>making proper applications out of Excel workbooks
Yes, exactly.
If we're being uncharitable, we can spin Greenspun's 10th rule[1] of programming as:
>"Any sufficiently complicated Excel spreadsheet contains an ad-hoc, informally-specified, bug-ridden, slow implementation of a proper centralized database."
Or, if we're being charitable, we frame it as an internal MVP (Minimum Viable Product):
>"Spreadsheets are the internal 'mvp' that proves the business value before you build the centralized systems. When the spreadsheet becomes unmaintable spaghetti formulas and the xls email workflow crushes under its own weight, that will give the company the evidence and the confidence to spend $1 million and migrate the spreadsheet to a proper centralized database."
I’ve just done exactly this: replace an old xls file which was sent each month by email with a simple web based application. The app includes some nice dataviz.
But then the people keep asking “how can I export to excel”. One user was copying an html table split in 20 pages one by one to excel.
So I found a elegant and simple solution: an excel spreadsheet linked to the PostgreSQL db of the app via ODBC.
Now users can just click on Refresh All in excel and get the latest data. I’ve also added an “click here to open” link in excel which opens the form with the row’s id in the web app.
Now everyone is happy: the data is kept centralized and available to everyone in real time. And users can make all the pivot tables and pivot charts that they want natively in excel.
Do not underestimate the power of ODBC with excel!
(may not work for big data though, but most business app do not contain more than a few thousand rows)
Migrating too early before a business flow is properly understood could lead to that reduced cost but also a product that doesn't quite fit the actual needs.
Yes, exactly.
If we're being uncharitable, we can spin Greenspun's 10th rule[1] of programming as:
>"Any sufficiently complicated Excel spreadsheet contains an ad-hoc, informally-specified, bug-ridden, slow implementation of a proper centralized database."
Or, if we're being charitable, we frame it as an internal MVP (Minimum Viable Product):
>"Spreadsheets are the internal 'mvp' that proves the business value before you build the centralized systems. When the spreadsheet becomes unmaintable spaghetti formulas and the xls email workflow crushes under its own weight, that will give the company the evidence and the confidence to spend $1 million and migrate the spreadsheet to a proper centralized database."
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenspun%27s_tenth_rule