The honest version: spreadsheets work until they don't.
Spreadsheets are real software. They've shipped more compliance programmes than every SaaS combined. Then quarterly audits start eating working weeks, branch versions diverge, and one person becomes the single point of failure. This page is about that moment.
- Stay on spreadsheets if you have one standard, < 5 stakeholders, no quarterly board cycle, and your auditor knows you by first name.
- Move to Cybereen if you're managing two or more frameworks, evidence gets requested ad hoc, or you've ever spent a Friday afternoon chasing branch leads for status updates.
- Cost of moving: the AUD per month is small. The cost of not moving is usually a quarter of a GRC salary in reconciliation labour.
At a glance.
Side-by-side, honest.
| Criterion | Cybereen | Spreadsheets + SharePoint | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost — pure software | From A$19 / user / month | Effectively free | Spreadsheets win on sticker price. |
| Cost — labour hours per quarter | ~4–6 hours / cycle | 20–60 hours / cycle | A GRC hire costs ~A$62/hr fully loaded. |
| Version drift across branches | Single source | Inevitable | Different branches use different criteria over time. |
| Evidence trail for auditors | Per-control | Manual | Auditors want a clickable audit trail. |
| Board-ready reports | Generated | Hand-built slides | Quarter end is a week of slide-making. |
| Multi-standard control reuse | ~3× reuse | Same control re-documented | ISO + NIST + E8 share most controls. |
| Bus factor | Platform | One person | The person who built the spreadsheet leaves. |
| Audit timeline | 3 days | 3 weeks | When evidence is collated continuously, not at audit-time. |
Hours per cycle based on customer self-reported figures and our own Cliffside advisory data, 2024–2026.
Where spreadsheets are honestly better.
Three things they win on. Worth saying out loud.
Familiar tools, zero training.
Every analyst, manager, and board member can read a spreadsheet. There's no onboarding tax. New software always has one.
Infinitely flexible.
A spreadsheet bends to whatever the moment needs. SaaS imposes structure — usually for the better, sometimes annoyingly.
Truly free.
Microsoft 365 is already paid for. For a single-framework programme with one stakeholder, the per-user-per-month cost is hard to justify.
Where Cybereen earns its keep.
The moment a real platform pays for itself.
Evidence collected continuously, not at audit-time.
Auditors expect evidence per control, per date, with attribution. Cybereen stores it once and surfaces it on demand. Spreadsheets force you to recreate it every cycle.
One change, every framework updates.
Cybereen maps controls across Essential Eight, ISO 27001, NIST CSF, and ISO 42001. Tick a control once; the mapping updates the four assessments that share it.
Board-ready reports in one click.
Maturity radar, criteria progress, prioritised remediation — generated. The board pack stops being a five-day project at quarter end.
Which one fits which organisation?
One framework, one stakeholder, low cadence.
- You're managing a single standard (e.g. Essential Eight only).
- Stakeholders fit at one table — no remote branches.
- No board reporting cadence; auditor visits annually with notice.
- The person maintaining the spreadsheet is not planning to leave.
Two+ frameworks, two+ branches, quarterly reporting.
- You're juggling more than one standard (most AU orgs are).
- Branches or business units are running their own assessments.
- Board or regulator wants quarterly maturity reporting.
- You've ever rebuilt a spreadsheet because the original maintainer left.
Moving across.
Send us your spreadsheets.
We'll do the heavy import. Most teams' spreadsheets map cleanly to the standard's control list — we handle the cleanup.
Pre-mapped controls.
Cybereen ships with Essential Eight, ISO 27001, NIST CSF, and the others pre-mapped. Most of the structural work is done.
First maturity assessment in week 1.
You're reporting against your standards in the first week, not the first quarter.
Want help deciding?
30-minute call. We'll look at your current spreadsheet and tell you honestly whether it's worth moving — including "not yet."