Is Microsoft Access really a low cost option?

It certainly can be if you are a DIY person who already owns Microsoft Office and think of low cost as “not spending lots of cash”. There is always a learning curve which takes time to work through, as well as the time it takes to actually do the work. If you don’t have to create something very complex or involved, then that reduces the cost of time. In the case of the term “low cost”, time may not even be a consideration.

Low cost also assumes that other solutions are higher cost. This could come in terms of initial investment for an off the shelf solution vs a “free” Access platform that is included in my Office subscription.

Is hiring an Access developer a low cost solution? How about training an internal employee? Or what about the training costs to show employees how to use the database solution?

I would say Access tends to be a lower cost solution if the following are true:

1. You have Microsoft Power users who can figure out how to move data between Office Apps or utilize ODBC. If not, you will need an application that is more customized and user friendly. This will increase the cost because it is more work and also starts to turn Access into a “black box” for non-power users. These non-power users really don’t understand what’s going on beyond what is displayed to them on the screen.
2. You are a Microsoft Windows and Office shop. If this is your primary set of tools then you are probably already paying for the licensing of Microsoft Access. At the worst, you could purchase licenses for just power users who would be the ones building the database design and then provide a runtime version of Access to everyone else who needs to just use it.
3. You don’t need to do anything too complex. The more bells and whistles you want (typically in the form of automation of some kind), the more time it will take to develop and maintain the solution. If you just want bare-bones stuff and just need base functionality and aren’t too interested in tweaking the speed and usability, then you are headed for lower costs!

The more complexity and customization you need, the more expensive it will get. This is similar to any out of the box product you purchase which then needs custom modules and employee training which gets more and more expensive.

Consider the problems you need to solve and make sure you discuss these with your outside developer, or your internal Access guy. Focusing on solving the most expensive problems with inexpensive solutions will give you the greatest bang for your buck. What’s been your experience having Access development done or doing Access development?

Consider developers as well coming in with experience solving your problems and tools to do this. My company uses a framework we built called Access JumpStart which has tools built in for tracking usage, handling multiple users, and contains a library of functions we’ve found useful. Find out more on our home page: Access JumpStart | A Rapid Development Framework for Microsoft Access

And the framework can be purchased here: Purchase Access JumpStart