Important Database Concepts - Microsoft Business Intelligence Tools for Excel Analysts - page 6

What exactly does this concept have to do with Excel? People who perform data analysis with Excel
tend to fuse the data, the analysis, and the presentation together. For example, you often see an Excel
workbook that has 12 worksheets, each representing a month. On each worksheet, data for that
month is listed along with formulas, PivotTables, and summaries. What happens when you're asked to
provide a summary by quarter? Do you add more formulas and worksheets to consolidate the data
on each of the month worksheets? The fundamental problem in this scenario is that the worksheets
actually represent data values that are fused into the presentation of your analysis. The point here is
that data should not be tied to a particular presentation, no matter how apparently logical or useful it
may be. However, in Excel, it happens all the time.
In addition, because all manners and phases of analysis can be done directly within a spreadsheet,
Excel cannot effectively provide adequate transparency to the analysis. Each cell has the potential of
holding hidden formulas and containing links to other cells. In Excel, the line between analysis and
data is blurred, which makes it difficult to determine exactly what is going on in a spreadsheet.
Moreover, it takes a great deal of effort in the way of manual maintenance to ensure that edits and
unforeseen changes don't affect previous analyses.
Relational database systems inherently separate analytical components into tables, queries, and
reports. By separating these elements, databases make data less sensitive to changes and create a
data analysis environment where you can easily respond to new requests for analysis without
destroying previous analyses.
In these days of big data, there are more demands for complex data analysis, not fewer. You have to
add some tools to your repertoire to get away from being simply “spreadsheet mechanics.” Excel can
be stretched to do just about anything, but maintaining such “creative” solutions can be a tedious
manual task. You can be sure that the exciting part of data analysis is not in routine data manage-
ment within Excel. Rather, it is in leveraging of BI tools to provide your clients with the best solution
for any situation.
Database Terminology
The terms database, table, record, field, and value indicate a hierarchy from largest to smallest. These
same terms are used with virtually all database systems, so you should learn them well.
Databases
Generally, the word database is a computer term for a collection of information concerning a certain
topic or business application. Databases help you organize this related information in a logical fash-
ion for easy access and retrieval. Some older database systems used the term database to describe
individual tables. Current use of database applies to all elements of a database system.
Databases aren't only for computers. There are also manual databases; sometimes they're referred to
as manual filing systems or manual database systems. These filing systems usually consist of people,
folders, and filing cabinets — and paper, which is the key to a manual database system. In a real
manual database system, you probably have in/out baskets and some type of formal filing method.