Our business still runs on an Access database

Somewhere in the office there’s a file with a name like Orders_FINAL_v3.accdb. Someone built it years ago, probably someone good with computers who isn’t a developer, and over time half the business came to depend on it: quotes, orders, stock, customer history, the monthly report.

It still works, mostly. But it’s slower than it used to be, two people can’t use it at once without trouble, and the person who understood it either left or is the only one who dares to change it.

Access isn’t the problem by itself

Microsoft Access is still sold and supported, and for a small team with a modest amount of data it can be perfectly fine. Plenty of businesses have run on one for twenty years.

It becomes a problem when the business outgrows what it was designed for. Look out for these signs:

• More people use it at once. Access shares a single file over the network, and the more people work in it at the same time, the more often it slows down, locks up or gets corrupted.
• The file keeps growing. An Access file can’t go beyond 2 GB. Long before that, it gets slow and fragile.
• People need it away from the office. Access doesn’t work in a web browser, so remote staff end up on remote desktops, VPNs or emailed copies.
• One person understands it. Forms, queries and code built up over years, with no documentation and no copy of how it’s supposed to work.
• Nobody is sure about backups. If the file corrupted tonight, how much would you lose?

If two or three of these sound familiar, it’s time to plan a move, calmly, before a corrupted file plans it for you.

Your options, from smallest to largest

1. Move the data, keep the screens. Your data moves into a proper database server such as SQL Server, and the Access forms your team already knows keep working on top of it. This fixes most of the speed, size and corruption problems with the least disruption, and it’s often the right first step.
2. Rebuild it in Microsoft 365. If you already use Microsoft 365, simpler databases can move to SharePoint lists and Power Apps. That works well for straightforward tracking, less well for complex logic and reports.
3. Replace it with an off-the-shelf product. If what you built is essentially a CRM, stock system or job tracker, a ready-made product might now do it better. The work is in moving the data and adjusting how the team works.
4. Build a proper web application. For databases that hold business logic nothing off the shelf matches, a custom system gives you browser access, proper permissions and room to grow. It’s the largest option, and the one most worth doing in stages.

How to move without losing anything

Whichever option you choose, the risky part is the same: the data and the rules hidden in it. An old Access database usually has years of quirks, such as duplicate customers, free-text fields used for three different things, or a calculation in a report that nobody remembers adding.

A safe move starts by writing down what the database actually does, then moves the data in steps and checks it against the original until the numbers match, and keeps the old file available until everyone trusts the new system. How to check migrated data is actually correct goes into that part in more detail.

If your business depends on an Access database and you're not sure what to do with it, reach out to us. We'll look at what it does, tell you plainly which option fits, and move it for you without losing a record.