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Microsoft Access vs. SAP HANA Cloud vs. Microsoft SQL Server

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Microsoft Access

    Score7.5 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft 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

    SAP HANA Cloud

    Score8.9 out of 10
    N/ASAP HANA is an application that uses in-memory database technology to process very large amounts of real-time data from relational databases, both SAP and non-SAP, in a very short time. The in-memory computing engine allows HANA to process data stored in RAM as opposed to reading it from a disk which means that the data can be accessed in real time by the applications using HANA. The product is sold both as an appliance and as a cloud-based software solution.

    $0.95

    per month Capacity Units

    Microsoft SQL Server

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft SQL Server is a relational database.

    $1,418

    Per License

    Pricing
    Microsoft AccessSAP HANA CloudMicrosoft SQL Server
    Editions & Modules
    Microsoft Access
    $139.99
    per PC
    No answers on this topic
    Subscription
    $1,418.00
    Per License
    Enterprise
    $13,748.00
    Per License
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Microsoft AccessSAP HANA CloudMicrosoft SQL Server
    Free Trial
    NoYesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptionalNo setup fee
    Additional Details—Includes a one year free trial.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Microsoft AccessSAP HANA CloudMicrosoft SQL Server
    Considered Multiple Products
    Microsoft
    Chose Microsoft Access
    Visual FoxPro is a discontinued software, and no longer has support. Also, very few people still use it, or ever know how to use it. Excel is very popular, but [Microsoft] Access can do things like data joins much easier and faster
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft Access
    Although SQL is a full-blown platform for heavy database management, Microsoft Access serves the purpose perfectly for small and mid-scale enterprises. It is also perfect for people just getting started with database management. The graphical user interface is a major plus …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft Access
    Unlike enterprise-level databases, MS Access doesn't require setting up a complex server environment with user security schemes. It's an excellent tool for small scale databases where purchasing and setting up a product like MS SQL Server could be an overkill. Unlike …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft Access
    Microsoft Access is a bit dated compared to other database tools. It is slower, not able to handle quantities of data that are as large as the other tools, and a bit more finicky. However, it is sometimes the preferred tool for some clients. It also has a lower barrier to entry …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft Access
    MS Access is the little brother to all these products. In no way is it as feature-rich as the competition I have selected. It is, however, great when used properly. It does not have the same level of security, availability, access, or recoverability as anything listed above. …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft Access
    Access is more robust than Excel in terms of data-centricity and robustness. It however isn't meant to support an enterprise-level use case like SQL Server is. That sweet spot in the middle (a departmental solution that requires more than Excel can offer) is the sweet spot for …
    Incentivized
    SAP
    Chose SAP HANA Cloud
    Main features is in memory database. SAP HANA Cloud is specifically good for Accounting and supply chain management.
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP HANA Cloud
    We have been using Microsoft SQL for our database related tasks until we made a successful & much-needed transition to SAP HANA for good. With the level of complexities SAP HANA can handle & deliver it was our obvious choice.
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP HANA Cloud
    As SAP HANA is built into memeory, the proformance of the product is hard to beat against it's rivals but that comes with a price. You can get away with using another product but you'll be losing out else where. For example in time/multiple systems and efforts to relplicate …
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP HANA Cloud
    The customer has most of their investment in Microsoft databases. If SAP HANA was not available, we would have gone to getting data into a SQL server and creating APIs to access them inside SAP. But, with the help of HANA, we could avoid all those unnecessary things and get …
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP HANA Cloud
    The choice of the SAP HANA solution was mainly determined by the choice of the new company ERP, which having been SAP, naturally led to the choice of its DB solution.
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP HANA Cloud
    1. In memory functionality.
    2. Data compression using columnar storage functionality.
    3. Performance.
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP HANA Cloud
    SAP HANA is a more modern database with capabilities which reach far beyond a classical database. We chose SAP HANA as it represents the future direction of SAP which aligns with our strategic direction. With the introduction of S/4 HANA, SAP HANA will remain the only …
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP HANA Cloud
    SAP HANA is much better suited for SAP ERP connectivity.
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP HANA Cloud
    SAP HANA uses the sheer power of in memory analytics based on columnar compression of data in the back-end resulting in an overall decreased footprint of the data resulting in a paradigm shift. The traditional RDBMS database would rely heavily on additional indexes to retrieve …
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP HANA Cloud
    Best suited for quite a few enterprise apps built on SAP ERP systems. With many products being IT-oriented, it takes forever for businesses to leverage functionality without being dependent on IT. However, compared to the Oracle Database, this is extremely flexible in terms of …
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP HANA Cloud
    It is best suited for Enterprise applications to build on SAP ERP system. Other applications are very technical products and do not have business goals embedded. For example, SAP Hana has am application functional library as well as inbuilt support for R which is very useful. …
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP HANA Cloud
    There are many alternatives to SAP HANA if we consider functionality. Most of them, just like HANA, have their own niche place of specialization. But SAP HANA is at the forefront when it comes to performance comparison in its area of expertise which is business intelligence and …
    Incentivized
    Chose SAP HANA Cloud
    MS SQLServer is an alternative if the data foundation is not very big and a separate application layer or Excel can be used for reports.
    Incentivized
    Microsoft
    Chose Microsoft SQL Server
    Microsoft Access while a data tool cannot scale to number of concurrent users or the great amount of files needed to run a business. Microsoft Access can attach to sql server as a backend but the interface is still limited to less than 20 concurrent users at a time.
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft SQL Server
    Microsoft SQL is slower than MySQL and Access but far more feature-rich and reliable. Access is almost obsolete nowadays, so not too many people are considering it, but unless budget or an open-source ethos is a factor, Microsoft SQL is superior in every way. Many commonly used …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft SQL Server
    Microsoft SQL Server was our first choice as we are a Microsoft partner.
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft SQL Server
    All of the platforms have their own benefit. I was not the decision maker in selecting Microsoft SQL Server, as it was already being utilized when I joined the company, 7 years ago. I can say that I feel more comfortable with utilizing this platform as opposed to the other ones.
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft SQL Server
    The free version is very powerfull and easy to install and use for small companies.
    Going to Professional and Standard, gives you all the support and the flexibility needed. It is known within the Database Administrator crew, and you can get support very easily over the …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft SQL Server
    SQL server is a better software because of its support by Microsoft and it's data table pop up function. Also it has pivot function that others lack.
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft SQL Server
    I use Crystal and Microsoft SQL Server with each other. Each has a unique role that it brings to every query. Microsoft SQL Server allows me to write and refine my base query. Crystal allows me to take that query and make it more visually appealing and easier to interpret.
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft SQL Server
    SQL Server is a better choice for quick time to market solutions and for easier maintenance. Oracle Database setup and programming to support solutions has a harder learning curve and it requires more time and effort to hit the ground running.

    An organization having invested …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft SQL Server
    Access is simply too small and the options too slim for our current needs.
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft SQL Server
    Years ago I used Oracle and Oracle Data Integrator and I hated it. It was cumbersome and archaic and I couldn't believe the product could be so popular. Given a database related task and a choice between Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server, SQL Server wins hands down in ease of use, …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft SQL Server
    I have used Microsoft Access, MySQL, and I have been a user of systems that run on Oracle database servers. All but Oracle are really intended for smaller scale projects and teams as they start to get slow or the performance will suffer once you start getting lots of data input …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft SQL Server
    I started working with databases many years ago with Access, which allows you to create relational database and provide an old-fashioned desktop interface. I had a look at Oracle but I never had the opportunity to get to the bottom (also because of the budget that had the …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    97%
    Would buy again
    29 Answers
    96%
    Would buy again
    313 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    53 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    29 Answers
    96%
    Delivers good value for the price
    271 Answers
    96%
    Delivers good value for the price
    45 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    93%
    Happy with the feature set
    28 Answers
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    319 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    53 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    86%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    19 Answers
    94%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    198 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    39 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    91%
    Implementation went as expected
    21 Answers
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    264 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    45 Answers
    Features
    Microsoft AccessSAP HANA CloudMicrosoft SQL Server
    Relational Databases
    Comparison of Relational Databases features of Microsoft Access and SAP HANA Cloud and Microsoft SQL Server
    Feature
    Microsoft Access
    7.7
    3 Ratings
    5% below category average
    SAP HANA Cloud
    9.0
    52 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Microsoft SQL Server
    -
    Ratings
    ACID compliance7.02 Ratings9.438 Ratings00 Ratings
    Database monitoring8.02 Ratings9.250 Ratings00 Ratings
    Database locking8.03 Ratings9.242 Ratings00 Ratings
    Encryption7.02 Ratings8.744 Ratings00 Ratings
    Disaster recovery7.73 Ratings8.843 Ratings00 Ratings
    Flexible deployment8.02 Ratings8.945 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multiple datatypes8.03 Ratings8.846 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft AccessSAP HANA CloudMicrosoft SQL Server
    Small Businesses
    Amazon RDS
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Amazon RDS
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Amazon RDS
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    SingleStore
    Score8.2 out of 10
    SingleStore
    Score8.2 out of 10
    SingleStore
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    SAP IQ
    Score5.4 out of 10
    SAP IQ
    Score5.4 out of 10
    SAP IQ
    Score5.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft AccessSAP HANA CloudMicrosoft SQL Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.4
    (102 ratings)
    9.4
    (363 ratings)
    7.9
    (107 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (15 ratings)
    10.0
    (15 ratings)
    9.0
    (8 ratings)
    Usability
    7.6
    (8 ratings)
    9.5
    (82 ratings)
    7.6
    (17 ratings)
    Availability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.3
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (2 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    6.4
    (5 ratings)
    8.5
    (253 ratings)
    7.9
    (26 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.3
    (3 ratings)
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    Data Sources
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (5 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.3
    (2 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.3
    (2 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Professional Services
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (2 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (2 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft AccessSAP HANA CloudMicrosoft SQL Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Microsoft
    As a Material Purchasing/Planning/inventory tracking application, Microsoft Access serves its purpose well. It's presentation is clean, data entry is simple and the ability to customize search fields is welcome. It does, however, come with some caveats; namely, when setting search filters and the need arises to back up a step or two, with Microsoft Access you have to reset, or "clear all", adding extra steps/time to a query.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAP
    I think if you have a large organization, it's probably the product and the marketplace to go to. We're a large management consulting firm operating in four to seven countries. And generally speaking, I think that's the size and the scope where it scales best. I can't speak to smaller companies, but I can't see smaller companies leveraging the benefits as much as a larger organization can.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Microsoft SQL is ubiquitous, while MySQL runs under the hood all over the place. Microsoft SQL is the platform taught in colleges and certification courses and is the one most likely to be used by businesses because it is backed by Microsoft. Its interface is friendly (well, as pleasant as SQL can be) and has been used by so many for so long that resources are freely available if you encounter any issues.
    Incentivized
    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!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAP
    • Real-time reporting and analytics on data: because of its in-memory architecture, it is perfect for businesses that need to make quick decisions based on current information.
    • Managing workload with complex data: it can handle a vast range of data types, including relational, documental, geospatial, graph, vector, and time series data.
    • Developing and deploying intelligent data applications: it provides various tools for such applications and can be used for machine learning and artificial intelligence to automate tasks, gain insights from data, and make predictions.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Easy to configure and use with Visual Studio and Dot Net
    • Easy integration with MSBI to perform data analysis
    • Data Security
    • Easy to understand and use
    • Very easy to export database and tables in the form of SQL query or a script
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAP
    • Requires higher processing power, otherwise it won't fly. How ever computing costs are lower. Incase you are migrating to cloud please do not select the highest config available in that series . Upgrading it later against a reserved instance can cost you dearly with a series change
    • Lack of clarity on licensing is one major challenge
    • Unless S/4 with additional features are enabled mere migration HANA DB is not a rewarding journey. Power is in S/4
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise edition has a high cost but is the only edition which supports SQL Always On Availability Groups. It would be nice to include this feature in the Standard version.
    • Licensing of Microsoft SQL Server is a quite complex matter, it would be good to simplify licensing in the future. For example, per core vs per user CAL licensing, as well as complex licensing scenarios in the Cloud and on Edge locations.
    • It would be good to include native tools for converting Oracle, DB2, Postgresql and MySQL/MariaDB databases (schema and data) for import into Microsoft SQL Server.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Read full review
    SAP
    We would rate our likelihood of renewing at 9/10. SAP HANA Cloud has proven to be a highly reliable and scalable data platform that consistently delivers strong performance. Its seamless integration with our overall SAP landscape, combined with improved analytics and real-time data capabilities, makes it a core part of our long-term technology strategy.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    We understand that the Microsoft SQL Server will continue to advance, offering the same robust and reliable platform while adding new features that enable us, as a software center, to create a superior product. That provides excellent performance while reducing the hardware requirements and the total cost of ownership of our solution.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAP
    It is very useful solution which provides you speedier data processing, real-time analytics. It helps you manage diverse data types. It also offers you excellent disaster management. It has user friendly interface which helps you navigate system and transactions easily and perform task smoothly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    SQL Server mostly 'just works' or generates error messages to help you sort out the trouble. You can usually count on the product to get the job done and keep an eye on your potential mistakes. Interaction with other Microsoft products makes operating as a Windows user pretty straight forward. Digging through the multitude of dialogs and wizards can be a pain, but the answer is usually there somewhere.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAP
    so far, we didn't get any outage
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Its does not have outages.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    SAP
    so far good
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    SSAS data cubes may some time slow down your Excel reports.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAP
    However, I am not the right person to answer this as we have another department to handle support and contact the service provider for any support required. Although i will say that they are the quick respondent and knows how to handle querry of the customers and provide quick and better support.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    We managed to handle most of our problems by looking into Microsoft's official documentation that has everything explained and almost every function has an example that illustrates in detail how a particular functionality works. Just like PowerShell has the ability to show you an example of how some cmdlet works, that is the case also here, and in my opinion, it is a very good practice and I like it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    It was good
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    very hands on and detailed training
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Microsoft
    there is no key idea, since it is easy to implement Microsoft Access
    Read full review
    SAP
    Professional GIS people are some of the most risk-averse there are, and it's difficult to get them to move to HANA in one step. Start with small projects building to 80% use of HANA spatial over time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Other than SQL taking quite a bit of time to actually install there are no problems with installation. Even on hardware that has good performance SQL can still take close to an hour to install a typical server with management and reporting services.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Microsoft
    Excel is a fantastic - robust application that can do so much so easily. Its easy to train and understand. However - excel does not provide a reporting function and that is typically where we will suggest a move to [Microsoft] Access. [Microsoft] Access requires a little more knowledge of data manipulation.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAP
    I have deep knowledge of other disk based DBMSs. They are venerable technology, but the attempts to extend them to current architectures belie the fact they are built on 40 year old technology. There are some good columnar in-memory databases but they lack the completeness of capability present in the HANA platform.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    [Microsoft] SQL Server has a much better community and professional support and is overall just a more reliable system with Microsoft behind it. I've used MySQL in the past and SQL Server has just become more comfortable for me and is my go to RDBMS.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    SAP
    I don't have visibility in licensing
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Scalability
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    SAP
    Limitation of training deliverable by organization
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    SQL server does handle growing demands of a mid sized company.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Professional Services
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    SAP
    We are still in process for the first applciaiton
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAP
    • ROI has always been high in terms of the functionality that it offers and the security features it comes with.
    • Managing large volumes of data in real-time is not an easy task, but it does it pretty well with faster data processing.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Increased accuracy - We went from multiple users having different versions of an Excel spreadsheet to a single source of truth for our reporting.
    • Increased Efficiency - We can now generate reports at any time from a single source rather than multiple users spending their time collating data and generating reports.
    • Improved Security - Enterprise level security on a dedicated server rather than financial files on multiple laptop hard drives.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots