Replacing a Microsoft Access Database That Has Hit Its Limits

The usual replacement for an overloaded Microsoft Access database is a web application with a SQL Server database behind it. Your tables and data move to SQL Server, and the Access forms and reports are rebuilt as browser screens. The result handles many users at once, works from anywhere, and does not corrupt when two people save at the same moment.

Signs this is your problem

• Users see “database is locked” or “needs to be repaired” messages.
• The file is approaching 2 GB, or you compact it regularly to keep it working.
• Staff who work remotely have to use remote desktop to reach it.
• A new version of Office or Windows broke something.
• The person who built it is no longer available.
• You need customers or other offices to reach the data.

Why Access databases run out of road

Access is a good product for what it was built for: a desktop database for one person or a small workgroup. Businesses get into trouble when a small Access database quietly becomes the system the company depends on.

• It has a hard size limit. An Access database file cannot exceed 2 GB.
• It struggles with many users. Access shares one file across the network. The more people in it at once, the slower it gets and the greater the chance of corruption.
• It does not travel. Access needs Windows and a copy of Access on every PC. Microsoft retired Access web apps in 2018, so there is no Microsoft route to put an Access database in a browser.
• Security is thin. Anyone who can open the file can usually copy all of it.
• It was built by one person. Often years ago, often by someone who has since left.

Two ways to move off Access

Step one only: move the data to SQL Server and keep the Access screens. This relieves the size and corruption problems quickly. It does not give you remote access, and you are still tied to Access on every desk.

The full move: SQL Server plus a web application. The data goes to SQL Server and the forms, queries and reports are rebuilt as a web application. This is the lasting fix. People sign in from any browser, each sees what their role allows, and the system can grow with the company.

Many clients do the first as a stopgap and the second as the real project. We can tell you which makes sense after looking at the database.

What happens to the work already in the database

Nothing is thrown away. Years of records move across. The queries, the validation rules and the VBA behind the forms tell us exactly how the business uses the system, and all of that is carried into the new application. Reports are rebuilt to match the ones your people rely on, then improved.

How Keene Systems handles it

1. We review the Access database. Tables, queries, forms, reports and code are inventoried so nothing is missed.
2. We move the data to SQL Server. Data is cleaned and checked record for record against the original.
3. We rebuild the screens as a web application. In short cycles, starting with the screens people use most.
4. We run both in parallel, then retire Access. Your team switches when the new system has proved itself.

The next step is a short, no-pressure conversation. Book a call with Lance Keene or use the form on this page.