Microsoft Access is the Business Software Design and Database element of Microsoft Office 365.
It cleverly combines a rapid-development graphic user interface with can combine its own database engine or with other databases, e.g. SQL server.
It is fully multi-user, fully supported and the perfect platform for businesses to take advantage of bespoke business software.
What Is A Database?
A database is a group of tables of related data. You can imagine a table as being quite similar to a spreadsheet of data with column names and rows of records.
An example of a database is a Sales Order database. As a minimum, it would have two tables, one for customer information and one for sales orders.
Keeping the customer information in a separate table from the sales order information means that you don’t have to type in the customer information in full each time. Instead, in the sales order table you would just add in, for example, the customer’s account number.
This is how the two tables would store related data. You would first find an order in the order table, find the account number and then look that up in the table of customer data. A computer can do this sort of cross-referencing in the blink of an eye.
What Types Of Business System Can Be Made With Microsoft Access?
- CRM
- Order Processing
- Logistics
- Finance
- Stock Control
- Manufacturing
- Planning
- Payroll
- Purchasing
- Site Management
- Mapping
- Asset Control
- Event Management
- Project Management
- Maintenance
- Quality Control
- Technical Support
- Accounting
Microsoft Access can be used to make any and all different types of Custom Business System.
What Programming Language Does MS Access Use?
Microsoft Access, and all the Microsoft Office programs, use Visual Basic for Applications which is a subset of Microsoft Visual Basic.
The code is the same for Microsoft Excel, Word and Outlook. It is easy to integrate all these programs with an Access system and use Access to interact or control them to increase your efficiency and productivity. e.g. Creating charts in Excel or Emailing report with Outlook.
Does It Take A Long Time To Make A Microsoft Access System?
The length of time it will take depends on the complexity of your requirements. Some Access Business Systems can take just a few weeks, others will take several months.
The more time that goes into preparation and end-user testing, the more likely things are to run smoothly.
What Are The Limitations of Microsoft Access?
Each software system has some limitations. These are generally related to the total number of records to be stored, and the amount of traffic to and from the database. For the Microsoft Access engine there is a file size limit of 2GB. Developers usually work around this by splitting up the data into multiple ‘backend’ databases. If you use a database like SQL Server, then the size limit is much, much higher, but obviously comes with a cost. Many businesses do not need to make this extra investment and only require the native Access Database Engine.
With regard to the number of simultaneous users, it depends on how well the system has been put together and how much Access is demanding of its database. There are many Access system across the world with 100+ users.
At Working Data have been helping clients with multi-modular whole-business systems since 2005.
Interested In Finding Out What MS Access Can Do For Your Business?
We have a quick form for you to fill in to get things under way.
Custom Software Development
Save time and money, while boosting productivity
Upgrade From Spreadsheets
Reduce errors and improve sharing of information.
Add a Comment