Why The Internet Still Runs On Spreadsheets – And Why That Needs to Change

Despite its reputation for innovation, the network connectivity industry still relies heavily on outdated tools, such as spreadsheets for IP address management (IPAM). This introduces significant risks, including human error, data corruption, and essential security vulnerabilities, especially as networks scale. 

On the surface, the network connectivity industry is incredibly innovative and highly advanced. However, some crucial aspects are still managed using rudimentary tools such as simple spreadsheets. The majority of network operation centres still utilise Excel for their IP resource management. Additionally, 68% of small and medium businesses rely on manual methods to track their IP address allocations. This is inefficient and often causes issues related to data security and managing IP-related resources.

IP address management (IPAM) is a complex task. Proper address management is essential for tracking which devices are connected to networks and what resources they are using. Insufficient attention to IPAM makes it easier for malicious actors to take advantage of unsecured devices or access sensitive data stored on them.

In this context, the statistics of businesses and organisations still using spreadsheets for this purpose look even more alarming. According to Ramutė Varnelytė, the CEO of IPXO, their reasoning ranges from a simple force of habit to a lack of available tools. However, she cautions that spreadsheets were never designed for such critical tasks.

“Spreadsheets weren’t built to manage something as sensitive and complex as IP infrastructure. Over-reliance on them introduces significant risks, ranging from human error and data corruption to security vulnerabilities. Spreadsheets lack scalability, have no real-time synchronisation, no audit trail, and no built-in safeguards against conflicting updates or data leakage”, says Ms Varnelytė, leading the IP resource management platform.

She gives a painful example of this spreadsheet’s fragility from the pandemic years. Back in 2020, the office of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) lost more than 16,000 test results because it used an outdated “xls” format with a 65,536 row limit. After this limit was exceeded, some of the test results were simply gone, significantly hampering the NHS’s contact tracing effort at a crucial time in the COVID-19 spread.

Why do organisations still use spreadsheets?

According to Ms Varnelytė, there are many real-world cases of spreadsheet-related mishaps. Additionally, spreadsheets amplify the risks related to human error. For example, the whole network might fall apart if a team member inadvertently deletes a crucial cell, changes a formula, or duplicates an address.

“While it’s rare to find direct admissions that a spreadsheet caused an outage, we know that human error is the most common root cause of network failures. Whether it’s misconfiguration, forgotten updates, or copy-paste mistakes, the outcome is the same: systems go down. Case in point: the Facebook global outage in October 2021 can be attributed to human error”, she says. 

The most common excuses for organisations that continue using dated and unreliable tools are related to an unwillingness to change established practices. Varnelytė shared organisations often claim that they are accustomed to spreadsheets and have never had a problem with them, or that it would be too difficult to migrate from them. Lack of proper budget is also a common excuse. 

“Ignoring modernisation because ‘it’s always worked’ is like refusing to install seatbelts because you’ve never crashed. The fact that you’ve never had a problem has more to do with luck than strategy. As for price, IPAM tools have never been more affordable, and importing assets into them takes just 2–5 minutes”, she says.

Modern alternatives to spreadsheets

Network connectivity experts are adamant that the world should move away from spreadsheets and replace them with next-gen IPAM solutions. These tools should be centralised, easy to use, and feature additional capabilities such as IP reputation scanning, routing status, geolocation, and ASN management.

„Spreadsheets may still have niche utility, but they’re not a sustainable or secure way to manage IP infrastructure. Next-gen IPAM tools also cannot just focus on internal IPs. They have to support the management of external IPv4 and IPv6 assets, enable network discovery, and provide centralised visibility across multiple data sources in one clean dashboard. These are all necessary capabilities in today’s connected world, ” says Ms. Varnelytė.