They were using the wrong tool for the job. The R in RDBMS for the existing sheets, they were using R as in not machines but humans doing the RELATIONAL work. Yes I was trying to make my job easier, that is why mankind invented RDBMS right? To make our work easier and accurate? No?
The user interface is usually more important than the backend. If the user interface for a spreadsheet is more powerful, then that can make it a better solution than a database that has a better backend but terrible UI.
It can be very difficult to replace spreadsheets because the UI has had 30+ years of iteration.
