To any parent, the oldest child in your family has a special place in your heart. As a father, besides being the firstborn, a daughter adds a dimension of pride and protective love. Once your “little girl” reaches the dating age, you tend to become a little overprotective to the point that you show every potential suitor the shovel and bag of lye that you keep in your vehicle trunk as a “gentle” reminder of with whom they are dealing.
Add in a few icy stares while wearing a t-shirt about a willingness to return to prison, and you get the general attitude I am talking about.
However, over time, you realize that what you considered a temporary blip on the radar screen is not a blip – and certainly not temporary. While growing to like someone will take time, you enter a stage of acceptance.
At this point, I realized the similarity in the relationship evolution between procurement and spreadsheets.
Spreadsheets In The Digital Age
Here is an excerpt from one of the very first times I wrote about spreadsheets in this blog which was in October 2008:
“It is perfectly possible to prepare a company’s annual accounts on spreadsheets, but it is much less time-consuming and error-prone to do the same job with an accounting software package.”
Fast forward to January 2023, I shared the following thoughts about spreadsheets in my post What role have spreadsheets played in the “evolution of procurement technology?”:
“According to 2022 statistics, “67.4% of supply chain managers use Excel spreadsheets as a management tool.” Even the Energizer Bunny doesn’t have that kind of staying power.”
Like my daughter’s boyfriend, at some point, you just have to accept that spreadsheets are here to stay!
The Point Of No Return
Like parents meeting the parents for the first time signals that your daughter’s new beau is likely more than a passing phase, the recent PC Magazine article Microsoft Adds Python Programming to Excel Spreadsheets delivers a similar signal of permanence as demonstrated by the following excerpt:
“Microsoft’s examples of what Python integration allows you to do includes advanced visualizations and charting, advanced data cleaning techniques, and even machine learning capabilities for predictive analysis and forecasting techniques (regression analysis, time series modeling).”
Machine learning? Predictive analytics? We are not just talking about adding numbers in a column using the “SUM” command. We are talking about a whole new level of capability that takes the spreadsheet beyond being a simple capture ledger of numbers here.
A New Answer To An Old Question(s)
In the above-referenced 2023 post, I closed with the following question(s):
“This got me thinking what role do spreadsheets play in the digital age? Are they a help or a hindrance? Do they impede end-user adoption, or can they strategically facilitate user buy-in? Or are spreadsheets an outlier anomaly that we will still be talking about 10 or 20 years from now?”
Like my daughter’s boyfriend, it might be time to finally accept that spreadsheets are not only here to stay, but are actually a compliment to digital technology.
What do you think?
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Procurement Insights 
Tahj
August 26, 2023
Spreadsheets are definitely here to stay.
However, one must have a continual learning mindset to harness its full potential for the task at hand. I’d go on a limb and say less than 60% of users that interact with excel use some of the basic features properly or have a good excel 101 data literacy.
But, I don’t believe a company supply chain should be solely based on spreadsheets. Reporting, visuals, lists, etc – yes! But, actually process flows – no (not for sustainability).
piblogger
August 26, 2023
Well stated, Tahj!