Microsoft Access is not an easy piece of software to learn and some people find Access courses to be frustrating as a result. The question some of them ask is whether Access might be overkill for what they are doing. Excel has simple database functions, so couldn't you just use that instead? The answer is a definite "maybe".
Relational vs. Flat File Databases
An Excel database is a flat file database. All of your information is kept in rows and columns as though on a piece of paper. The classic example of a flat file database is a list in which each line contains name, address, and phone number. This could be customer records or an employee internal extension list.
If this is all you need from your database then Excel will work just fine. You can even perform simple database functions like extracting a list of all of the customers who live in a certain city for targeted mailings.
Access is a relational database. The structure of a relational database is more complex. It consists of several tables, each like a flat file database, but the tables are linked to each other by common identifiers.
Most businesses need to keep track of more than just customer addresses. A second table of all orders placed would link to the customer address table by means of a customer ID. This would allow you to perform searches such as people who ordered blue widgets in December 2006 or who ordered more than $500 in one month.
Keys that You Need to Consider Access Courses
Often our databases grow over time and projects that worked in Excel two years ago need to be converted to Access now. How do we find these? Here are a few clues.
- When you add or change information, do you have to do it in multiple places in a workbook or even across multiple workbooks?
- Do several people need to view and change the data simultaneously?
- Is the project becoming so large that it is hard to find the data you want?
- Are you printing mailing labels or generating reports based on the data?
These are the major reasons the people decide to take the plunge and enroll in Access courses. Once they convert the project to a relational database, they find the work flows much more smoothly and fewer errors are made.
The Transition to Access
As mentioned above, some people are scared off by Access courses so decide to stay with their inefficient Excel databases.
If that has been your problem, find a vendor who customizes Access courses to your needs. The instructor can use your Excel database as an example and can show you the specific steps you need to take to convert the data. You will get the tools you need for your specific application.
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