I kind of disagree, because what I often see is people causing more difficulties for themselves than if they made the jump to Access, SQL, or even building an a

I kind of disagree, because what I often see is people causing more difficulties for themselves than if they made the jump to Access, SQL, or even building an application. There is arguably a kind of limit to how far one should take using Excel. Microsoft clearly knows this, so has Access waiting there for those that figure out they should go the next level up. Even then, Access might not be the best answer, as compared to creating an application that addresses specific needs.