By Hiran de Silva
In December 1903, the Wright Brothers achieved the first powered flight at Kitty Hawk. But history shows us something surprising—this world-changing invention went largely unnoticed for years. It wasn’t until 1908, when Wilbur Wright gave a public demonstration at Le Mans, France, that the world finally took notice. Crucially, he was showcasing the invention to the French—some of the Wrights’ fiercest skeptics. That live event, seen with their own eyes, shifted the consensus and ignited global recognition.
This moment of delayed validation resonates powerfully with my own journey: championing a new way to use Excel in the enterprise—not as a disconnected spreadsheet tool, but as a scalable platform using hub-and-spoke architecture, VBA, and ADO to solve problems typically reserved for million-dollar ERP and FP&A systems. But so simple.
Yet, like the Wrights before Le Mans, my claims have met resistance. Not because the evidence isn’t there, but because the establishment—Microsoft marketing, ERP vendors, IT departments, and the FP&A tools industry—has built its own narrative: that Excel is fine for amateurs, but unsuitable for enterprise-level work.
The Competitor Envy Problem
In the early 1900s, the U.S. government had heavily backed Samuel Pierpont Langley with large funds to develop powered flight. His efforts failed spectacularly. Meanwhile, the Wright Brothers—without institutional backing, but driven by passion, discipline, and ingenuity—quietly got it done.
The parallel today is stark. The FP&A tools industry is well-funded. The ERP giants have massive marketing machines. Even Microsoft itself, in recent years, has invested in reshaping Excel into a consumer product, quietly downplaying its enterprise capabilities. Into this fray comes a methodology—my methodology—that proves Excel can, in fact, outperform these solutions in the very domains they claim Excel fails.
The Pyramid of Misinformation
To understand the misrepresentation, visualize a pyramid. At the top: enterprise leaders and management. At the base: millions of casual Excel users—novices, hobbyists, data wranglers.
The ERP and FP&A tool marketers appeal to those at the top, pointing down the pyramid to the flawed, chaotic, manual work of novice Excel users. They then say: “See? Excel is unreliable. Buy our cloud solution instead.”
But this is a flawed comparison. These enterprise tools are built by professionals. Excel, in the enterprise, should also be wielded by professionals. The casual user isn’t a fair reference point. Yet that is precisely who is being used to discredit Excel.
Enter: The Nine Circles of Excel Hell
One infamous white paper—“The Nine Circles of Excel Hell”—has long been circulated by Adaptive Planning, now owned by Workday. It lays out a list of problems with Excel in the enterprise. But it does something disingenuous: it assumes that Excel must operate as a disorganized web of standalone spreadsheets managed by amateurs.
What it doesn’t acknowledge is this: there exists an architecture—hub-and-spoke (also known as client-server)—in which Excel can perform at scale, with structure, control, and auditability. Using this method, the very problems described in the Nine Circles are not only solvable—they vanish.
The Le Mans Moment
I believe it’s time for a public demonstration—a 1908 Le Mans moment for Excel.
I am preparing an AI-assisted, live-recorded presentation that takes each of the Nine Circles and demonstrates how each so-called “Excel Hell” scenario is easily resolved using my methodology. This is not theory. It is based on real systems implemented in real businesses, producing results that match or exceed those of costly FP&A platforms.
This isn’t about taking on individuals like Mark Proctor or Paul Barnhurst. This is about challenging a deeply flawed, Goliath-like narrative built by a $100 billion industry that cannot afford to admit it misunderstood or misrepresented Excel’s potential.
The story is not about bad products. ERP and FP&A systems have valid use cases. But when these vendors claim their products are needed because Excel is flawed—they are not being honest. They are exploiting a demographic reality (novice users) to push misinformation onto senior decision-makers.
The Danger of the Misinformation
The damage here is not just reputational. It’s financial. Companies are spending millions to escape a problem that never had to exist. Worse, after buying these tools, many still find themselves relying on Excel to fill the gaps.
It’s time we asked:
Why must you discredit spreadsheets to sell your solution?
Why not demonstrate your value without peddling ignorance?
Conclusion
Like the Wright Brothers in 1908, I’ve waited for the right moment. The falsehoods around Excel have grown louder. The misinformation has become embedded. But the moment is ripe.
With a public challenge to the “Nine Circles of Excel Hell,” I aim to demonstrate, not debate. To show, not argue.
Because when you see a professional using Excel with hub-and-spoke architecture, you don’t see chaos. You see control, agility, and scale. You see enterprise-level transformation—with a tool you already own.
This isn’t just a rebuttal. It’s a revelation.
It’s Le Mans, 1908.
And the crowd is about to witness something they were told was impossible.
Written by a seasoned enterprise Excel practitioner, educator, and provocateur—willing to challenge a $100B narrative with a $100 solution.
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