Spreadmart information

A spreadmart (spreadsheet data mart) is a business data analysis system running on spreadsheets or other desktop databases that is created and maintained by individuals or groups to perform tasks that can be done in a more structured way by a data mart or data warehouse.^[1] Typically a spreadmart is created by individuals at different times using different data sources and rules for defining metrics in an organization, creating a decentralized, fractured view of the enterprise.

The concept was coined in 2002 by Wayne Eckerson at TDWI in his article Taming Spreadsheet Jockeys,^[2] and intended pejoratively, as an undesirable system, which should be replaced by a data mart. However, critics such as Stephen Samild argue that spreadmarts have advantages over data marts and can be a desirable system.