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Using spreadsheets causes problems in many collaborative enterprise activities, our benchmark research reveals. One way to eliminate them is to replace your spreadsheets in a given process or functional area with an application dedicated to the particular task. The ability to manage the process and workflows, in addition to eliminating the problems associated with rolling up multiple spreadsheets (which is time-consuming and prone to error), can make a dedicated application the best option. In cases such as budgeting, incentive compensation management and sales and operations planning, to name just three, ditching spreadsheets for a dedicated application from a software company may be the way to go, particularly for larger organizations. For smaller companies, there is a growing list of software-as-a-service (SaaS) options that are affordable and easy to deploy.
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Ditching spreadsheets is usually good idea, but not always. In my IT shop, I have developed my own code generation tools for a number of language platforms right in Excel. Macros and COM objects give the platform power and flexibility that the average user doesn't tap, but in my situation, it works great. IDE add-ons were expensive and not as flexible. Yes, I must treat it like any other application in terms of maintenance and upgrades, but that's what we do. Forms and database connectivity are no-brainers in Excel for those who know VBA.