(And Why So Many People Misunderstand It)
By Hiran de Silva
Introduction: A Word That’s Been Misunderstood
The word database has been so loosely used on social media lately that its real business meaning has almost disappeared.
On LinkedIn and YouTube, you’ll find posts claiming that because Power Query or the Excel Data Model can join tables, therefore Excel “has a database.”
But that’s not what a database means in business terms.
A database isn’t defined by joins or tables — it’s defined by its purpose in supporting collaboration, control, audit, and continuity across a business process.
To make that clear, let’s look at two stories from real life — one from 1982, before personal computers, and one from 1998, in the early days of Excel.
Both tell us more about what a database really does than a thousand YouTube videos ever could.
Part 1: 1982 — The Invoice Register
I was working for Richard Desmond in magazine publishing.
Invoices came in from freelancers — writers, photographers, illustrators — and were sent directly to whoever had commissioned the work. These were informal arrangements, and no central control existed.
Invoices sat for weeks or months on people’s desks. Nobody knew where they were. When suppliers called to ask “Have you received my invoice?”, the honest answer was “We don’t know.”
For month-end accounts, this chaos was fatal.
Each magazine’s profit for that month depended on knowing which costs belonged to that issue — but hundreds of invoices were floating around unrecorded.
The solution was to create an Invoice Register — a simple ledger in a bound book managed by a retired gentleman named Albert Wollman.
Every invoice received was logged in the register before being sent for approval.
Each was assigned a sequential number, stamped on the paper.
When returned, Albert marked it as approved and passed it to Accounts Payable, who posted it to the Accounts Payable system.
If suppliers called, Albert could instantly find the status of any invoice.
This was not called a “database.” But it was one.
It was the master list, the one version of the truth, and the nerve centre of a process that touched every department.
Part 2: 1998 — The Spreadsheet Era
Fast forward sixteen years to Edexcel, my first consulting assignment.
Debbie, an efficient accounts clerk, had created her own invoice register — now in Excel.
Each month was a separate worksheet tab.
She entered every invoice herself, and colleagues relied on her for any lookup or update.
When the accounts payable officer, David Beard, needed to check something, he had to ask Debbie to look it up.
Functionally, this was the same as Albert’s book — only digital.
But still, only Debbie could touch it. It wasn’t collaborative.
Her main pain points were:
- Searching for a supplier’s invoices meant flipping through multiple tabs.
- She couldn’t easily send someone their list of outstanding approvals.
- Nobody else could update the register directly without risking overwriting something.
The Transition to a True Database
The improvement was simple but transformational.
We recreated her register in Microsoft Access — same fields, same layout — but with one continuous table instead of twelve monthly sheets.
- Debbie now entered invoices through an input form in Access.
- David had his own Excel file connected to the same database via ADO. He could refresh to see any record, or update posting details remotely.
- Other authorised users could query or update without disturbing Debbie.
This was the same principle Albert used — one register, many users — but now implemented electronically and collaboratively.
Because it was in a database, it had:
- Centralised master data (one version of truth)
- Controlled remote access
- Built-in audit and backup
- Seamless integration with Excel for input, query, and reporting
We could even run reconciliation checks between the register and the accounts system — identifying invoices received but not posted, or posted without ever being registered.
What This Tells Us About Databases
A database is not a buzzword.
It is a central structure of record that multiple people rely on simultaneously to run a process, without creating chaos.
It allows:
- Recording: new transactions can be added safely.
- Referencing: any record can be found instantly.
- Updating: authorised users can modify the record when its status changes.
- Querying: anyone can extract information relevant to their work.
- Continuity: the system runs indefinitely, independent of who’s in the office.
That is what Albert’s register did on paper.
That is what Debbie’s Access-plus-Excel system did electronically.
And that is what every real business database does today — whether it’s built in Access, SQL Server, or even an ERP system.
Spreadsheets and Databases Are Not Rivals
There is a growing tendency — particularly among social media commentators — to present spreadsheets and databases as if they were rivals, mutually exclusive tools competing for dominance.
That’s a fundamental misunderstanding.
In reality, they are complementary.
My Digital Librarian concept is designed to pre-empt this misconception. It introduces the database as the natural home where spreadsheets can safely store the data they work with.
When the data that spreadsheets currently keep internally is instead stored externally — in the Digital Librarian (a shared Access or SQL database) — those same spreadsheets become far more powerful.
They can read from and write to the shared source, eliminating duplication, improving accuracy, and dramatically increasing productivity.
In this relationship, the spreadsheet remains the user’s workspace — the most flexible, transparent analytical tool ever built — while the database quietly handles storage, sharing, and integrity.
It’s not a competition; it’s a partnership.
Why Power Query and Excel Tables Are Not Databases
Now contrast that with what’s often taught online.
For instance, Christopher T. Fennell and others claim that because Power Query can join tables, that makes it a database.
It doesn’t.
A Power Query data model is not a live register.
It is a temporary snapshot of data extracted into a spreadsheet’s memory.
It can’t be remotely updated, can’t serve multiple users simultaneously, and can’t be backed up or queried independently.
Similarly, Mynda Treacy’s popular YouTube tutorial — where data entered on one sheet is copied into a table on another — may automate a list, but it still traps data inside a local workbook.
To share it, you must email the file, instantly creating multiple versions — the opposite of what a database is meant to prevent.
A Modern Analogy: The Chairman’s CD Collection
Imagine a global chairman with a huge CD collection who wants to share it with all employees.
He also invites staff worldwide to add their own CDs to a shared library so everyone can borrow from one another.
For this to work:
- Data must be centrally stored (one master library).
- Everyone must be able to search and update remotely.
- The system must run unattended, indefinitely.
- The process must require no manual merging, emailing, or re-entry.
That’s what a database does.
It is the invisible infrastructure that keeps data coherent, auditable, and accessible across time, teams, and geography.
Conclusion: The Heart of Collaboration
In business, a database is not a file.
It is a function — the means by which a process stays connected, controlled, and alive.
Albert had one in 1982.
Debbie had one in 1998.
Every business process that needs to stay reliable across people and time needs one today.
Excel can be the window into that database — the most user-friendly front-end ever invented — but the database itself is the spine that holds the process together.
That is what too many influencers forget.
They teach Excel as a solo activity, not as a shared system.
Real businesses, however, run on collaboration, continuity, and control — and those depend on the database.
Key Takeaway
A database isn’t a feature — it’s a principle.
It’s the one version of the truth that everyone can depend on. Trust.
Whether it lives in a ledger, Access file, or SQL Server, its purpose is the same:
To let people work together on one reality, without chaos.The spreadsheet is the thinker.
The database is the librarian.
Together, they make business intelligence truly intelligent.
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