Microsoft Access vs. MS SharePoint / SQL

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Microsoft Access
Score 7.5 out of 10
N/A
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.
$139.99
per PC
MS SharePoint / SQL
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
MS SharePoint / SQL refers to Microsoft Sharepoint, a web-based collaborative platform, being used in tandem with Microsoft SQL Server to provide business intelligence analytics and reporting. They can provide BI content such as data connections, reports, scorecards, dashboards, and more.N/A
Pricing
Microsoft AccessMS SharePoint / SQL
Editions & Modules
Microsoft Access
$139.99
per PC
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft AccessMS SharePoint / SQL
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Microsoft AccessMS SharePoint / SQL
Considered Both Products
Microsoft Access
Chose Microsoft Access
SharePoint does a lot of things fairly well but access is streamlined for data and allows you to use it quicker and more efficiently than what you could with SharePoint.
MS SharePoint / SQL

No answer on this topic

Features
Microsoft AccessMS SharePoint / SQL
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Access
-
Ratings
MS SharePoint / SQL
7.3
66 Ratings
11% below category average
Pixel Perfect reports00 Ratings7.547 Ratings
Customizable dashboards00 Ratings7.363 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates00 Ratings7.056 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Access
-
Ratings
MS SharePoint / SQL
7.1
61 Ratings
12% below category average
Drill-down analysis00 Ratings6.450 Ratings
Formatting capabilities00 Ratings7.961 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages00 Ratings6.236 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration00 Ratings8.158 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Access
-
Ratings
MS SharePoint / SQL
7.5
66 Ratings
9% below category average
Publish to Web00 Ratings7.359 Ratings
Publish to PDF00 Ratings7.955 Ratings
Report Versioning00 Ratings7.555 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling00 Ratings7.145 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers00 Ratings7.438 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Access
-
Ratings
MS SharePoint / SQL
6.7
43 Ratings
17% below category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)00 Ratings6.341 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization00 Ratings6.938 Ratings
Predictive Analytics00 Ratings7.136 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining00 Ratings6.69 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Access
-
Ratings
MS SharePoint / SQL
8.6
78 Ratings
1% above category average
Multi-User Support (named login)00 Ratings8.868 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model00 Ratings8.572 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)00 Ratings8.577 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings8.411 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)00 Ratings8.562 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Access
-
Ratings
MS SharePoint / SQL
8.3
67 Ratings
7% above category average
Responsive Design for Web Access00 Ratings7.865 Ratings
Mobile Application00 Ratings7.243 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile00 Ratings8.044 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Access
-
Ratings
MS SharePoint / SQL
6.8
46 Ratings
12% below category average
REST API00 Ratings7.436 Ratings
Javascript API00 Ratings7.235 Ratings
iFrames00 Ratings5.834 Ratings
Java API00 Ratings6.231 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)00 Ratings6.841 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)00 Ratings7.431 Ratings
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Microsoft AccessMS SharePoint / SQL
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User Ratings
Microsoft AccessMS SharePoint / SQL
Likelihood to Recommend
5.0
(99 ratings)
8.3
(87 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(15 ratings)
8.8
(7 ratings)
Usability
7.0
(5 ratings)
8.2
(22 ratings)
Availability
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
6.4
(5 ratings)
8.8
(7 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
7.0
(2 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
5.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft AccessMS SharePoint / SQL
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
Microsoft Access can be easily implemented with training. It doesn't require expert level skill for basic reporting functions - but can be scaled to a complex database with sophisticated users. Its appropriate to consider if excel needs to be used to create reports, or if there are data entry needs - with corresponding reports.
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Microsoft
As I mentioned in my previous answers, MS SharePoint is very useful as a shared drive for the organization and is very easy to manage. It also helps us import data from SharePoint directly into PowerBI for creating reports. According to my understanding, only share link features should be improved.
Read full review
Pros
Microsoft
  • 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!
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Flexible - able to make any changes we would like vs traditional service desk system.
  • ROI - We were already using SharePoint for internal intranet, so we are simply getting more use out of licensing we had already committed to.
  • Easy to use for end users.
Read full review
Cons
Microsoft
  • 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.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • It is hard to setup and nightmare
  • It requires a of infrastructure, thus it could be costly because of requirement and licensing required for everything to run smoothly
  • If it is not setup and organized properly from the beginning it could be maintenance nightmare
  • It is hard to have "test" environment to do patches or similar
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Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
I and the rest of my team will renew our Microsoft Access in the future because we use and maintain many different applications and databases created using Microsoft Access so we will need to maintain them in the future. Additionally, it is a standard at our place of work so it is at $0 cost to us to use. Another reason for renewing Microsoft Access is that we just don' t have the resources needed to extend into a network of users so we need to remain a single-desktop application at this time.
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Microsoft
This was a long-term buy-in from a corporate perspective, to remain in the SharePoint space. Migration is certainly possible, which is good for planning and having options further out. At this point, the only planned migration is to eventually move the architecture up to SharePoint/SQL 2013. At that point, we will be able to leverage some greater efficiencies, some enhanced content design and management features, and some more current social features. It is well worth a full consideration in any shop looking at a new implementation of or migration to SharePoint (although you will probably be considering 2013 versions or beyond in those discussions), but the platform should be a strong competitor to any alternatives. Realizing the capability of a fully-branded and customized website was not part of the original choice for the architecture at Lincoln, but seeing it implemented and functioning now with this capacity far beyond original expectations has certainly cemented plans to continue using it.
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Usability
Microsoft
Microsoft Access is easy to use. It is compatible with spreadsheets. It is a very good data management tool. There is scope to save a large amount of data in one place. For using this database, one does not need much training, can be shared among multiple users. This database has to sort and filtering features which seem to be very useful.
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Microsoft
I gave this rating due to MS SharePoint being a big help with our userbase. We have a lot of users that are just old enough to not have much technical skills or they have been in this industry long enough to where they haven't really needed to utilize much technology. MS SharePoint helped us move beyond that barrier without too many bumps and bruises.
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Reliability and Availability
Microsoft
I don't think the program has ever failed me. It is one of those programs where there is always a solution if you know where to look.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Microsoft
While I have never contacted Microsoft directly for product support, for some reason there's a real prejudice against MS Access among most IT support professionals. They are usually discouraging when it comes to using MS Access. Most of this is due to their lack of understanding of MS Access and how it can improve one's productivity. If Microsoft invested more resources towards enhancing and promoting the use of MS Access then maybe things would be different.
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Microsoft
I've only had to call in to support on one occasion but they were able to work though our issue and find a solution that did fully resolve the issue in a timely manner. I can't always say the same about support from other companies so it was a refreshing change to have support that did help.
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Implementation Rating
Microsoft
there is no key idea, since it is easy to implement Microsoft Access
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Microsoft
Not implemented in best practice way, there are many customizations
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Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
Crystal is easier for report writing, but isn't a database solution. Salesforce is lovely, but much more expensive than an old copy of Microsoft Office. For a small budget, [Microsoft] Access was really the only viable option. I only wish it was easier to write complex reports.
Read full review
Microsoft
At the time of the two large projects, SharePoint was the enterprise solution so we were required to use that. We have since lobbied the enterprise teams to review and consider Atlassian Confluence and were successful. Confluence is cheaper than Sharepoint which is why we wanted to bring that in. The enterprise has now made Confluence an enterprise solution as an alternative to SharePoint. After using both I think SharePoint has many more add-ins than Confluence. It has much more customization ability than Confluence. SharePoint is not good for mobile readiness. Confluence is so there is a difference that might lead you to Confluence over SharePoint. I would also say that SharePoint is very document-centric and that Confluence has better KM than SharePoint does. even with the use of SQL Server. We were told that we could not use Google Drive even though it had features we liked.
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Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • Not having to recreate queries or reports every time you want to use them.
  • Once an item is created and saved as part of the database, you save manpower by not having to recreate them.
  • ROI from a usability standpoint is great. Solid product with great functionality that requires low maintenance usually.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • ROI for ms SharePoint/SQL considering that is the best database engine with excellent features that help you to have all information in your hand.
  • Something negative could be license format.
  • These are the best relational databases in the market with powerful features that complement your system.
Read full review
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