Very powerful, but not easy to configure
May 19, 2021

Very powerful, but not easy to configure

Alicia Barevich, bCRE, bCEE | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Microsoft Access

We use [Microsoft] Access to manage our projects and sales contacts for our small book publishing company. It is the only source of data for the company, which only has a few employees. It tracks sales pipeline, payments, projects, royalties, and everything else. Reports, queries and forms are at the center of everything that happens in the company.
  • Fully customizable
  • Forms enable customized easy entry
  • Reports can solve pretty much any need
  • Mailmerge and emails can automate any task.
  • Very high learning curve
  • Hard to code complex reports without a ton of time and skill
  • No support resources for reporting help.
  • Customization
  • Form creation
  • Mailmerge/emails
  • 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.
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.

Do you think Microsoft Access delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Microsoft Access's feature set?

Yes

Did Microsoft Access live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Microsoft Access go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Microsoft Access again?

Yes

Veracross, Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued), Google Drive
[Microsoft Access is] great that it's fully customizable, and doesn't require a monthly fee, but it is annoying that it's only usable on a local network. It is exceptionally difficult to code advanced reports that are exactly how we want them. I personally find Crystal Reports and most any other reporting system easier to make deeply complex reports.