Microsoft Access is a very popular entry level relational database management system that was introduced in the early 1990’s. Although it is widely used in small to medium-sized businesses and other organizations, many departments, divisions, and workgroups in large enterprises and large organizations use MS Access, as well because of its ease of use.
MS Access is an easier and more efficient data management tool than spreadsheet applications such as Excel because of its abilities to store, compare, reference, and report on an organization’s data. All this provides for a faster way to analyze information for important decision making. Another important aspect of the popularity of Microsoft Access is that it’s and out of the box solution that can be used by many types of employees without the assistance of IT personnel. With Access, almost anyone can set up a database quickly and begin entering data and creating system records. It is designed to make data entry faster and easier, with features that users easily create reports and organize and search the database.
Because of its ease of use among non-technical personnel, many organizations and departments may be susceptible to the risks incurred by not taking a consistent systems maintenance approach that most IT personnel take to ensure that database infrastructure continues to function well. A common system maintenance task that is often overlooked is making sure Microsoft Access infrastructure is migrated and upgraded to the latest version. The use of obsolete and deprecated Access code can have serious consequences that affect database functions and the accuracy of database reporting services and output.
There are several risks to not upgrading Microsoft Access, including:
Security vulnerabilities: Outdated software code can leave your data exposed to cyber threats.
Compatibility issues: Outdated software code may not work with current business platforms or other software.
Performance issues: Access can slow down when there are multiple users, or when running large reports or exporting large amounts of data. Old and obsolete code can exacerbate these issues
Limited capacity: Access databases have a limit of 2 GB for all data and database objects. Ignoring an upgrade schedule can allow file corruption and duplication to take up valuable space.
Corruption: Multiple users on an Access database can cause corruption, especially among users of different Access versions.
Integration issues: Old Access code may not be compatible with modern software and cloud solutions.
Disrupted workflow: Outdated software can disrupt your business and employee workflow.
Reduced productivity: Outdated software can reduce productivity when report queries become buggy and produce incorrect and blank data output causing delays in accessing and using correct data to make decisions.
To avoid and mitigate these risks, it’s important to plan and implement database upgrades routinely, carefully, and systematically. One way to do this is you can consider hiring a professional database service firm to perform the necessary upgrades and provide your organization with a database management schedule to ensure that your database infrastructure receives the recurring maintenance that it needs. This can be as an outsourced solution provider, or as compliment in support of your organization’s internal IT team.