Tim and Reg Conversation

Tim and Reg Conversation. The script for a two-person dialogue video.
THIS IS the edit of Tuesday 6 October at 1300

[TIM]
Reg, can I ask you something?
[REG]
Of course.
[TIM]
You use the same laptop as I do.
[REG]
Pretty much.
[TIM]
You use the same Excel as I do.
[REG]
Yes.
[TIM]
And you’re working for the same company that I am.
[REG]
Yes.
[TIM]
So why are you paid three times as much as me?
[REG]
Ah.
[TIM]
And before you ask how I know — I work in Accounts. We pay your invoices!
[REG]
Fair enough.
[TIM]
I’m serious. I want to know what you do that I don’t do.
Because I’m the Excel guy here. People come to me when they have an Excel problem. I’ve spent years learning this stuff. Power Query, PivotTables, dynamic arrays, lookup functions, dashboards…
I’ve followed the experts. I’ve watched the videos. I’ve done the courses.
So what do you know that I don’t?
[REG]
All right.
Let’s find out.
Give me an example of something you do regularly for your boss.
[TIM]
Anything?
[REG]
Anything.
[TIM]
Okay. Every Friday I produce the stock report.
[REG]
Tell me about it.
[TIM]
We’ve got 50 warehouses.
Every Friday I get a spreadsheet from each warehouse showing its current stock.
Years ago, it was quite a manual job. But I’ve automated most of it now.
All the files go into a folder. Power Query combines them. I load the combined data into the Data Model and produce a PivotTable.
Refresh.
Done.
[REG]
Good.
[TIM]
Actually, I’m quite proud of it.
[REG]
You should be. It’s a perfectly sensible use of Power Query.
And then what?
[TIM]
I send the finished workbook to my boss.
[REG]
And what does your boss do with it?
[TIM]
He distributes it.
[REG]
To whom?
[TIM]
Lots of people. Managers. Offices. Shops. People around the country. Some overseas.
I don’t actually know everybody who gets it.
Could be a hundred people.
[REG]
Could it be a thousand?
[TIM]
Possibly.
[REG]
Ten thousand?
[TIM]
In principle, yes.
[REG]
Okay.
If I were asked to review this process, I’d change it.
[TIM]
How?
[REG]
First, you wouldn’t receive 50 spreadsheets every Friday.
[TIM]
What?
[REG]
The warehouses wouldn’t send them to you.
[TIM]
Okay…[Hd1.1]
[REG]
Which means you wouldn’t combine them.
[TIM]
Right…
[REG]
And you wouldn’t produce the PivotTable for your boss.
[TIM]
I’m beginning not to like this.
[REG]
We’re not finished.
Your boss wouldn’t distribute your workbook either.
[TIM]
So nobody gets the stock report?
[REG]
Everybody gets the stock report.
[TIM]
Without me producing it?
[REG]
Yes.
[TIM]
And without my boss distributing it?
[REG]
Yes.
[TIM]
All right. You’ve got my attention.
How?
[REG]
Let’s change one thing.
At the moment, each warehouse maintains its own stock spreadsheet.
Correct?
[TIM]
Correct.
[REG]
Let’s assume those spreadsheets are accurate and kept up to date.
[TIM]
Okay.
[REG]
They continue using them.
I’m not taking Excel away from anybody.
[TIM]
Good.
[REG]
But instead of sending that spreadsheet to you every Friday, the warehouse user has a button.
It says:
PUT.
Whenever they update their stock, they click PUT.
[TIM]
Put what where?
[REG]
Their current stock data into one central table.
[TIM]
An Excel Table?
[REG]
No. In a database.
When they click that one button, all 50 warehouses PUT their current stock data into the same central database. Seamlessly.
So instead of the information being scattered across 50 separate workbooks, we now have one central, structured source containing the latest stock position for every warehouse.
[TIM]
Okay…
[REG]
Now let’s look at the other end.
The people who currently receive your Friday report already have a reporting workbook.
But we send it to them only once.
[TIM]
Once?
[REG]
Once.
They save it somewhere convenient.
Whenever they want to know the current stock position, they open their workbook and click:
REFRESH.
Their PivotTable retrieves the latest information directly from that central database.
[TIM]
So they don’t get my Friday snapshot?
[REG]
No.
They get the stock position now. At any time.
[TIM]
Monday morning?
[REG]
Yes.
[TIM]
Wednesday afternoon?
[REG]
Yes.
[TIM]
Saturday night?
[REG]
If that’s when they want it.
[TIM]
And if they refresh it again ten minutes later?
[REG]
They get whatever has changed during those ten minutes.
Stock arrives.
Stock leaves.
Warehouses PUT their latest information.
Users GET the latest information.
[TIM]
And if there are a hundred report users?
[REG]
Fine.
[TIM]
A thousand?
[REG]
Fine.
[TIM]
Ten thousand?
[REG]
Same principle.
[TIM]
So…
I don’t do anything.
[REG]
Correct.
[TIM]
And my boss doesn’t do anything.
[REG]
Correct.
[TIM]
I’m definitely not sure I like this.
[REG]
You asked why I’m paid three times as much as you.
[TIM]
Touché.
But I think I’m beginning to see it.
You’ve removed two people from the process.
Me collecting and consolidating the files.
And my boss distributing the result.
[REG]
Yes.
[TIM]
And you’ve changed the information from something that’s produced once a week…
…to something that’s available whenever anybody needs it.
[REG]
Exactly.
[TIM]
Using Excel?
[REG]
Using Excel.
[TIM]
The same Excel I’ve got?
[REG]
The same Excel you’ve got.
[TIM]
Okay.
Then I have two choices.
[REG]
Which are?
[TIM]
Either you make me redundant…
…or I learn to become more like you.
And get paid more!
[REG]
Which would you prefer?
[TIM]
That’s a no-brainer.
Show me the magic.
[REG]
I will.
But before I do, I want you to understand something much more important.
[TIM]
What’s that?
[REG]
Why didn’t you think of this yourself?
[TIM]
Maybe I’m not as clever as you.
[REG]
No.
That’s not it.
Once you see how this works, you’ll realise that immediately. Because it’s simple. Anyone can grasp it easily.
So let me ask you something.
How did you learn the process you’re using now?
[TIM]
From the best people I could find.
YouTube. Courses. Excel experts. Social media.
I learned that Power Query is perfect for this sort of thing.
I’ve got 50 identically structured workbooks. I put them in a folder. Power Query extracts the data, appends it and loads the result.
[REG]
Into where?
[TIM]
The Data Model.
[REG]
Where is the Data Model?
[TIM]
In the workbook.
[REG]
Exactly.
Think about that.
Power Query is an ETL tool.
Extract.
Transform.
Load.
It extracts the data from your 50 spreadsheets.
It transforms it — in your case, mainly by appending the records.
And then it loads the resulting 50,000 rows…
[TIM]
Into my workbook.
[REG]
Exactly.
And because the combined data is inside your workbook, what do you have to do with that workbook?
[TIM]
Send it to somebody.
[REG]
And then they send it to somebody else.
[TIM]
Yes.
[REG]
Now suppose we change just one thing.
Suppose that after we extract and transform the data…
…we don’t trap the result inside a workbook.
Suppose we put it somewhere central.
Independent of your workbook.
Independent of my workbook.
Independent of everybody’s workbook.
One central table.
Then everybody’s spreadsheet can point to that table whenever it needs information.
[TIM]
I see where you’re going.
But there’s a problem.
[REG]
What’s the problem?
[TIM]
Power Query loads to a worksheet or to the Data Model.
Both are inside Excel.
I didn’t know Power Query could load its results into a central relational database.
[REG]
You’re right.
That’s not the Excel capability I’m going to show you.
[TIM]
Ah.
Here comes the magic.
[REG]
Here comes the bit that hardly anybody showed you.
Excel already has the capability to talk directly to a relational database.
It can PUT data into it.
And it can GET data back.
[TIM]
Excel can do that natively?
[REG]
Yes.
[TIM]
Since when?
[REG]
We’ll come back to that.
[TIM]
I heard that a relational database would take up to a year for IT to give us. And all sorts of permissions and governance issues kick in. That’s even if IT agree to it. Which I don’t think they will.
[REG]
Why did you think that?
[TIM]
I’ve seen it said everywhere. Some of the strongest influencers I follow online say so.
[REG]
Then, let me show you how ridiculously simple the idea is.
This is Excel. Your normal Excel.
Look at this folder.
[TIM]
It’s empty. Right?
[REG]
Correct.
Now watch.
I’m going to click this button.
[TIM]
Something’s appeared.
Inventory.accdb.
That’s a relational database?
[REG]
Correct. An Office file.
A blank Access database.
[TIM]
Do I need Access?
[REG]
No.
For what I’m showing you, don’t even think of Access as an application.
Think of this simply as our central relational database.
A file sitting independently on the shared drive.
We’re not going to type data into it.
We’re not going to build forms in it.
We’re not going to create reports with it.

We’re not even going to open it.
Excel will talk to it directly. Seamlessly.
We don’t need to know anything about Access!
[TIM]
Okay. But it’s beginning to look like science fiction.
[REG]
Now I’ll create our inventory table.
Just like I have created an Excel Table here.
In the same structure.
Click.
Done.
[TIM]
That’s it?
[REG]
That’s it.
It’s capability already built into Excel.
Now imagine this workbook is sitting in Warehouse 17.
They update their stock.
Then they click PUT.
Their thousand or so stock records go into the central inventory table.
Warehouse 18 does the same.
Warehouse 19.
All 50 warehouses.
[TIM]
So that’s the missing piece.
[REG]
Go on.
[TIM]
Instead of 50 spreadsheets having 50 isolated sets of data that somebody has to collect…
…the spreadsheets are still there, but they’re feeding one central store.
[REG]
Exactly.
[TIM]
And that’s why the report users don’t need my workbook.
Their own workbook can retrieve the data from the central table.
[REG]
You’ve got it.
[TIM]
Power Query?
[REG]
You could use Power Query for retrieval.
But why would I?
[TIM]
Why wouldn’t you?
It’s powerful.
[REG]
Because Excel has a much simpler and more direct way of doing this.
With just one line of code.
No complicated wizard to navigate.
And it existed long before Power Query.
The user doesn’t need to know anything about it.
They just click Refresh.
Behind the scenes, Excel asks the database for the records it needs.
A fraction of a second later, there’s your PivotTable.
[TIM]
Fifty thousand records?
[REG]
Yes.
[TIM]
From all 50 warehouses?
[REG]
Yes.
[TIM]
Current data?
[REG]
As current as the latest PUT[Hd2.1] from each warehouse.
[TIM]
That does look like magic.
[REG]
Arthur C. Clarke had something to say about that.
[TIM]
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
[REG]
Exactly.
Except there’s nothing particularly advanced about this technology.
That’s the strange part.
[TIM]
There’s more, isn’t there?
[REG]
A lot more.
Because once you’ve changed the architecture, you’re no longer asking:
“How do I make this spreadsheet more clever?”
You’re asking:
“Now that all our spreadsheets can share the same central data, what would the business like them to do?”
And that…
…is a completely different question.
[TIM]
Show me.
[REG]
All right.
Now it gets interesting.
END OF PART 1
Part 2
[TIM]
Okay, Reg.
I understand the central database.
I understand GET and PUT.
But something is bothering me.
[REG]
Good.
[TIM]
Why have I never seen Excel used like this before?
Because I thought I knew Excel.
[REG]
You do know Excel.
But you’ve been taught to think about Excel within the boundaries of the workbook.
A single workbook.
[TIM]
What do you mean by “boundaries”?
[REG]
Let’s draw it.
Imagine this box is an Excel workbook.
Originally, a spreadsheet was essentially a sheet.
Like a sheet of paper.
Then, in 1982, we learned to link spreadsheets together.
So theoretically, you could keep extending your model.
One spreadsheet linked to another.
And another.
And another.
[TIM]
External links.
[REG]
Exactly.
In theory, almost unlimited.
In practice?
[TIM]
Not quite so attractive.
[REG]
Why?
[TIM]
More links. More dependencies. Slower calculation. Broken links. Errors.
[REG]
Precisely.
The spreadsheet had expanded beyond one sheet, but we’d created another problem.
We were building bigger and bigger structures out of interconnected documents.
And that basic problem never really disappeared.
But then something interesting happened.
Microsoft gave Excel another way of extending beyond the traditional boundaries of the spreadsheet.
[TIM]
Power Pivot. May 2010.
[REG]
Exactly.
And Power Pivot was revolutionary.
Now you could have millions of rows of data associated with an Excel workbook without putting those millions of rows onto worksheets.
The Data Model effectively extended Excel’s boundary.
[TIM]
And it was fast.
[REG]
Extremely fast.
That’s important.
Because the technology behind it came from Sequel Server Analysis Services.
It’s designed for analytical work.
Aggregation.
Calculation.
Scenario modelling.
Slicing data in multiple dimensions.
For that job, it’s phenomenal.
But look at the architecture.
It’s one way traffic.
But that’s not all.
Here’s your workbook.
And here’s your Data Model.
Now I’ll draw a lasso around both.
[TIM]
Because they belong together.
[REG]
Exactly.
The Data Model extends the capacity of the workbook…
Massively.
…but it is still attached to the workbook.
[TIM]
Which takes us straight back to my original stock report.
[REG]
Go on.
[TIM]
I’ve combined the warehouse data with Power Query.
I’ve loaded it into the Data Model.
I’ve created my PivotTable.
But the Data Model is attached to my workbook.
So if somebody needs my result—
[REG]
What do you do?
[TIM]
I have to give them the workbook.
Ah.
Okay.
Now I see where you’re going.
We’re still inside the workbook! Effectively.
We’ve extended the boundaries of the workbook, but we’re still inside it.
If you see what I mean!
[REG]
But here’ the thing.
There’s another way to extend Excel’s boundaries.
And this one is architecturally very different.
Instead of extending Excel into an analytical database attached to one workbook…
…we extend Excel into a relational database that exists independently of any workbook.
[TIM]
Our Digital Librarian.
[REG]
Exactly.
Let’s draw that.
Here’s the relational database in the middle.
And here is your spreadsheet.
And the lasso around both.
It can PUT data into the database.
It can GET data from the database.
But now let’s add another spreadsheet.
See?
That can use the same database.
And another.
And another.
Ten spreadsheets.
A hundred.
A thousand.
They can all use the same central source.
Or another way to understand this, the central source is part of each of these spreadsheets, equally, whenever they need.
[TIM]
So these are two completely different ways of breaking through the traditional boundary of Excel.
Now our spreadsheets have a massively extended boundary.
Massive scale.
Massive reach.
Collaboration.
Consolidation is a snip. The data is already in one place.
[REG]
Precisely.
And accessible from hundreds, or thousands, of spreadsheets!
Power Pivot and Power Query extends the capacity associated with a workbook for analytical purposes.
And is effectively inside the workbook.
The relational database extends Excel into a shared enterprise architecture.
[TIM]
And can the database could be Access?
[REG]
Absolutely.
For many departmental applications, Access is ideal.
You already saw that I can created the database directly from Excel.
You don’t even need to open Access.
As you saw.
[TIM]
So potentially no IT project.
[REG]
Correct.
No server procurement.
No six-month implementation.
No waiting a year for somebody to build you a database.
You can prove the architecture immediately.
And if the application subsequently needs global reach or much greater scale?
Move the tables to SQL Server, Azure SQL, Oracle or another suitable relational database.
Nowadays you can get one on the cloud in 15 minutes.
The architecture remains fundamentally the same.
[TIM]
So this is really about empowerment.
[REG]
Exactly.
And that was rather the point of personal computing.
The design goal of Microsoft Office in particular.

[TIM]
Wait.
That reminds me of something else.
I keep seeing discussions saying Excel is “becoming a database.”
[REG]
Yes.
[TIM]
But that now sounds rather odd.
[REG]
Why?
[TIM]
Because why would I want Excel to become a relational database?
We’ve just demonstrated that Excel can extend to one.
Excel can leverage a relational database at the drop of a hat!
[REG]
Correct.
[TIM]
And the relational database does the things that Excel worksheets aren’t designed to do.
Excel and Access are synergic.
Excel now has greater capability, like never before.
[REG]
Correct.
[TIM]
So rather than trying to stretch Excel until it behaves like a database…
…you let Excel be Excel…
…and let a relational database be a relational database that is under the command of Excel.
[REG]
Now you’re thinking architecturally.
[TIM]
And Excel connects the two.
[REG]
Exactly.
That’s the important capability.
Not:
“How can I turn my spreadsheet into a database?”
But:
“How can my spreadsheet leverage a relational database to extend its capabilities?”
Those are completely different questions.
[TIM]
And in an enterprise process, the second question is much more interesting.
[REG]
Much more.

[TIM]
But, there’s something slightly uncomfortable about this.
[REG]
What’s that?
[TIM]
All those criticisms of Excel.
Excel Hell.
Spreadsheet chaos.
Multiple versions.
Files being emailed around.
Broken links.
Nobody knowing which workbook is current.
[REG]
All real problems.
[TIM]
Yes.
But we’ve just eliminated all of them.
With just one small adjustment anyone can make.
[REG]
Exactly.
[TIM]
Using Excel.
[REG]
Exactly.
[TIM]
That’s awkward.
[REG]
For whom?
[TIM]
For anybody selling the idea that those problems are inherent limitations of Excel.
[REG]
Very awkward.
[TIM]
Because I can now see that Excel Hell isn’t necessarily caused by Excel.
[REG]
No.
Much of what gets called Excel Hell is caused by an architecture in which Excel is treated purely as an editable personal document.
The data is trapped inside documents.
So we send documents around.
We copy them.
We need to consolidate them.
We need to reconcile them.
We wonder which one is current.
We create links between them.
Then eventually the whole thing becomes unmanageable.
[TIM]
And somebody points at the mess and says:
“Look what Excel did.”
[REG]
Exactly.
[TIM]
When the real problem is the architecture.
One small step for a spreadsheet …
One giant step for my career!
[REG]
Yes.
Once you separate the data from the spreadsheets and centralise it, many of those supposed Excel problems simply disappear.
[TIM]
Which means the same tool being blamed for creating the problem can actually be part of the architecture that removes it.
[REG]
Now you understand why I find some of the anti-Excel marketing rather frustrating.

[TIM]
Okay.
Let’s go back to our inventory stock example.
We’ve centralised the data.
Everybody can refresh their PivotTable.
Is that basically the finished system?
[REG]
Why would it be?
[TIM]
I knew you were going to say that.
[REG]
Suppose one of the managers says:
“I hate PivotTables.”
[TIM]
There’s always one.
[REG]
More than one.
He says:
“Don’t give me a PivotTable. Just give me a report, like a list.”
[TIM]
Okay.
Normally he’d ask somebody to turn the PivotTable into the report he wants.
[REG]
Exactly.
More work.
Another spreadsheet.
Another manual process.
But why?
The data is already central.
So let’s give him exactly the report he wants.
Click GET.
There.
[TIM]
Oh.
Directly from the one version of the truth.
[REG]
Brand.
Product.
Colour.
Size.
Quantity.
Exactly the layout he asked for.
[TIM]
Am I right? That’s coming directly from the database?
[REG]
Yes.
No PivotTable required.
No intermediate report.
No person reformatting somebody else’s spreadsheet.
Just GET the information in the shape the user requires.
Directly.
[TIM]
So by having the database we have separated the data from the presentation.
[REG]
Very important point.
The data has one home.
But there can be dozens of different ways of presenting it.

[TIM]
Can we make it more interactive?
[REG]
Of course.
Look at this one.
Select a Brand.
[TIM]
Adidas.
[REG]
Now Product.
[TIM]
Men’s T-shirt.
[REG]
Colour?
[TIM]
Blue.
[REG]
Size?
[TIM]
Large.
Oh!
There’s the stock quantity.
[REG]
Current stock quantity.
[TIM]
Across the company?
[REG]
And alongside, there’s the breakdown by warehouse.
[TIM]
That’s much more useful.
So a call handler could use something like this.
[REG]
Exactly.
Customer phones.
What do you want?
Brand.
Product.
Colour.
Size.
How many?
The system immediately knows where the stock is.
[TIM]
And potentially I could place the order from here?
[REG]
Of course.
Click CONFIRM ORDER.
That’s a PUT.
[TIM]
Ah!
[REG]
Now you’re getting it.
GET isn’t just about reports.
PUT isn’t just about warehouses uploading stock.
They are simply two directions of travel.
Information comes from the Digital Librarian.
GET.
Information goes back to the Digital Librarian.
PUT.
[TIM]
Like borrowing a book from a library.
[REG]
GET.
[TIM]
And returning it.
[REG]
PUT.
[TIM]
That’s almost disappointingly simple.
[REG]
It should be.
The database isn’t the clever part.
The database is actually rather boring.
[TIM]
It is?
[REG]
The Digital Librarian just sits there.
You ask it for something, it gives it to you.
You give it something, it stores it.
Neatly structured.
All instructions to it given by the Excel spreadsheet.
The interesting work is deciding how the business process should work.

[TIM]
So let’s say the customer wants 50 shirts.
Warehouse 12 has 20.
Warehouse 36 has 30.
[REG]
Good.
[TIM]
The system could tell the call handler that the order needs to be fulfilled from two warehouses.
[REG]
Exactly.
[TIM]
Or maybe the business has a rule that it should come from the fewest possible warehouses.
[REG]
Fine.
[TIM]
Or there’s a minimum stock level we aren’t allowed to go below.
[REG]
Fine.
[TIM]
Or a manager wants an alert whenever stock falls below a reorder quantity.
[REG]
Fine.
[TIM]
You’re going to keep saying “fine”, aren’t you?
[REG]
Because you’re now asking the right questions.
You’re no longer asking:
“What feature does Excel have?”
You’re asking:
“How does the business want this process to work?”
Then we design the Excel solution around that requirement.

[TIM]
I think I’ve spotted something else.
[REG]
Go on.
[TIM]
This could spread virally.
[REG]
Exactly.
[TIM]
Because somebody in another department sees this stock system and says:
“Hang on. We’ve got exactly the same kind of problem.”
Not with stock.
Maybe invoices.
Or budgets.
Or project information.
Or helpdesk calls.
But the same basic problem.
Lots of spreadsheets.
Lots of people sending things to each other.
Lots of consolidation.
Lots of manual intervention.
Confusion.
[REG]
And now they’ve seen another architecture.
[TIM]
So they come to me.
[REG]
Yes.
[TIM]
Then another department sees what I’ve done.
[REG]
Yes.
[TIM]
And they come to me.
[REG]
Yes.
[TIM]
And another.
[REG]
Yes.
[TIM]
Reg…
I don’t think I’m going to be made redundant.
[REG]
That penny took a while to drop.
[TIM]
I’m going to be absolutely snowed under.
And nobody else in a hundred mile radius known this magic.
[REG]
And?
[TIM]
And perhaps why you’re paid three times as much.
[REG]
We’re getting there.
Top management are desperately looking for people with these Excel skills, but don’t know how to, or where to look.

[TIM]
Actually, that’s the real difference, isn’t it?
When I learned Power Query, I made myself more productive.
The Friday job that used to take me hours now takes minutes.
[REG]
Which is good.
[TIM]
Very good.
But from the company’s point of view, the process didn’t fundamentally change.
The warehouses still sent me spreadsheets.
I still produced the report.
My boss still distributed it.
The recipients still received the same limited snapshot.
I had improved my part of the job.
It didn’t impact the business in any shape or form.
Nobody cared. Why would they? Why would they even know?
[REG]
Exactly.
[TIM]
But what we’ve just done is different.
We’ve improved the productivity of the organisation.
[REG]
Now you’re talking.
[TIM]
We’ve eliminated unnecessary work.
We’ve eliminated delay.
We’ve eliminated distribution of physical documents.
We’ve made the information current.
We’ve created entirely new ways for people to interact with the same data.
And now other departments can copy the architecture.
[REG]
That is value creation.
[TIM]
And it’s visible.
[REG]
Very.
Highly visible.
[TIM]
The Board doesn’t care that I learned a clever Power Query technique.
[REG]
Why should they?
[TIM]
But they certainly care if I remove several unnecessary stages from a business process.
[REG]
Exactly.
[TIM]
They care if something that took a week now happens instantly.
Unattended.
Without anyone having to do anything.
[REG]
Yes.
[TIM]
They care if 500 people can get current information without somebody having to produce and distribute 500 reports.
[REG]
Yes.
[TIM]
They care if I can eliminate a system somebody was proposing to spend a million pounds on.
[REG]
They become very interested then.
[TIM]
And that’s when my value changes.
[REG]
Precisely.
You stop being merely the person who is better at Excel.
You become the person who uses Excel to make the whole organisation better.
And create value at enterprise scale.
That’s a very different proposition.

[TIM]
So the real skill isn’t GET.
[REG]
No.
[TIM]
Or PUT.
[REG]
No.
[TIM]
Or Access.
[REG]
No.
[TIM]
Or SQL Server.
[REG]
No.
[TIM]
It’s seeing the process.
[REG]
Exactly.
Seeing the process.
Seeing unnecessary movement.
Seeing duplication.
Seeing data trapped in documents.
Seeing people doing work that the Excel architecture could make unnecessary.
And then asking:
“What would this process look like if all these spreadsheets could share the same data?”
That’s the intellectual work.
GET and PUT are just the plumbing.

[TIM]
There’s one last thing bothering me.
[REG]
Only one?
[TIM]
For now.
You created an Access database from Excel.
[REG]
Yes.
[TIM]
Excel can read from it.
[REG]
Yes.
[TIM]
Excel can write to it.
[REG]
Yes.
[TIM]
Multiple Excel workbooks can use it as their common Digital Librarian.
[REG]
Correct.
[TIM]
And we don’t even need to open Access.
[REG]
Correct.
[TIM]
Then why do I keep reading that Access is dead?
[REG]
Ah.
[TIM]
I’ve even seen people suggest Microsoft needs to bring database capabilities into Excel.
Some even say that Microsoft are already doing that.
[REG]
Yes.
[TIM]
But we’ve just spent all this time demonstrating that Excel already has them.
[REG]
Not quite.
[TIM]
What do you mean?
[REG]
Excel doesn’t need to be the relational database.
That’s the point.
Excel already knows how to use a relational database.
And once you understand why that distinction matters…
…you’ve understood something rather important about Enterprise Excel.
[TIM]
So why do people keep saying Access is dead?
[REG]
You’ll have to ask them.
[TIM]
That’s your answer?
[REG]
For now. The way I see it, they’re trying to make a case that Airplanes and Airports are equivalents. That airplane manufacturers are trying to bring airport functionality into airplanes.
So, soon airports will no longer be necessary.
[TIM]
That’s a bizarre mentality. Quite extraordinary!
[REG]
Yes.
Because.
I suppose the word airplane and airport sound similar.
Or that airports serve food; and so do airplanes?
[TIM]
And they both have seats?
Windows?
[REG]
Toilets!
[TIM]
You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?
[REG]
Immensely.
[TIM]
I suppose there’s a Part 3?
[REG]
Oh, Tim.
We’ve barely started.