Does perfect BI include Excel

Why is BI currently so topical for business owners and executives in mid-size organisations? Can Excel be considered a part of the picture in defining the perfect BI solution? The BI industry is heavily laden with technical concepts such as Meta Data, Data Marts, Data Warehouses, EUQR, OLAP, Dashboards, Scorecards, Advanced Visualisation, Predictive Modelling… and thanks to Microsoft, the  recent release of their latest and greatest “power pivot” concept . There is no end to the list of BI acronyms designed to bedazzle – or should that be beguile – businesses around the globe. What are all these geeky BI dictionary terms, and why do we have to put up with them? Surely its simpler than that, can’t we just agree that the vast majority of users actually just want information in an Excel spreadsheet? What role should Excel play in the BI industry in future and should Excel and BI even be allowed in the same sentence? Absolutely say some, definitely not say others – so where’s the middle ground?