions.
Now you’re caught in an Excel zombie trap — mindlessly serving spreadsheets. You update, send, update again, and send again until your eyes glaze over and your brain shuts down.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the median pay for a project manager is around $100,000. If a project manager is spending half of the time updating spreadsheets, that means $50,000 is going to repetitive, low-value work. And that’s just one project manager’s cost. When multiplied across a team, as the zombie hordes grow, the waste becomes staggering.
You can’t help but wonder how many PPM licenses could be purchased with that money, and whether the company would prefer you to lead rather than simply update cells.
Repel Zombies
PPM solutions automate information in one central place, freeing managers for leadership work. Licenses are cheaper than you think. Plus, you’ll reduce low-value work and turnover while boosting morale. Contact a few PPM software dealers to understand pricing. For $50,000, you could likely get software and have some licenses on hand.
4. Enveloping Darkness
At your organization, it’s always a dark and stormy night. Insight and strategy are faint shadows amongst the gloom.
You don’t know which projects are active, who’s working on what, or where money is being spent – despite meetings. Countless meetings.
Dependencies remain hidden. Risks aren’t addressed. Opportunities to cut costs go unnoticed. Resources are under allocated.
The leadership team is guessing, not deciding. Those guesses haunt you.
The longer you operate this way, the higher the chance that minor issues will grow into expensive crises. If you were able to get insight, you’d be better able to guide the organization.
In the meantime, there is only night … and foreboding.
See the Light
A PPM is your sunshine! It’s a single source of truth with real-time data, giving everyone insight. Leaders can run what-if scenarios to model risks and contingencies. Strategic priorities become clear, enabling faster, more confident decisions.
5. Automate … or Die!
Your competitors are creeping up on you, threatening you, eager to destroy you. Panic is in the air.
You’re running a midsized company on spreadsheets — tools designed decades ago for basic data entry, not business management. It’s the 21st century after all.
The competition has already moved on to an automated PPM system that delivers insights instantly, enabling faster and more confident decision-making while reducing wasted time. They’ve adapted to market changes.
You’re still wrestling with manual processes. Your team has been making spreadsheets “work” for years, but it’s not efficient or effective. Yet, you shudder at the idea of migrating, too. The market is shifting, risks are growing, and if you don’t adapt soon, you may find yourself permanently behind. It’s a ghoulish lose-lose situation.
Read a case study about how a century-old company won the battle of automation.
Don’t Get Murdered by the Competition
Automation is easier than you think. Migration to a PPM is faster and more affordable than ever. You can even upload those spreadsheets. A short conversation with an expert can give you a realistic budget and timeline. Many companies see results within months … not years.
Let Rego Be Your Guide
We’re a guide here to help you slay monstrous spreadsheet problems, repel zombies, free wizards, and bring light to your organization.
You’re not alone. Every organization starts with spreadsheets. We’ve seen it a million times. They were easy to create and free. They’re familiar. But they’re outdated, everywhere, and don’t really help your leadership make the strategic decisions necessary to run a business.
Don’t despair. There are a lot of reasons to move to a PPM. Migration is faster, easier, and cheaper than you might think. Plus, you’ll gain …
Share Your Tales of Horror
Don’t suffer in silence! Share your terrifying tales with experts and peers in our Rego User Groups online or in person. You can also plan to attend our next Rego University. You’re not alone.
Join a Webinar: Is Your Spreadsheet a Trick or a Treat? A Guide to Strategic Solutions
In this webinar, Rego’s project management wizards Alyson Poston and Wes McCoubrie will discuss the next step in your business’s growth journey. They’ll help you recognize the terrifying signs that you’ve outgrown your current system while showing you how to build a collaborative ecosystem. It’s the best of both worlds – using spreadsheets for quick tricks, while gaining a single source of truth and the strategic insights that a dedicated solution provides.
You’ll leave this session with a new spellbook on how to:
Walk away with a fresh perspective on how a true PPM solution can help you. Best of all, you’ll free yourself from spreadsheet terrors.
Talk to a Rego Guide
At Rego, we’ve helped clients complete transitions quickly and easily. All the work you’ve done maintaining spreadsheets is actually the groundwork needed for a smooth migration. You’re on the right path. Keep going and let Rego be your expert guide. We must be doing something right – we’ve helped more than 800 customers move from spreadsheets to PPMs.
About the Author: Tami Matthews
