Free Tool Helps Enterprises Find Spreadsheets, Continually Monitor Use

Help for the audit process: monitor and report use and access of spreadsheets across different folders on an on-going basis

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Many organizations have more spreadsheets than they are aware of, and reporting which are active and how frequently they are changing can be difficult when they are spread across user workstations and multiple file servers. Enterprises often have no central control because spreadsheets are used by different groups and departments.

The Spreadsheet Usage Monitor is available as a free tool to help organizations can control and manage corporate spreadsheets. Users will see exactly where spreadsheets are stored and how often they are being changed.

Based on the Spreadsheet Discovery module of the ComplyXL Enterprise suite, this spreadsheet discovery and continuous monitoring utility can be configured to track when spreadsheets are used across any number of network servers.

The Spreadsheet Usage Monitor utility builds a profile of spreadsheet use by asking file servers to alert it when files are accessed or saved, so the system need not constantly scan file servers and workstations for changes to files, an expensive and slow process.

Once the full scale of spreadsheet use is apparent, managers and auditors can see how and where controls need to be put in place, features provided by ComplyXL.

Spreadsheet Usage Monitor:

  • Provides an inventory of spreadsheets so managers and auditors can profile spreadsheets and their use
  • Builds and reports on the profile of spreadsheet use such as file locations, name, the action taken by a user (open, save, close) with date created or modified
  • Users specify which folders are monitored, with any number of folders or subfolders included
  • Can be configured to run on a desktop or continuously as a Windows service
  • Allows monitoring of different file extensions, such as .xls, .xlsx, or .xlsm

The Spreadsheet Usage Monitor is available free from the Lyquidity Web site to businesses at http://www.lyquidity.com/usemonitor.

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