In a previous role, I went to war on spreadsheets as the biggest airbrake and inhibitor to change in the Finance function. Spreadsheets for every output sucked the oxygen out of the room. They required the owners, who were also typically the subject matter experts, to manually operate them for any testing, impact analysis, and migration. Analysts then had to spend additional time understanding what was happening. On top of this, numerous operational events distracted teams, forcing them to implement remediation actions and controls, typically in the form of yet more spreadsheets.
The prevailing view was that the problem couldn’t be solved. Then at an offsite event, the Head of Finance Operations challenged me with a line that still shapes my perspective today: ”Phil, we don’t have these spreadsheets to annoy you, we have them because the systems don’t do what we need them to do for delivering our business outputs!”.
This was the awakening moment where it became clear that no matter how much was invested in core systems, the pace of business change, regulatory demands, and the pressure to automate efficiently could not be met through systems enhancements alone. What was required was to reskill Finance users in an alternative self-driven toolset, one that addressed the control concerns while preserving end-user agility. After extensive investigation and a false start attempting to roll out Python to end users, I was introduced to Alteryx.
Having worked with multiple Finance functions across Financial services and Insurance, we have repeatedly driven this transformation through training, enabling, and helping organisations break their dependency on spreadsheets to self-automate. Over time, this creates a virtuous circle where teams reach for Alteryx as their primary tool instead of another spreadsheet, confident they can accomplish more, faster and with fewer errors.
I am often asked the question, “Aren’t we just moving from one end-user problem to another?”. Having operated in both business and IT CIO roles, I view this through a risk and control lens. Alteryx One addresses the underlying control challenges through:-
1. Repeatability – processes no longer rely on individuals executing the same steps consistently each time
2. Elimination of manual errors – prevents cut-and-paste mistakes and incorrect data movement within or between spreadsheets.
3. Knowledge management – reduces the need for documenting every step manually.
4. Avoid stale documentation – operations are not tied to outdated manuals; changes are reflected automatically.
5. Data Control – inputs and outputs are managed centrally with need-to-know access, away from individual users.
6. Accelerated regression testing– focused changes enable faster validation and verification before changes are promoted into production
7. Audit trail of development–full visibility of changes made to the process
8. Audit of execution – tracks what was run, when and the associated the inputs and outputs
9. Independent testing – enables testing without SME involvement
10. Data lineage – automatic traceability of data from inputs to outputs
11. Controlled Execution Environment – processes run centrally, away from local machines drives a secure, controlled environment
12. Automated Data quality checks – identifies issues automatically that would be expensive and time-consuming to perform manually
13. Internal control validation – automates checks within the process to enforce compliance and accuracy
14. Supporting strategic initiatives – reduces spreadsheet risks and enables more effective change analysis and planning
15. Validating strategic initiatives – provides the reference viewpoint of what the business outputs actually are, ensuring any new initiatives deliver for the business
16. Migration Management – repeatable, automated validation and control for moving processes to strategic systems
17. Supportability – adherence to best practices enables a support analyst or central CoE to resolve issues, reducing dependence on the original creator
18. Quality Assurance – full best practice implementation with peer review and challenge, the same as any IT development practice
19. Change control – nothing goes live without following a prescribed approval and testing process
20. Operational Support – Alteryx analysts can perform first-line resolution of an issue in the same way as any other IT-managed piece of code
Ready to transform data handling and Finance automation in your organisation? Implement a strategy that delivers rapid results, empowers teams to be self-sufficient, and fosters continuous improvement as part of your culture. Contact us to see how Alteryx One makes this possible and to explore our proven playbook for rapid success.
