Excel used to be the poor schmuck’s database, with spreadsheets that just sort of sat there. You could create something more sophisticated with LOOKUP functions, but they were a huge hassle to set up.

Originally, Excel was not designed to be a real database. Its early database functions were limited in quantity and in quality. And because every record in an Excel database is visible on the screen ...

This article is also available as a PDF download. Your data is important. In fact, it’s critical to your business. Entering, storing, and maintaining valid data is the most important job of any ...