After it emerged that the UK Covid stats were being shared via a series of Excel files, the news quickly filled with (valid and accurate) condemnation of the very expensive and very flawed system. That was quite right, and not the focus of this. The articles then sometimes pivoted to mocking put downs about Excel itself, and that’s where I draw the line.
3 Reasons why Excel is better than anything else
1. Ease of access
Most people have Excel, at least on their work PC, and OpenOffice, Google Sheets and others replicate much of the functionality for those who don’t .
Most people who can use a computer can use a spreadsheet. Even if you’re the sort who pops the numbers in, then adds them up on a calculator (I’m not going to name names).
Excel has such a low barrier to entry, and so a pretty good learning curve. Almost everything you’re trying to do has at least 10 YouTube guides, and hundreds of forum posts to help.
I dare you to find something easier to use and yet:
2. It’s pretty powerful
It’s trivially easy to string together basic formulas, and you’ve got a dashboard.. or a pivot table.. or a slicer. You can do stats, you can add in charts, you can link to databases in the cloud.
Then you have VBA. An entire programming capability which sits quietly, hidden for most, ‘Macros’ for a few, and then for the elite, you just pop it open and you can save hours on repetitive tasks. I’ve met plenty of good analysts who got started in VBA, and I still consider it a point of merit in interview situations.
3. It’s really quick
See some numbers on a website and wonder what they look like charted? Excel has you covered in under 10 clicks. And no syntax to remember.
Don’t like the formatting? wish it was vertical rather than horizontal? How do I sent Dave a copy? It’s all SO QUICK. and Dave probably already has the right tools installed. No version problems, no ‘Oh, I use Lotus 123’ – everyone uses it, so everyone can get going, fast
For these 3 reasons and plenty more, Excel is AWESOME. Don’t fall into the trap of one-upping virtue signalers, and don’t blame the tool for the ineptness of the user.