When I explore the requirement “Export to Excel” more with end-users, the use-cases can be boiled down to two main categories, probably split 50/50: tactical operational and / or ad hoc reporting needs. Typically the Excel work-around is due to technical debt, and while perfectly solving for it is likely not feasible, there are ways to mitigate and minimize.

As a data professional, a necessary skill is Data Archaeology (Archeology). This requires persistence, detective skills, and technical reverse-engineering techniques.

This methodology reduces application development / release overhead, ensures the business unit can keep their applications relevant, provides information to analysts on how this data should roll-up, all while maintaining a historical mapping and persistence. This aids in ad-hoc reporting, data quality, and reduces development overhead.