Don't be scared of Excel

In the software world, we embrace the phrase “Minimally Viable Product” or MVP.

It means you focus first on building a product that does the minimum requirements. It has the core features so that a user can find value in it. But has zero features, bells, lights, or widgets.

For a company just beginning a data journey, the goal is an MVP. Just enough to make things work. Just enough to start making your data useful. In most cases, this means Excel or Google sheets.

The data world loves to shame teams or companies who use Excel as a database. Because it doesn’t have the features, bells, or widgets that a database, or data warehouse does.

But if the goal is for data to help make the company work well, then Excel might be the perfect place to start. Don’t be scared of a company that uses Excel as a database. Be worried if you company won’t ever look beyond Excel as a database.

It’s time to start somewhere with data. And Excel is a great place.

I’m here,

Sawyer

from ​The Data Shop