Happy Birthday Excel

Excel is 40! Yes, 40. But is it a happy birthday?

It is without doubt one of the most well known and used pieces of software across the globe. it even, in 95 had a hidden game in it.

Let's fast forward to today. I'm not the first to call out Excel as the scourge of the social housing sector. It has almost become the measurement of inefficiency. The more spreadsheets you have as manual workarounds or stop gaps, the worse. It's day to day use is not the problem. When it does become a problem is when it is used as an operational tool used as a replacement because your housing system/s cannot do something.

But let's pause. Is it actually Excel that is the problem? Is it the software loved by millions of accountants that is the problem. Is it the software that millions of grandpas record their mileages, fuel consumption and every single journey on (Come on, you must admit you know someone that does that).

Is it actually the software though that is the problem? No, it really isn't. Before I continue, did you know that Excel is actually an esport, with the Microsoft Excel World Championship 2025 is an esports tournament that is based, yes, that's right, Microsoft Excel. The tournament has a series of Qualification Rounds followed by Online Playoff Rounds, followed by the Live finals in Las Vegas. It's a big thing, really, it is!

Back to the subject however.

Let me get something right, I am not a hater of Excel. It is after all one of the most significant pieces of software in history. Yes it is. Really. I was for some years, way back, admit that I was a fan of Lotus 1-2-3. But the might of Microsoft won that battle, and here we are, MS Excel is a dominant force, like it or not.

So, what is it about Excel and it's use in the UK Social Housing sector? Well, as I hinted above it's a sign of inefficiency. I have seen so many landlords use Excel as something they are almost forced into using because:

• Their Housing Management System is not able to do what they want.
• Perhaps it was never set up right in the first place.
• They don't have any software/application that they can use for a specific purpose, so
• Linked to above, they have not invested and taken the cheaper and easier route.

There may indeed be more reasons as to why Excel is a workaround or indeed simply being used because, just because.

It seems to creep up on an organisation. It becomes and epidemic in some cases. I have seen it proliferated across an organisation so much so that its very hard to re-engineer away from them.

I believe there is a place for Excel and I believe it is a great piece of software, but I do not agree that it should be used for core operational aspects such as Voids, ASB, Repairs for example.

I also see some obvious and rather basic issues and dangers in using Excel.

• Version control: Excel documents are more often often shared and edited by multiple people across email, across file locations, shared drives etc. This can result in multiple versions of the same file. Without proper version control, it can be difficult to determine which version is the most up to date, leading to errors.
• Security: In the examples above Excel documents can contain sensitive information. Without proper access controls, this information can be accessed by unauthorised individuals. This is a serious issue that a great deal of people do not think of when using Excel.
• Data integrity: When data is entered or manipulated manually in Excel, there is a higher risk of human error. This can lead to inaccurate or inconsistent data, that can have serious consequences for decision making and reporting.
• Corruption: Excel docs can be corrupted. It does happen.

You may by now start to see where the problems lie.

So, use Excel, but use it in the right manner and for the right purpose.