Plain, Simple Truths: Spreadmart - Whats the Real Truth?

I get a real kick out of simple truths. Burn more calories than you take in and you'll lose weight. Pay off your highest rate debt first and you'll be debt-free sooner. For every part of life and everything you do there are simple truths. Sometimes thoses simple truths smack you in the face like a door you walk into in the middle of the night (that's another story).

For instance, this morning I was passed along a link to an interesting article by Brian Moran in "SQL Server Magazine". The article spoke of a term I have never before heard - "Spreadmart"
(http://www.sqlmag.com/Article/ArticleID/50661/sql_server_50661.html). Once I read a few lines of Brian's article I completely understood what he was talking about and caught myself nodding my head in agreement. Spreadsheet sharing and proliferation is a problem for everyone who has ever used a spreadsheet. Oh my gosh! Smack! (That was me walking into the door). "When spreadsheets containing valuable corporate data are duplicated uncontrollably, and then modified differently by different users, each file becomes a separate version of the truth."
(http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/citations/spreadmart_1/).

There are technologies out there that come close to providing answers to this problem, but so far I haven't seen anything I would call simple.

I believe that today a few of us at FarPoint have been smacked in the face with this simple truth. Now, let's see if we can find a plain, simple way to address it.

-Robby