Excel is really amazing for doing adhoc type reporting/analysis. I think there is still a gap in the market for a product between Excel and a full blown app with a sql database. Excel falters at larger data sets but I don't find the existing tools in the marketplace very compelling. I always thought there was a lot more momentum in the past with Visual Basic and MS Access. You could build some very interesting tooling that bridge the gap between an Excel workbook and a full blown custom application.
These days I hear a lot about Tableau but the few times I have tried it out I was not a fan. It definitely handles larger datasets that Excel cannot but everything feels hidden behind menus that are unintuitive. In fairness I have never spent the proper time to sit down with it and maybe this kind of workflow works really well for business users.
These days I hear a lot about Tableau but the few times I have tried it out I was not a fan. It definitely handles larger datasets that Excel cannot but everything feels hidden behind menus that are unintuitive. In fairness I have never spent the proper time to sit down with it and maybe this kind of workflow works really well for business users.