Why Excel is King?

Long ago, in a corporate landscape that feels like a distant galaxy, we were entrenched in the Stone Age of Data Management, navigating through prompt-driven systems. The ruler of personal computing was DOS, Windows was considered a dubious joke, and Framework held sway.

For those of us who were data-driven professionals or managers dealing extensively with data, we were the dBase sharks of our time. We defined data tables and indexes, crafted user input forms, designed reports, added business rules, compiled and deployed our code within minutes, ensuring that data flowed seamlessly across the organization. We had everything we needed at our fingertips.

If a new field or table was required, we swiftly created a new table, either fashioned a new form or edited an existing one, and deployed it with ease. Life for data workers was straightforward, and the legion of dBase enthusiasts were hailed as the rockstars of the era. Meanwhile, the IT department observed from a distance, envious of our seamless data management prowess, preoccupied solely with Novell networks and telephone systems.

But then, the winds of change swept through the industry. Windows rose to prominence, NT conquered Novell, and avaricious IT departments spotted an opportunity to seize control by introducing a new database technology known as Oracle. They implemented a two-tier coding system with PowerBuilder and rewrote our rudimentary yet functional dBase applications into a new paradigm. Our days as rockstars suddenly came to an abrupt end.

As we adapted to this new reality, a disheartening pattern emerged. What once took us mere days to develop and deploy now consumed months of our time. IT had to take our requirements, assess, and make changes to the highly normalized database. Tasks were assigned to PowerBuilder developers, and deployment became a cumbersome process. The risks and complexity forced us into monthly or quarterly deployment windows.

In no time, the gap between business processes and what the system offered became glaringly evident. IT struggled to accommodate many crucial aspects due to a lack of understanding, focus, capacity, or willingness. But as front-line warriors of the business, we still needed to manage our workloads efficiently. So, what did we do? What tools were at our disposal to bridge the painful divide between the system and our daily activities? What integrated solution could host data, boast an intuitive UI, create reports, and be easily deployed—like simply placing a file in a network share drive?

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce the unsung hero: MS Excel, the King who came to rescue the day!