Excel Will Outlive Us All

 

Just came across a really interesting blog for Data Analytics and Statistics folks, and offering up a sample of the most recent blog.  

Excel Will Outlive Us All, And Data Analysts Can't Escape It

If you’re learning data analytics, it won’t take long before someone tells you Excel is “outdated” or “not a real data tool.”

Ignore them.

Excel isn’t going anywhere, even if you hope that it did.

While you might assume that SQL or Power BI and Tableau will occupy your work, the fact is that Excel will be used at some point, and there are some pretty good reasons why.

There is no data role "too advanced" to use spreadsheets. Even a simple request from a stakeholder to provide an output in CSV will be a reason for its continued usage.

Some companies even use Excel as their main reporting tool (something I know all too well).

Why?

Because it’s simple, flexible, and nearly everyone knows how to open a spreadsheet.

I work in government now. I’ve worked in finance. I know people in retail, healthcare, manufacturing, education, non-profits... And you know what? Excel is in all of those industries.

I'd even go as far as to say it’s one of the most important tools you can know as a data analyst. And no, I am not saying it is THE most important tool, but it is one of them, because it’s often the fastest and easiest way to:

Clean up a small, messy dataset.

QA (quality assure) a new report.

Do a quick calculation before a meeting.

Create a draft of a dashboard layout.

Share results with people who don’t have access to BI tools.

And even people in Tableau or Power BI-heavy organizations will pull some data into Excel because... well, sometimes you just need a quick look or an offline copy.

So instead of thinking Excel is just another "basic" tool, why not learn what makes it so useful?

Keep reading and I'll share what you should know.

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And that is exactly what she does.  So if your a Data-Sort, check it out.