Microsoft Access Upgrade to MSDE

Have you outgrown your custom MS Access application?  Is MS Access slowing down with more users, more features, more data?  Is your database getting so large and mission critical that MS Access simply won't handle it anymore?  PCA is experienced at helping our Clients get their custom MS Access business applications to the next level.

MSDE is Microsoft's personal version of its SQL Server product line.  MSDE is a fully functional SQL Server, with licensing restrictions, and a few performance limitations imposed by the operating system.  MSDE is the intermediate step between Microsoft Access native Jet Engine and MS SQL Server, and can be used on LANs or standalone on laptops and PCs.  If you need help upsizing to MSDE, or need help understanding how MSDE works, PCA can help you.  With appropriate licensing, you can even create a distributed database MSDE application.

MS Access Limitations

MS Access has several inherent technical limitations.  Expect to run into problems (slow performance, corrupt database, application crashes, etc.) if your MS application goes into the "Caution" or the "Stop" zones for any one of the criteria below:

MS Access Database Application

MS Access is great for small projects with just a few users.  MS Access is also excellent for prototyping larger projects.  MS Access is a very good platform for the initial development of many systems.  However, the strengths of MS Access begin to diminish when the business information stored within its database becomes more sizeable and/or mission critical.  If you push much beyond this, you'll more than likely start running into problems, especially if your business processes are growing more complex.  For example, a small MS Access application used by customer service representatives was more than sufficient for internal use.  But as a company grows, it becomes clear that more robust and secure SQL Server database solutions are in order.

Access MSDE is a perfect choice for such an application.  Microsoft's flagship relational database product was designed to handle the data administration and rigorous workload balancing required by mission critical applications.  PCA will help you with Access MSDE conversion.  In many cases, we can connect MSDE to your existing MS Access application.

For some of our MS Access customers, business is relatively small and static, and the goal is to "Make the MS Access Problems Go Away" in the most cost-effective manner possible.  For others customers, business is continually evolving, the application is a moving target, and it's critical that the solution support current business needs, yet provide a stable path to accomodate growth.  Regardless of your business situation, it's important to understand the strengths and potential trade-offs of the various solutions available on the Microsoft Business Platform.

Practical Differences -- MS Access, MSDE, MS SQL Server

There are important differences between what you can achieve with the various database Servers and Clients available on the Microsoft Business Platform.  Principal considerations for deciding which combination is the best for your business (lowest hassle, biggest benefit for the investment) are the following:

MS Access Application (Client) with MSDE Database (Server)

If you've already Hit the Wall with your MS Access Application, or you need a Custom MS Access application designed & developed from scratch, the MSDE database engine is the next upgrade on the Microsoft server path.  If Internet access is a requirement, SQL Server is your only option.  They are the same identical database engine.  Provided that your database is designed properly (your not simply migrating a poor design from one database to another), migrating to MSDE or SQL Server will have an make the problems mentioned above go away.

Access MSDE also has its own potential costs and technical limitations.  For example, if your database is exposed to the Internet thru anything other than MS Access or Active Server Pages (.ASP), you cannot use MSDE, and must purchase (or already own) a SQL Server License from Microsoft.  This is purely a Microsoft Licensing issue -- MSDE and MS SQL Server are the same database engine; the only difference is, MS SQL Server supports unlimited users on a LAN or the Internet, with no performance or licensing restrictions.  In addition, MSDE has a built-in "performance governor" on Process Queues that limit the number of similtaneous End Users to 8 concurrent (active) sessions.  Access MSDE is also slightly more difficult to develop custom business applications on, and more difficult/expensive to install and configure vs. MS SQL Server.  If supporting a dozen or more end users over the Internet is a hard requirement, then MS SQL Server is the right choice.

Avoid the MSDE Conversion Cost Trap

Usually, it is not necessary to re-write your whole MS Access application.  PCA can help you avoid complete rewrites by carefully analyzing and planning throughout the application development process itself.  We feel that proper design is an integral component of the value objectives that we apply to our projects.  For some systems, the MS Access user interface was simply pointed to the new location of the shared data, which is now on an "MSDE" server computer, dedicated to safe-guarding and distributing the business/database information as needed.

MSDE versus SQL Server 2000

MSDE is SQL Server.  It is Microsoft's way to introduce SQL Server to many companies in a simple, cost effective way.  Under certain circumstances, you can have an MSDE License at no additional cost, making MSDE an ideal way to upgrade your MS Access programs to SQL Server.

PCA's expertise in creating and maintaining applications using SQL Server means that we help our customers from the begin to the end.  Since we specialize in both data solutions and simple yet efficient Visual Basic Database user interfaces, your information system will be constructed well from the ground up.  We are also able to inject new life into existing systems, by way of effective database and program optimizations.  For example, we can convert any version of MS Access to SQL Server 2000. 

Our goal is to simplify your information, so that you can focus on the strength of your company.