So?<p>Many great projects start out as excel spreadsheets: someone has a problem, solves it with excel, then goes on to solve other problems with that spreadsheet. People use it and become dependent on it, but over time the thing becomes intractable.<p>At that point in time, the functionality of the spreadsheet gets implemented by actual developers into some &quot;engineered application.&quot;<p>If you are suggesting to NOT start with excel, then propose another solution-- but good luck getting anyone to use it. The key thing is, no one wants to engage &quot;software engineers $$$&quot; to solve a problem that lands on their desk which they handle by themselves.