Microsoft Access Upscaling

Microsoft Access is a wonderful database platform for rapid application development. We've created countless Access apps over the years for clients who needed something quickly and on a tight budget. We've even successfully stretched Access beyond the limits of what Microsoft intended it to do. But as companies grow, their Access applications may no longer keep pace.

Benefits of upscaling Access include:

• Enterprise-level multi-user and security requirements
• Usability over a WAN or the Internet
• Expanded storage capacity and performance
• Improved maintainability of code and business logic
• Better integration with other systems
• Migration to a technology preferred by your organization

What kind of strategies are available? We'll help you assess the options, keeping in mind your forward vision and budget.

Start Fresh and Migrate

Often the cleanest way to upscale is by building a new system in a completely different technology and porting the data over. This fresh start lets you build an ideal system unhindered by your existing code base. You are free to add new functionality without having to figure out how to work it into the current framework.

Need to get your database running on the Internet? Build fresh as a web application in ASP.NET or PHP or Java. Modern Web 2.0 technologies can provide a feature-rich web interface for your database.

If you are overhauling other information systems at the same time, this is a perfect way to build a new system architecture fresh, and do it in a way that will allow future growth.

Shore Up Existing System

Sometimes, you don't really want to go about rebuilding the entire interface. You just want it to perform a little faster. If this is an isolated system, perhaps it doesn't really matter that all your business logic is locked up in VBA code within your Access application? Perhaps this is an in-house system that doesn't need to be on the internet?

It may be sufficient to move your back end data onto Microsoft SQL Server, while retaining your Access front end. This isn't always as straightforward as it sounds. Access queries can contain statements and embedded functions not supported by SQL Server. These need to be rewritten. Network performance can still plague an Access database in this configuration. We may create Views or Stored Procedures in SQL Server that optimize performance wherever possible. We've even built cool solutions using web services to move business logic out of Access.

Deploy a Terminal Server

If you're having trouble running Access remotely, but don't have the budget to rewrite your application, a quick fix is to configure a terminal server. By keeping the front and back end of your Access application local, and connecting to it via RDC or VNC or Citrix or similar solution, you minimize the network traffic that slows down Access. (You might even do this yourself without hiring us! Oh well...glad we could help!)