By Hiran de Silva
Introducing the Digital Librarian
30 years ago, Excel was a standalone tool.
Today? For most users on social media… it still is.
But here’s the truth few know:
Excel also became an enterprise-grade platform—capable of automating and integrating entire business processes.
And that happened decades ago.
🔹 The Forgotten Upgrade
Back in the mid-90s, Excel was quietly upgraded.
Microsoft bundled it with Access, a relational database engine.
The goal?
To turn Excel into a front-end for enterprise systems—where data could be:
✅ Centralized
✅ Structured
✅ Shared
✅ Audited
✅ Live-updated
This wasn’t a hack.
It was strategic architecture—endorsed by Bill Gates in Business @ the Speed of Thought, and demonstrated by Satya Nadella in 1993.
🧠 Enter the Digital Librarian
At the heart of this model is what I call the Digital Librarian.
Imagine a library that stores your data—where every Excel workbook in your company reads from and writes to the same trusted source.
Instead of:
🚫 Broken links
🚫 Manual copy-paste
🚫 Dozens of messy files
You get:
✅ One source of truth
✅ End-to-end automation
✅ True scalability
And yes—this has been possible for over 25 years using Excel + Access + VBA + SQL.
📉 So What Happened?
Social media happened.
A new generation of users discovered Excel through TikToks, Reels, and YouTube Shorts.
And what did they see?
⚡ Cool tricks
🎩 Magic formulas
📊 Cosmetic features
What they didn’t see?
🔄 Enterprise integration
📚 Data architecture
🔌 Client-server models
Because you can’t explain a system architecture in 90 seconds.
🚀 The Results Speak for Themselves
I’ve implemented this architecture—what I call the hub-and-spoke Excel model—in multiple large organisations.
The results?
🔺 I tripled my pay four times
🔺 Beat IT proposals that cost millions
🔺 Delivered results in weeks, not years
Why?
Because when you combine Excel’s agility with the power of a relational database,
you don’t just build spreadsheets…
You build systems.
📣 It’s Time to Relearn Excel
Excel’s real power isn’t in the formula bar.
It’s in the architecture behind it.
This is not about tools vs. tools. It’s about thinking.
If you’re still using Excel like it’s 1989—you’re missing out on what it can do in 2025.
👉 Let’s talk if you want to:
- Consolidate data across departments
- Automate live reporting
- Eliminate broken spreadsheets
- Build scalable budgeting systems
- Escape ‘Excel hell’ once and for all
I’m Hiran de Silva, and I’ve seen what Excel can do when you stop following the crowd—and start thinking like an architect.
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