Running on Excel and Prayers: Signs You've Built a Shadow IT System

Picture this:

You're in the middle of a critical renewal season, rates are changing, regulations are shifting, and somehow your pricing logic is being maintained in an Excel file with 27 tabs, 42 nested IF statements, and a filename that ends in “_FINAL_v3_updated_THIS_ONE_USE_THIS.xlsx.”

Sound familiar?

Welcome to the world of shadow IT — a world that’s less about cutting-edge technology and more about duct tape, ingenuity, and Microsoft Excel.

The Accidental Architects of Shadow IT

Let’s be clear: shadow IT doesn’t start with bad intentions. It starts with backlogs.

In many insurance companies, the IT roadmap is booked out for years. It’s not uncommon for enhancements requested today to be delivered…eventually.

But business doesn’t wait. So smart, well-intentioned people in underwriting, product, or operations roll up their sleeves and solve problems the only way they know how: with Excel. After all, it’s the most ubiquitous programming environment on Earth.

What starts as a harmless spreadsheet to get a quick job done slowly snowballs and before long:

• It’s pulling in data from an upstream system via copy/paste or VBA automation.
• It has evolved into a kind-of-almost database.
• There are input masks, formulas with no known authors, and crazy conditional formatting.
• The person who originally built it has moved to another department, and now nobody knows how it works except a few “spreadsheet whisperers”.
• Mission-critical decisions rely on spreadsheets that live in someone’s desktop Downloads folder.

At some point, people start talking about the spreadsheet in hushed tones. It becomes “that model” — a totem of both brilliance and fragility.

Congratulations. You now have a shadow IT system.

Short-Term Gain for Long-Term Pain

Insurers are no strangers to clever workarounds. When Excel starts creaking, teams often try things like:

• Manual patchwork: Export CSVs, manipulate them, and upload them back in. Rinse. Repeat.
• Small DIY tools: Quick scripts, Access databases, macros. Built once and never retained.
• Repurposing unrelated tools: Like using Outlook to track tasks. (We see you, email-to-self people.)

Although these are clever, they are also unsustainable. Short-term fixes that will ultimately just prolong the issue by papering over the cracks. Continuing with shadow IT also brings serious risks to the business:

• ❌ Breakage: One misplaced formula wipes out months of work.
• ❌ Blind spots: IT can’t secure what it doesn’t know exists.
• ❌ Scalability: What worked for 100 quotes is a mess at 10,000.

Shadow IT doesn’t usually fail all at once. It just quietly makes everything harder.

Luckily, there’s a better way.

What a Shadow-Free World Looks Like

Imagine a world where every bit of business logic lives in a central location. Where changes are tracked, tested, and deployed like real software (because they are). A world where the spreadsheet interface still exists — but behind it sits a well-governed, scalable engine.

You’ve kept what works. But you’ve made it safe, secure, and sane. Eliminating shadow IT isn’t about stifling innovation — it’s about supporting it properly. The real-life benefits of a shadow-free world look like:

• ✅ Accuracy: No more “why does this formula give different results than last time?” surprises.
• ✅ Onboarding: New team members don’t need an additional degree to understand your pricing logic.
• ✅ Compliance: When regulators come knocking, there are no awkward questions on versioning and storage.

So… How Do You Move Out of the Shadows?

This is where Coherent Spark comes in.

Coherent Spark lets business users keep working in Excel — but turns the logic inside those spreadsheets into governed, scalable APIs.

You get to keep your beloved spreadsheets (and all that business logic you’ve honed over the years), but IT gets the visibility, control, and performance it needs.

Here’s how it works:

1. Identify the key spreadsheets that power your business logic.
2. Convert them into secure APIs using Coherent Spark — no manual rewriting needed.
3. Integrate those APIs with your core systems, front-end portals, or workflow tools.

You don’t need to replace all your hard work, you just need to lift and transform.

The Future Belongs to the Governed

Insurers can no longer afford the status quo. Regulations are getting tougher, turnover is higher than ever, and expectations for speed, accuracy, and agility are rising. Shadow IT may have gotten you through crunch times, but it’s not a strategy for scale.

Here’s what forward-looking insurers are doing right now:

• They treat Excel like a powerful tool — but not the final destination.
• They bridge the gap between business and IT.
• They invest in platforms like Coherent Spark that unlock value without adding risk.

Want to see how Coherent Spark helps insurers eliminate shadow IT without breaking what works?