This is also one reason why users in corporate environments solve so many problems with Excel: it's a powerful, easy-to-use tool for making custom "applications

This is also one reason why users in corporate environments solve so many problems with Excel: it's a powerful, easy-to-use tool for making custom "applications" (within certain constraints) that is already installed on your work machine. No approval process, no procurement, no IT staff involvement; just users getting things done with what they have.