It definitely is a scary business proposition for them to improve Excel and awaken the 800lb gorilla. Microsoft is certainly capable of improving Excel in ways that might even improve the productivity of the entire world. Seems like some of these startups are likely just giving training to future Microsoft employees.
Agree with this. When battling Microsoft product can matter less than things like contracts and licensing. I have to believe that businesses are spending so much on Azure that they get Office for free (as an analogy - at a previous employer GSuite was nearly free because our AdSense bill was so high). Businesses are unlikely to pay extra for a few more features when they already have Excel and have no plans to move off Azure.
Excel is constantly being improved. Are you aware of Power Query? And how about the 14 news functions that were released to Insiders a few weeks ago? Excel Online is far behind the desktop version of Excel but it's making fast progress.
