I started a new job where I was not officially a programmer and my machine was locked down so that I could use basically nothing except Microsoft Office, and after a couple of months, I have taught myself to do nearly any sort of data processing I previously did with Linux, Oracle, Perl, Selenium, etc. using Excel, Access, and VBA. Obviously, this doesn't involve that much data, but my previous job was really not "big data" either and they paid for all sorts of expensive licenses.
I'm enjoying myself much more than I used to, because I've escaped the red tape of development and get to solve problems that matter to nontechnical people without intermediaries predigesting the requirements.
If I was starting a business, I would definitely always try to do almost anything with Excel and Access first before deciding to invest in an industrial strength solution whether Postgres, Oracle or "big data".
I'm enjoying myself much more than I used to, because I've escaped the red tape of development and get to solve problems that matter to nontechnical people without intermediaries predigesting the requirements.
If I was starting a business, I would definitely always try to do almost anything with Excel and Access first before deciding to invest in an industrial strength solution whether Postgres, Oracle or "big data".