VBA is therefore different from the Standalone Visual Basic program used(by professional programmers) for developing commercial quality software applications _ though it borrows many of the latter's features. Think of Excel VBA as being the standalone Visual Basic software, built into Excel for the benefit of Excel users who are not necessarily programmers, but who are keen to exert more control over the application. So, Excel VB offers any interested users the necessary tools to make the application deliver more functionality. The final product is still an Excel document, but with extra functionalities added using VBA.
Spreadsheet Automation Facilitates EFFORTLESS Data Handling, Analysis & Report Generation! Sometimes people don't really care about learning(or using) all the "cool' advanced functions, formulas and techniques in the spreadsheet application they use for their work. They just want to punch in their relevant raw data _ at any time _ and immediately see the computed results generated by the spreadsheet in a manner that can facilitate their important decision making.
You will find this article of considerable reading value, if you belong to at least ONE of the following spreadsheet user categories: Owners of Small Businesses _ Restaurants/Bars, Hotels, Hospitals, Factories, Consultants etc; Decision Makers/Job Holders in Corporations _ Materials Managers, Sales/Marketing Analysts, Financial Analysts/Accountants, Project Engineers; And Anyone desiring to make BETTER sense _ and use _ of data!
In effect what I am saying is that companies which get the most value from spreadsheet automation(including using it to avoid expenditure on less adaptable commercial off the shelf applications) will be those which empower their users to routinely generate "in house" solutions. In such companies, you will find that only when the requirement becomes considerably specialised or complex, does the IT department get called upon to develop or purchase software solutions for user departments or functions with significant data recording and analysis needs.