Why Use MS Access
Cost
Access comes packaged with Microsoft 365 and so it may already be part of your standard operating environment.
Ease of Use
As with all Microsoft products, Access has that familiar Microsoft ‘look and feel’. It can be operated and designed by simply clicking menus and objects.
Support
Microsoft Access is one of the best-selling desktop databases of all time. As such you can be sure of future support, and with Microsoft’s backing it should be around for some time to come.
Integration
Access has been designed to works well with other products in the Microsoft 365 suite. It has been designed with integration in mind.
Multi-user
Since the beginning, Access was designed to operate on a network. Microsoft say that the latest version will support 255 concurrent users; however, in practice we would recommend a more comfortable limit of 15 to 20 simultaneous users.
Cost of Develpment
The popularity of Access with database developers provides you with greater choice of developers and lower development rates consistent with a competitive marketplace.
Scalable
Access has an upgrade path. So, if performance starts to suffer from an ever- increasing number of users or records, you can upsize to SQL Server.
Future Proof
Because Microsoft is constantly improving their database you can be sure that your investment is future proof. Microsoft Access is not a dead-end product.
Legacy Data
Access can import many data formats so your existing data is not lost. When properly exploited, and electronic data is available, this feature alone can save hundreds of data input hours.