In a recent forum message, Norma asked:
"I own a small business (staffing agency) run out of my home. I have one associate besides myself. We are using MS Access to manage our field staff, customers, and assignments. Since we both work our of our home, using the same database at the same time is not possible. So... It was originally written in 2007 but converted back to 2003 so we could use reconciliation and synchronize our computers. We synchronize 1 to 2 times per week. I would prefer to store our database online and then access that DB, so we each would be using the most current DB. Since we are a small business, I don't have a lot of money to spend on IT, so I am looking for the most economical means to work from the same DB.
Does Office 2010 offer me a solution to my dilemma and what does it cost?
Or, if we continue to use 2003 is there a secure place where my associate can post her DB file so I can grab it and synchronize it with mine, so we don't have to physically meet?"
Do you have any advice for Norma? Interested in answers to the same question? Visit the About Databases forum and join the discussion!
"I own a small business (staffing agency) run out of my home. I have one associate besides myself. We are using MS Access to manage our field staff, customers, and assignments. Since we both work our of our home, using the same database at the same time is not possible. So... It was originally written in 2007 but converted back to 2003 so we could use reconciliation and synchronize our computers. We synchronize 1 to 2 times per week. I would prefer to store our database online and then access that DB, so we each would be using the most current DB. Since we are a small business, I don't have a lot of money to spend on IT, so I am looking for the most economical means to work from the same DB.
Does Office 2010 offer me a solution to my dilemma and what does it cost?
Or, if we continue to use 2003 is there a secure place where my associate can post her DB file so I can grab it and synchronize it with mine, so we don't have to physically meet?"
Do you have any advice for Norma? Interested in answers to the same question? Visit the About Databases forum and join the discussion!
Hi Norma –
I sympathize with you on this issue. Access 2010 is a big improvement on 2003 and we have just converted our CRM system to it – looks fantastic.
But we kept the back-end in 2003 so we could continue with synchronisation. That way the front-end looks great but we still offer our users what they need.
MS would have you look at using Sharepoint but the costs are way too high for a micro business. We are looking at alternatives for web-based DB’s but if you can sync periodically then 2010 front-end & 2003 back-end can work well.
I’m not sure if storing the DB somewhere would work – you could experiment with emailing it but remember Access builds a parent-child relationship and you can’t move the paths from when the relationship was created.
You could set up a VPN and sync over that but it is likely to be slow.
In my view MS are thinking of licencing fees when trying to shoehorn everyone into Sharepoint – but unfortunately they have every right to do so. It’s a great opportunity for someone to come along with a cheaper on-line back-end for Access 2010….
Good luck.
Chris Mills
Linx Software
Australia