I think the main issue has always been that "The Business" -- that nebulous, supposedly all-knowing corporate entity -- never wanted their employees to rely on a spreadsheets stuck on somebody's shared network drive. The issue has never been "formalisation" -- we already have tools for that, though they could surely do with improvement -- but the ad hoc nature that is, over time, festooned with more and more features or blessed as the Official way of doing something -- and when that happens, it's not going anywhere; it's too late to change.