TrustRadius Insights for Microsoft Access are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.
Pros
Efficient Database Management: Users have praised the software for its ease of database system management, reporting, and analysis capabilities. Some reviewers found the reporting functionalities and data manipulation tools easy to use, requiring minimal training.
Enhanced User Experience: The graphical interface was highlighted as a key factor that improved user experience and made database management more efficient. Reviewers particularly liked the drag-and-drop components for designing forms and reports, eliminating the need for coding knowledge.
Customizability and Flexibility: Customizability was a key strength mentioned by users who emphasized the ease of creating entity-relationship diagrams and customizing forms and reports. Some users appreciated the software's flexibility in accommodating various business logic requirements and automation needs.
Our organization uses Microsoft Access to create and manage databases based on our unique data sets. Access gives us the flexibility for different staff members to generate reports for their programming needs. We also have the option to view the database in different views. This is important since the level of technological competence differs for staff, so having the option to view data in different ways is more meaningful and helpful to staff.
Pros
Individual entry data points
Option for multiple individuals to access the database
Ability to view data in different views
Cons
Speed of functionality decreases as size of database increases
Complex programming sometimes take a long time to run
Both good and bad, all data is in a single file
Likelihood to Recommend
Access works great for small databases where we want to be able to manipulate and look at the data in different ways. It doesn't work too well as the size of the database increases. In fact, it begins to slow down significantly once the size of the database gets too large.
I work in the global programs department at a state university. I am not an expert, I don't know coding, but I do have extensive experience with Microsoft Access. Microsoft Access is being used in our department for databases to keep data about attendance at events, services performed, club dues and fees, the department bank account, and department orders. (I don't know if anyone else at the university uses it; most use MS Excel). I not only use Microsoft Access in my current position, I also used it extensively in my previous position (medical researcher) and built for the department an orders database, cell storage and retrieval database and a database for shipments of standardized adult bone marrow stem cells in liquid nitrogen to researchers all over the world. I am the only one in our current department who knows how to use Microsoft Access and thus I'm the only one who uses it, but I use it for the benefit of the department by quickly pulling up information that has to be tracked for reports needed for grants that we work under and other types of information. I designed and created all the elements used in the databases, tables, forms, reports, and macros. I've input all the data from the different events, clubs, services, and departmental accounts. I recently created the orders database so that the person in our department who does the orders can quickly enter all the order information that is input into our university order system into the database and then quickly find specific info about those orders. I find Microsoft Access helps our department function more efficiently.
Pros
Generates information about department events, services, orders, etc. quickly and in report form.
Easy to design forms and reports with drag and drop components. You don't need to know coding.
The ability to link tables and queries to get all the info needed for forms and reports
Forms and reports are easy to customize and edit.
Easily report your data grouped and sorted by any field
Cons
Microsoft Access has not really changed at all for several years. It might be nice to see some upgrades and changes.
The help info is often not helpful. Need more tutorials for Microsoft Access to show how to do specific things.
Be careful naming objects such as tables, forms, etc. Names that are too long can get cut off in dialog boxes to choose a table, form, report, etc. So, I wish they would have resizable dialog boxes to allow you to see objects with long names.
I wish it could show me objects that are not in use in the database for current queries, tables, reports, forms, and macros. That way unused objects can be deleted without worrying about losing a report or query because you deleted the underlying object.
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft Access is very well suited for collecting and organizing data in tables, and then using those tables to build relationships between tables using a common field, so you can build queries to find specific types of data over several related tables. Having a relational database is the best way to customize queries, forms, and reports. There are some built-in statistical or mathematical functions, which allow you to generate meaningful statistics to a certain degree. For generating reports and forms on specific related data, Microsoft Access is much better suited. It is less appropriate for statistical analysis, creating charts, and graphs. Microsoft Excel is much better for charts, graphs, and utilizing formulae
and statistical functions to visually present data in graphic form.
We use Microsoft Access to backlog data and information for our entire company. Microsoft Access helps keep information in a concise location for easy reference. This way, we don't have to spend hours going through filing cabinets or folders when looking for old information.
Pros
Stores Data
Groups Data for Easy Reference
User-Friendly
Cons
Marketing
Customer Outreach
IT
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft Access is great for scenarios in which you have a vast amount of records/information to store. For example, we have thousands of backlogged bid proposals to different GCs for several projects. Trying to maintain all of these files in a filing cabinet or even an Excel spreadsheet would be nearly impossible. Microsoft Access makes it possible.
Microsoft Access is available to all employees through our Enterprise subscription to Office 365. Access is extremely powerful and a life saver when it comes to working with data, but it can be a bit intimidating at first to get to know.
I was able to self-teach myself the basics of the program and was able to find another power-user of the program at my university to help answer specific questions I had come up about linking to data sources on campus.
Pros
Matching/combining data from two or more sources. (I.e. data from a central student information system and information received from a department-made submission form
Finding errors between two datasets
Saving time when used properly instead of Microsoft Excel
Cons
Generally high learning curve for new users. Especially if they are not comfortable with technology.
Desktop only program; not available in web-format like other O365 products
Fewer experienced users, means it's a lot of self-teaching and troubleshooting when you run into an issue
Likelihood to Recommend
My person recommendation is a 10 for the product!!! I love it and it is a life saver if you work with a lot of data. However, I rated this an 8 overall because of the Learning curve and limited number of expienced users able to help with questions. Definitely take the risk to try and learn it though. You won't regret it!
Microsoft Access is used throughout the organization. Microsoft Access is ideal for the easy creation of databases that help with organization and efficiency.
Pros
Access is user-friendly.
The interface allows for creativity and Microsoft provides a range of templates that can be easily edited for a specific use.
There are many YouTube videos and resources available for use if you get stuck.
Cons
Access may not be ideal for larger databases.
Likelihood to Recommend
Access is well suited for creating databases of agencies and programs offered by that agency. Access also has options to personalize reports and forms based on an organization's needs. I believe large amounts of data may not be well suited for another program with a larger capacity. Also, I'm not sure if the Access database can be published online for multiple users to use at the same time.
We have multiple databases within the department. One of them has images that are stored with the data. When working on database management Microsoft Access is the easiest to use and sort out the information for clean-up and export for reporting. If you don't have a lot of time for database management Access makes it faster and easier than Filemaker, or several other interfaces. I like it as much or more so than Excel for larger database information and reporting.
The downside is that people are intimidated by the program.
I am the primary person using Access in my department.
Pros
Sorting for particular information.
Exporting to Excel to create reports.
Storing multiple types of data and media within a singular record.
Cons
Formatting could be better.
If you are having any amount of data that is inconsistent it causes breaks in the system, sometimes.
The interface makes people think they are using excel, and so do miss out some of the features.
Likelihood to Recommend
Well suited for:
A database that contains multiple forms of media.
Easier to use for large amounts of data.
Pulling reports into other programs is fairly easy.
I use Microsoft Access as a database to keep contacts organized. It is being used only by me to address the many different sales and physician contacts I make on a regular basis.
Pros
User friendly - it doesn't take much work to begin using Microsoft Access
Keeps track of my contacts - If I need to quickly find a contact, it saves the information without having to be prompted every time. I always hit 'save' at the end of the day just to be sure, but I have never lost any information I have entered.
Easy to access - I can access on my desktop at work or on an app on my phone.
Cons
Rudimentary - it's a pretty basic software, which means when you open it up for the first time there doesn't seem to be a lot offered from the start, but once you decide your application for use, and implement it, it is pretty dependable.
Saving confusion - I was confused in the beginning about how to save information that I had just entered into the system. There is nothing that indicates that what you have entered in the database would be saved, but I have never lost information once it has been entered.
Likelihood to Recommend
Access is a great tool for organizing contacts. It would work great for a marketing situation, or just to keep track of contacts you deal with on a regular basis. It would be great if you could add a picture of a business card or something as well, but I have not explored enough to see if that is an option.
My department uses Microsoft Access to help students understand the basics of database building, connections, etc. They will give assignments through the program that helps familiarize students to the program and how to look into and manipulate, build, and create queries, lists, and entities. They also use this in the department themselves to keep track of smaller things like student groups and the number of students within them. This program helps us address the problem of experience for students in the database side of understanding what their future job prospects might need experience in.
Pros
Ease of use.
Great teaching tool for experience purposes.
The query creation wizard is perfect for helping students understand the workings of queries.
Cons
This is usually the basic product of this type, there are more that allows for more flexibility and freedom.
Could be more powerful in its dynamics.
List building can be a pain for first time users.
Likelihood to Recommend
It's a great teaching product and helps with experience in database building. This product is very useful in many aspects for teaching and understanding but can be less powerful than most of its other competitors. It also lacks the freedom and usefulness of other competitors as well. This is an all-around great starter product.
We used Microsoft Access to keep track of clients and prospects who were interested in participating in our boot camp. It helped us manage contact information, if they had filled out the necessary paperwork, how many session each person had participated in, emergency contact information, any health concerns a client wanted us to be aware of, starting measurements, etc.
Pros
It is highly customizable, so if you have access to someone who understands how to build the system you can do so many things with it.
It can be intimidating and difficult to learn. Not for someone who is impatient or not technical.
Cons
I wish Microsoft Access had better support resources. I always felt like I was on my own when I had to resolve issues.
It's very easy for user errors to throw everything off.
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft Access isn't built for any one specific industry. This is a blessing and a curse. It's great because you can make it into something specific for your needs, but that's a challenge because you also need to reinvent the wheel. If there is a database that is specific to your industry, it's better to go with that option over Microsoft Access. If you have time to play around to build a home grown solution, and you plan to help that business use that home grown solution for a long time, Microsoft Access could be a good band-aid solution.
