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Microsoft Access

Microsoft Access

Overview

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.

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Pricing

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Microsoft Access

$139.99

On Premise
per PC

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Product Demos

Workflow Builder for Microsoft Access Demo

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Use a File Dialog in Microsoft Access

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Open Source Simple LIMS Software for Small Lab Demo

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Microsoft Access Electronic Signature Capture Database Template

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Microsoft Access Database Tutorial - User form Login Security Demo

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Microsoft Access Project Management Database Template

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Product Details

What is Microsoft Access?

Microsoft Access Video

What is Microsoft Access?

Microsoft Access Competitors

Microsoft Access Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise
Operating SystemsWindows
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

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.

Claris FileMaker are common alternatives for Microsoft Access.

Reviewers rate Usability highest, with a score of 10.

The most common users of Microsoft Access are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(824)

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-2 of 2)
Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
Thairy Ollarves | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Microsoft Access is being used only by a department of the company, which is responsible for working with the information databases. It has not presented problems.
The grouping of data in an organized way adapts to the company designed a set of real strategies aimed at improving the profitability of the company. To date, the results have been positive because since they agreed it was implemented, the company's profit has improved. Microsoft Access adapts well in departments where databases do not have much content, or where we do not have to have completed programs or require working with many variables. It is a program that has all the work tools required by the organization to function properly and fulfill the planned tasks.
  • Ability to manage all information
  • Tables to store data
  • Consult to search and retrieve only the data you need
  • Forms to view, add and update or analyze the internet data
  • Volume of data or users
  • Among its biggest drawbacks are that it is not multiplatform
Access is graphical, so it takes full advantage of the graphical power of Windows, offering usual methods of access to data and provides simple and direct methods of working with information. It also facilitates the administration of data, since its possibilities of consultation and connection help you to quickly find the desired information, whatever its format or storage location. If you want a more robust database, for larger environments, although a little more complicated you can use MYSQL. It's free if it is for internal or personal systems, and with a small payment you can distribute it.
  • The access databases work very well with many of the programs for Windows-based software development. You can also use your tables in products such as Microsoft SQL Server and in others not based on Microsoft such as Oracle and Sybase.
  • Easy to install and use: To create access databases, just install Microsoft Access and this is something that any database administrator can do in just a few minutes, leaving a fully functional relational database management system. Like many other Microsoft applications, Access contains wizards that guide you through every step of the way. The user interface is intuitive, speeding up data recovery.
  • It can be placed online: Although it still has limitations on the number of users with simultaneous connection, when there is a need for remote users, it can give full control and functionality to an access database so that teleworking can become a viable option for database administrators.
You save money: Microsoft Access is hundreds of dollars cheaper than other larger systems; offering similar functionalities and usage.
It is a program that has all the work tools that the organization requires to function properly and fulfill the planned tasks. In the company it is necessary to continuously import data to perform the respective data analysis for decision making, and access offers an easy-to-use and pleasant option that matters without difficulty.
It is an easy-to-use program compatible with the most popular databases in the world, so it does not require expenses in training activities or the hiring of very specialized personnel, being a saving. Thanks to the implementation of Microsoft Access it has been possible to optimize a series of processes that have favored the production and profitability of the company. It is a program compatible with the other Microsoft Office programs, being an excellent advantage considering that these are the most used programs in the world. It is compatible with widely used programs that are not necessarily from Microsoft such as Oracle and Sybase. You have the possibility of placing the processed information in the databases online.
50
1. Access, fast and simple storing, managing and sharing data. The interface of Access, Microsoft Office Fluent, is designed so that any user without specialized knowledge of databases, can work professionally. Many times the information we handle has to transcend our local hard drive to be shared with other users, a task for which Access is specifically designed to solve very easily its connection with Microsoft Office SharePoint, being able to easily share files, perform audits and consultations , or backup copies. 2. Start quickly using predesigned solutions. Access comes with a complete library of predesigned solutions that will allow us to track the immediate information, without the need to design the forms and reports, valuable Access tools. Once we have gained access to Access, we can modify these templates and create our own. The learning process is natural and brings great benefits. 3. Different formats of the same report for different recipients. Access allows us to present information in very different and personalized ways, an advantage from which we will derive much benefit when we want to present a group of data in different ways for different recipients. The possibilities here are very broad, which guarantees that it will meet practically the total of our needs.
10
Make your data more attractive, Having advanced knowledge of Excel can help you make more powerful spreadsheets and one of its most important features is the creation of graphics to visualize information in a simple but attractive way, with Power Graphics.
Solves complex problems. A data analyst has so much information available that they have an unprecedented ability to solve even the most demanding challenges. Mixing tools such as Power BI, Excel Power Add-ons, Macros and advanced functions in Excel can help you obtain the information and reports needed to make simpler decisions in a short time.
Learn advanced techniques. Even if you have basic knowledge of Microsoft data services, a tool like Access can teach you the best practices for data management and the basics of managing a database to be more efficient.
  • Use Access forms with Excel data.
  • Reason Filtering, sorting and queries in Access are similar to Excel. 3. Perform a mail merge or create labels
  • Perform a mail merge or create labels
  • Anticipate that many users will work in the database and want robust options that securely handle data updates, such as record locking and conflict resolution.
  • Anticipate the need to add more tables to a data set that originated as a flat or non-relational table.
  • Want to execute complex queries.
  • Want to create different reports or postal labels.
  • Create a database using a template
  • Create a database without using a template
  • Copy the data from another source into an Access table
I consider that Microsoft Access is a database management application used to enter, search, classify and report information. Microsoft Access is easy to use and fully integrated with Microsoft Office software applications. Access databases can be customized to complete applications using development tools such as Microsoft Visual Basic and can be extended to more advanced products.
The systematization of information in access databases has prevented duplication of information, therefore, we have had the possibility of planning with real results and not assumptions of results that gave us tools such as excel. The consolidation of the information provides us with data for the analysis of the results, consequently identifying the problems that we subsequently want to correct and thus avoiding wasted time and personnel costs.
No
  • Product Usability
They work very well with many of the Windows-based software development programs
I would evaluate the application and the importance of it
  • Implemented in-house
No
Change management was a small part of the implementation and was well-handled
That it is an easy-to-use and important tool for a company, since databases are managed
  • there were no problems during the implementation
there is no key idea, since it is easy to implement Microsoft Access
No
The Online Technical Support Service can help you resolve, by remote and real-time control, any questions or problems related to the routine use of any electronic device without having to move from home or office.
  • Capture, management, communication of data in a professional manner and for the administration of databases
  • It provides a series of easily accessible work tools that staff can quickly understand their tools
  • Organization of the information, homologation of the information for the analysis of data necessary for the decisions that facilitate the growth and development of the company.
  • Microsoft access does not adapt well in organizations that require the handling of large information content or where many variables have to be included, or large companies that require continuous results management.
  • I believe that they can extend the option of the amount of user allowed so that large organizations can use it.
  • Microsoft access is not the best database tool for immediate use but for long-term jobs.
It is an easy-to-use program compatible with the most popular databases in the world, so it does not require expenses in training activities or the hiring of very specialized personnel, being a saving. Thanks to the implementation of Microsoft Access it has been possible to optimize a series of processes that have favored the production and profitability of the company.
Fred Abraham, P.Eng | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized

I utilize Access databases frequently, ignoring 'weird looks' given to me by IT professionals who consider anything less than Oracle not a true database, but some sort of a 'toy'. However, Access fits the bill perfectly in some cases. Back in 1996, I had to resolve a problem very quickly, by creating a 'tool' to keep track of problems encounters by buyers from the procurement department in ordering certain parts, like parts for old designs and currently unavailable due to obsolescence, or parts having an unacceptable long lead time. The need was for a relatively simple and small database, allowing recording of such problems, recording of the progress made by the Component Engineering department in finding a solution and the recording of the solution itself, when one was found. I selected Microsoft Access as a platform, since it appeared relatively simple compared to more powerful databases, and my proficiency in other members of the Office suite making the learning curve shorter. And it worked very well. The implementation took only three weeks and the results were very much appreciated by its users. I believe this database it is still in use.

  • An Access database can be designed and put to use rather fast, in order to answer an immediate need, even if the design must be done by someone with no previous exposure to Access. It can be modified/improved later on, without much impact on the users.
  • A relatively simple Access database does not require knowledge of any programming language. It can be implemented by using 'macros', which are of a 'point-and-click' type.
  • If a more complex application is required, Access is fully compatible with Visual Basic for Applications language, which is a object-oriented, even-driven programming language, designed by Microsoft specifically for utilization by all modules belonging to the Office suite.
  • Since the commonality of VBA across Office, Access databases can be made to interface with other Office applications, and in particular with Excel.
  • Access is easy to master, cheap, and allows easily the construction of aesthetically pleasing interfaces with the user, while remaining quite powerful. Due to these reasons, it yields itself to be sometimes used for the design of non-database applications, but specialized calculators.
  • It cannot accommodate as many records or as many concurrent users an Oracle or similar database can.
  • It is not as reliable as a database of 'industrial strength' is.
  • It does not work fast, particularly when when large amount of code was used for its design or when a relatively many users attempt to utilize it simultaneously.

Microsoft Access is very suitable whenever the objective of the project is a database where:
1. The timeframe of the project must be short and the start of the project must be immediate.
2. Specialised personnel from IT department is not available, due to their own prioritization scheme.
3. The designer tasked with the design, implementation and deployment of the database, is a technically-oriented person in general, but having no previous knowledge of Access in particular.
4. The size of the envisaged database is relatively small, both in the number of records to be stored in it, as well in the number of concurrent users.
Microsoft Access is not suitable when:
1. The requirements are for an 'Enterprise' type of database, expected to acummulate over time a very large number of records (large manufacturing company, storing many parts numbers over the years).
2. The database is expected to be access by a very large number of users concurrently (e.g., a bank, accessed by numerous customers simultaneously).
3. The time taken by the execution for each transaction must be as small as possible.
4. The database must be of 'industrial strength', meaning very reliable, with no crushes and no corrupted records.

  • On my first experience with Microsoft Access, the database I created answered a very specific and urgent need: support to Purchasing Agents (Buyers) which often encountered difficulties in procuring certain parts, due to obsolescence. Since these parts were required in order to complete contracts signed with various clients, a lack of solutions meant inability to deliver goods, therefore loss of revenue. So, the impact of the database which I successfully designed and implemented was highly positive.
  • An attempt initiated by me in order to prevent obsolescence by taking a proactive approach, as opposed to a reactive one, went not so good. My idea was approved and I designed and implemented the Access database required by my approach. However, no further progress was made, since beside the database, additional manpower was required on a daily basis. Since no funds to support this daily activity could be found, the project was abandoned. Therefore, it should be considered as having a negative impact, since my time spent in designing the database was a loss.
  • A mini-project was fun, successful and highly appreciated by users. A certain department needed identifiers for reports written in Word, according to a certain scheme, involving date and serial number of the memo in that specific year. I was requested to design an Access application which will keep track of the identifiers, open programmatically every new memo submitted to me, generate and insert a new identifier as per the rule, save the Word document and return it to the originator. Here, the impact on the company measured against my time spent on the project was positive.
  • The implementation in Access of a specialized calculator, designed to verify the match between the size of certain components, as recorded in my company's documentation, and the sizes indicated in the datasheets provided by actual manufacturers of the parts worked very well. I will consider it as having a positive impact. Again, it worked well and users were very satisfied.
  • To conclude, I would say that the utilization of Microsoft Access was beneficial to my company at the time, as long as requirements were well defined and funding was provided adequately. I would add that most of the benefit was achieved when Access was used on 'small caliber' taskings, and not so successful when more ambitious results were anticipated.
I intend to elaborate very soon via another update, after checking some of my notes.
I do not have experience with any other database having capabilities and cost similar to Access.
23
Access was introduced by myself around 1997, as a solution to an immediate problem, affecting the Planning Department, Procuring Department and Component Engineering (myself). Standard parts procurement was initiated by planners, via the creation of Purchase Requisition Requests for specific part numbers and quantities. The requests were passed to Procurement, where buyers were issuing ‘Requests for Quotation’ to part distributors. Some time, the RFQs were returned stamped with a 'NO BID' inscription on them, meaning: 'This part is obsolete'. In such cases, a document called 'Problematic Part Investigation Request' (PPIR) was issued by the buyer affected and sent to Component Engineering (myself) for resolution. Up to my arrival in Component Engineering, the PPIR forms were filled by hand on a paper form. A number was assigned to each PPIR and entered by pencil into a notebook, sometime in error... The PPIR was then sent to me via inter-departmental snail-mail. Faced with this situation, I saw as my first priority not to resolve any specific case, but to create a 'tool' capable of:
1. Standardizing the generation of PPIRs
2. Ensuring timely transmittal of the problem to Component Engineering, therefore allowing an early start of the requested investigation.
3. Ensuring timely transmittal of the solution found to the buyer affected.
2
  • PPIR
Not Sure
No
  • Chronologically, the first integration was between ACCESS and WORD. My efforts in developing an ACCESS database as a tool used by Component Engineering were well known to my superior, which was also in charge of the Material and Processes department. This department needed some automation for the generation of memorandums, issued in WORD.
  • I integrated ACCESS and EXCEL several times on different projects, since they blend very well together. ACCESS is a very efficient tool for the rapid construction of aesthetically pleasing 'screens' (or forms, as they are called by ACCESS itself), while EXCEL is very good for mathematical calculations.
  • I integrated ACCESS with OFFICE itself several times, with ACCESS being the 'main engine', while OFFICE providing a folder/sub-folder repository for various items, such as engineering drawing or component specifications, stored as ADOBE files (.pdf).
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