Replace your Access database with a web application
We rebuild a Microsoft Access database as a secure web application on SQL Server, move your data across and run the two side by side until you are ready to switch.
At a glance
- Typical price
- £8,000 to £15,000
- Typical duration
- 4 to 8 weeks
- VAT
- Prices exclude VAT
Who this is for
Access is a good tool for one person or a small team in one office. Problems start when the business grows around the database. More people need it at once and it locks or corrupts. Staff working from home reach it over a slow remote connection. The file gets close to its size limit. The person who built it has moved on, and nobody else is confident changing it.
By that point the database usually holds something the business cannot do without: customers, jobs, stock, compliance records. The age of Access is rarely the real risk. The real risk is that everything depends on one file on a shared drive. Our page on replacing an Access database looks at the options.
What you end up with
A web application that does the job the Access database does today, used through a browser by everyone who needs it, at the same time, from wherever they work. The data sits in SQL Server, where it can be backed up while people work and is protected by logins and roles in place of a shared file that anyone can copy.
We do not rebuild everything. Most Access databases contain forms and reports that nobody has opened in years. The first step is to find what is in real use, and the scope names those screens and reports. That list, with the acceptance checks, is what the price covers, as described under how fixed price works.
Your existing data comes across. We run trial migrations throughout the build, so duplicate records, broken links and fields used for three different purposes show up early and are resolved with you before the switch. Before Access is retired, staff use the new system alongside it for an agreed period and we check that the results match.
After the switch
The system is yours, including the source code, the build instructions and the documentation another team would need to take it on. Each project includes a short warranty period for defects against the agreed scope.
After that, hosting, support and changes are a separate monthly arrangement that you can take or leave. It is described under software maintenance. It is also the route for the improvements that become obvious once the data is in a proper database: a new report, a connection to the accounts system, a screen for customers.
Talk to us
Describe the system and what you need. You will hear back from someone who can answer technical questions.
Discuss this project 0800 433 7990What is included
- Review of the existing database
- We go through the tables, queries, forms, reports and VBA code to find what is in daily use and what was abandoned years ago.
- A SQL Server database
- Your tables redesigned where needed, with keys, constraints and indexes, so the database itself rejects bad data.
- Data migration and cleaning
- Existing records are moved across, with duplicates, broken links and inconsistent values found and resolved with you.
- The screens people use
- The forms your staff work in every day, rebuilt for the browser, so nobody needs Access installed to do their job.
- Reports and exports
- The reports that are still read, plus export to Excel for one-off questions.
- Logins and roles
- Each person has their own login, and roles control who can view, edit or approve.
How the project runs
Review the database
You send us a copy of the Access file. We list its tables, forms, reports and code, and you tell us which parts matter.
Agree scope and price
A written scope naming the screens, reports and data to be migrated, the acceptance checks and a single fixed price.
Build and trial migrations
We build the application in steps you can see and try, and run the data migration repeatedly against copies of your live database.
Run in parallel
For an agreed period staff use the new system alongside Access, and we check that the two agree.
Switch over
A final migration of the live data, the Access file is kept as a read-only archive and the new system takes over.
What moves the price
- The number of screens and reports that are in real use.
- How much VBA code and business logic sits behind the forms.
- The condition of the data: duplicates, missing links and free-text fields used for several purposes.
- Links to other systems, such as accounting software, Excel imports or Word mail merges.
Not included
- Hosting charges and support after the warranty period. These are a separate monthly arrangement.
- Forms, reports and queries that are no longer used. We agree the list with you before pricing.
- Features the Access database does not have today, unless they are written into the scope.
A good fit when
- Several people need the database at once and it locks, slows down or corrupts.
- Staff need to use it from home, from site or from another office.
- The person who built it has left, or is the only one who dares change it.
- The database holds records the business could not operate without.
Probably not for you if
- The database is used by one or two people in one office and works well. Keep it backed up and leave it alone.
- A packaged product already does the job; we will tell you if we think one would.
- Nobody can yet say which parts of the database are still needed. A short discovery comes first.
Questions we are asked
Can we keep using Access while the new system is built?
Yes. Nothing changes for your staff until the parallel run. We work from copies of the database, and the live data is only moved for real at the switch.
What happens to our existing data?
It is migrated into SQL Server. We run trial migrations during the build so problems with the data show up early, and you check the results before the final move.
Will the new system look and work like the Access one?
It will do the same job, and the screens follow the way your staff already work. It will not be an exact copy. Where Access forced an awkward workaround, we agree a better way with you during scoping.
Why SQL Server?
It is designed for many people working at once, can be backed up while in use and controls who can see what. It is also the database we know best.
Who owns the new system?
You do, including the source code, once the project is paid for.
Tell us about your system
Say what it does, what it is built on and what is worrying you. We will reply with what we would look at first and whether we are the right people to help.