Company Background
Starting in 1995, three computer science professors at Oregon State University (Margaret Burnett PhD, Martin Erwig PhD, and Gregg Rothermel PhD) recognized an extensive and largely untapped market for spreadsheet error detection tools.
Intrigued by the idea that spreadsheets are a programming language, meaning that most users are essentially untrained programmers, they sought to bring software quality control concepts into the spreadsheet domain. By studying actual human behavior, they developed tools to enable average users to build and use spreadsheets with greater confidence and accuracy.
Microsoft Excel makes it very easy for people to create spreadsheets. This same accessibility and ease of use makes it difficult for companies to impose quality controls on spreadsheets. RedRover’s tools help users test spreadsheets as they create them, providing exactly the kind of information that traditional programmers rely on in building error-free applications. From type errors to backward slicing, these software engineering concepts apply easily to spreadsheets, alerting users to inconsistent formula inputs and helping them to hunt down the true source of an error.
After more than ten years of spreadsheet and user behavior research, Professors Burnett, Erwig, and Rothermel co-founded RedRover Software Inc to create and market productivity solutions for all levels of spreadsheet users. RedRover Audit, released in January 2008, is the company’s first commercial product.
The RedRover Mission
In order for companies to be assured that the spreadsheets used to manage their business are accurate, they need tools that offer visual snapshots of all possible errors along with the ability to easily correct them. The mission of RedRover Software Inc is to develop user-friendly solutions for detecting and correcting potential errors in spreadsheets.
The company has developed applications that: 1) intelligently audit complex, multi-sheet workbooks, 2) use familiar Excel commands to correct errors, 3) and allow spreadsheet cells to be immediately corrected without the hassle of toggling between error logs, audit print-outs, and on-screen Excel files.
