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Microsoft Access

Score7.6 out of 10

842 Reviews and Ratings

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What is Microsoft Access?

Microsoft Access is a database management system from Microsoft that combines the relational Microsoft Jet Database Engine with a graphical user interface and software-development tools.

Categories & Use Cases

Reviews

What users are saying about Microsoft Access.
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Great for small database work

Incentivized
Verified User
Administrator (5001-10,000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Our organization uses Microsoft Access to create and manage databases based on our unique data sets. Access gives us the flexibility for different staff members to generate reports for their programming needs. We also have the option to view the database in different views. This is important since the level of technological competence differs for staff, so having the option to view data in different ways is more meaningful and helpful to staff.

Pros

  • Individual entry data points
  • Option for multiple individuals to access the database
  • Ability to view data in different views

Cons

  • Speed of functionality decreases as size of database increases
  • Complex programming sometimes take a long time to run
  • Both good and bad, all data is in a single file

Return on Investment

  • We have only been able to train about 20% of employees to the point of competency with Access.
  • The younger workforce doesn't appear tolerant of individual level of data entry

Usability

Other Software Used

Microsoft 365, Microsoft Excel, Cloud Signage for Google Drive

Nice when is included

Incentivized
Jose Eduardo EscobarView profile
Security Officer in Information Technology at CrediQ (1001-5000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We needed a lightweight solution that could be easily integrated with our SQL server and could be installed on the user's computers

Pros

  • Easy to Use
  • Lightweight
  • Included with our office 365 licenses

Cons

  • Speed
  • Table size
  • Full text search

Most Important Features

  • Included in our office 365 licenses
  • Lightweight
  • Flexible

Return on Investment

  • No cost for us
  • Easy installation
  • Small learning curve

Alternatives Considered

PostgreSQL and MySQL

Other Software Used

PostgreSQL, AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Azure Machine Learning

Best in Business, Microsoft Access!

Incentivized
Rounak Verma
Data Analyst in Engineering at Wayfair (5001-10,000 employees employees)

Pros

  • Very easy to create entity-relationship diagrams for various tables and designing mock layouts.
  • Really easy to navigate as it hold[s] the classic Microsoft UI. Another good thing is that it comes with the complete MS Office Suite.
  • It is really fast when joining multiple tables no matter what type of join.
  • Works on pretty much same SQL scripts so no need to learn a new language!

Cons

  • Need to backup very frequently, I have lost my work many times.
  • No version for Mac users, [I believe this is a] big limitation.
  • The ability to handle large database and multiple users.
  • UI is easy to use but [I feel it] can be improved a lot.

Most Important Features

  • The ability to create ER diagrams easily.
  • Easy to use classic Microsoft user interface makes it easier to use for folks with little technical knowhow.
  • Very low cost and pocket friendly to use.

Return on Investment

  • Microsoft Access is very low in cost as compared to its competitors and provides value for money spent.
  • Comes with Office Suite for your whole organization. Easy to install and use.
  • Many people had to shift to Windows in order to use those as there is no Mac version.

Alternatives Considered

Snowflake

Other Software Used

Snowflake, DataGrip, Tableau Desktop

A powerful database that lets you organize your data as you like

Incentivized
Peggi WolfeView profile
Global Programs Specialist at Alcorn State University (501-1000 employees employees)

Pros

  • Generates information about department events, services, orders, etc. quickly and in report form.
  • Easy to design forms and reports with drag and drop components. You don't need to know coding.
  • The ability to link tables and queries to get all the info needed for forms and reports
  • Forms and reports are easy to customize and edit.
  • Easily report your data grouped and sorted by any field

Cons

  • Microsoft Access has not really changed at all for several years. It might be nice to see some upgrades and changes.
  • The help info is often not helpful. Need more tutorials for Microsoft Access to show how to do specific things.
  • Be careful naming objects such as tables, forms, etc. Names that are too long can get cut off in dialog boxes to choose a table, form, report, etc. So, I wish they would have resizable dialog boxes to allow you to see objects with long names.
  • I wish it could show me objects that are not in use in the database for current queries, tables, reports, forms, and macros. That way unused objects can be deleted without worrying about losing a report or query because you deleted the underlying object.

Most Important Features

  • Relational database with the ability to pull data from multiple tables to create queries
  • Creating reports on events held by our department with important data collected
  • Ability to import data from Excel into Access or export Access tables into Excel
  • Having pre-defined macros that can be customized to open specific reports or forms, etc.
  • Easily change what data is included in reports or forms by editing previous queries to select new criteria

Return on Investment

  • Microsoft Access has had a mostly positive impact on our business objectives in that most of our work is funded by grants and those grants need reports with data about our projects. Microsoft Access makes getting and organizing that data very easy.
  • Another positive is that since it is built on an Excel backbone, Excel files can be easily imported into Microsoft Access and also it is easy to export Microsoft Access reports, data sheets, etc. into Excel and some other programs as well. That might help more people who already use Excel learn how to work in a database.
  • I can't really think of a negative impact other than not many people at my workplace have ever used or understand how to use a database. Most people tend to use Excel rather than a database, like Microsoft Access.

Other Software Used

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365), Adobe PhotoShop, Canva

Very powerful, but not easy to configure

Incentivized
Alicia Barevich, bCRE, bCEEView profile
Database Administrator in Information Technology at Self (1-10 employees employees)

Pros

  • Fully customizable
  • Forms enable customized easy entry
  • Reports can solve pretty much any need
  • Mailmerge and emails can automate any task.

Cons

  • Very high learning curve
  • Hard to code complex reports without a ton of time and skill
  • No support resources for reporting help.

Most Important Features

  • Customization
  • Form creation
  • Mailmerge/emails

Return on Investment

  • Most cheap small-scale options aren't customizable enough. [Microsoft] Access is effectively the only option that mostly gives everything we need.
  • Without [Microsoft] Access, our process would be a mess of inefficiencies.

Alternatives Considered

SAP Crystal and Salesforce CMS

Other Software Used

Veracross, Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued), Google Drive

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