Excel might seem like a good tool for risk assessments — it’s familiar, easy to set up, and flexible. But when it comes to truly understanding and managing risks, Excel has serious limitations that can create more problems than it solves.
Here is why you should not use Excel in your risk assessments:
- Risk assessments in Excel quickly become bloated with hundreds of rows of data, making it hard to analyze and even harder for non-experts to interpret.
- Excel struggles to show how threats, controls, and consequences connect (see image below). This can leave critical gaps unnoticed, leading to a false sense of security.
- Risk management isn't a solo activity. Excel isn’t built for multiple users working together, leading to outdated files, version confusion, and mistakes.
- Simple typos or wrong entries can easily slip by unnoticed, undermining the integrity of your risk data.
- Manual updates, lack of integration with other data sources, and no automation mean a lot of time is spent on basic tasks instead of managing risks.
- Excel can’t easily combine risk data with audits, incidents, or other valuable information — making it harder to see the full risk picture.
Download the full whitepaper to explore practical solutions and take your risk management to the next level.
