● 01 · MS ACCESS & DATABASE MODERNIZATION
MS Access Programming & Database Migration Services
Build a new Microsoft Access application from scratch, take over one you already own, or migrate it to SQL Server, Azure SQL, Power Apps or a full custom web application. Three roads, one team, since 2003.
◆ SUPPORT DEADLINE
Access 2021 reaches Microsoft end of support on October 13, 2026. Access 2016 and 2019 lost support in October 2025. Running an unsupported database is a security and compliance exposure, not just a version number.
1995
Building Access and SQL solutions in Canada since
2 GB
Hard file ceiling on any .accdb back end
5
Migration rungs, from split file to custom web app
EN / FR
Delivered bilingually across Quebec and Canada
● 02 · THREE ROADS INTO THE SAME TEAM
Start it, inherit it, or move it
Most shops pick a side: they either sell you a new Access build or they sell you an escape from Access. We do all three, because the right answer depends on your data, your headcount and your budget — not on what we happen to sell.
ROAD A
Build from
scratch
Your process runs on spreadsheets, paper, or one person's memory. We design the data model, build the forms, queries and reports, and automate the repetitive parts with VBA. You get a working application in weeks, not quarters.
ROAD B
Take over an existing application
Your Access app works, but the person who built it is gone. We read the VBA, document what actually exists, repair what is broken, and pick development back up from where it stopped. No rebuild required to get moving.
ROAD C
Migrate and
modernize
The file is at its limit, or your team is no longer in the office. We move the data to SQL Server, Azure SQL, Dataverse or a custom web application — in stages, on a schedule that does not stop your business.
● 03 · THE HONEST CASE FOR ACCESS
Access is not dead. It is just not the answer to everything.
Microsoft has not discontinued Access. It ships with Microsoft 365 business and enterprise plans on Windows, and the perpetual Access LTSC 2024 release is supported through October 2029. For a lot of small and mid-sized operations it remains the fastest way to turn a messy process into a real application. What is true is that Microsoft's new investment goes to Power Apps, Dataverse and Azure SQL — so Access is a great place to start and, for some workloads, a poor place to stay.
01
Speed to working software
A functioning application in weeks. For a business that needs to stop losing data to spreadsheets this quarter, nothing else is close.
04
Low licensing
overhead
Access is already in most Microsoft 365 business plans. The Access Runtime lets users run your application without a full licence.
02
VBA
automation
Repetitive entry, validation rules, scheduled reports and document generation handled by code instead of by a person.
05
Native Microsoft integration
Reads and writes Excel, pushes mail through Outlook, links to SharePoint. It sits inside the toolset your team already uses.
03
SQL Server backend
integration
Keep the Access front end your staff already know, and put a real database engine underneath it with transactions and proper locking.
06
Multi-user with permissions
Several people in the same application at once, with user roles governing who can see and change what.
Someone told you Access is obsolete?
That claim is usually sold by whoever wants to bill you for a replacement. Read our breakdown of MS Access myths and facts to see which criticisms are fair and which are marketing.
● 04 · MIGRATION LADDER
Five rungs from a shared file to a real platform
Migration is not one jump. It is a ladder, and most businesses only need to climb one or two rungs. We tell you which rung you are on, which one solves your actual problem, and what it costs to stop there.
RUNG
01
Split Access · front end and back end
The application file sits on each workstation; only the data file lives on the server. This one change eliminates most of the corruption and record-locking complaints people blame on Access itself. Often it is the entire fix.
STAY HERE IF
The front end does its job, staff are trained on it, and your problem is reliability and capacity rather than access from outside the office.
MOVE UP WHEN
Users start working over VPN, corruption returns, or the back end creeps toward the 2 GB ceiling.
RUNG
02
Access front end with a SQL Server back end
Keep every form, report and line of VBA your staff already know. Replace the .accdb data file with SQL Server through ODBC linked tables. You gain transactions, row-level locking, real backups, and roughly a thousand times the storage headroom. Users notice nothing except that it stopped breaking.
STAY HERE IF
The front end does its job, staff are trained on it, and your problem is reliability and capacity rather than access from outside the office.
STAY HERE IF
You no longer want to own a server, or users need the data from outside the building.
RUNG
03
Azure SQL · cloud back end
Same Access front end, data moved to Azure SQL Database or SQL Server on an Azure VM. Geo-redundant backup and point-in-time restore replace the tape nobody was checking. Hosted in Canada Central or Canada East, so your records stay on Canadian soil — which matters when you are answering to Law 25 or PIPEDA.
STAY HERE IF
You have hybrid or multi-site staff, no appetite for on-premises server maintenance, and the Access front end is still fit for purpose.
MOVE UP WHEN
People need the application in a browser or on a phone, without a Windows desktop and an Office licence.
RUNG
04
Power Apps and Dataverse
The front end is rebuilt as a Power App over Dataverse or over your SQL back end. Browser and mobile access, sign-in through your existing Microsoft 365 identities, and Power Automate flows taking over what VBA macros used to do. Access includes a native tool to move tables and relationships into Dataverse, which shortens the data half of the job considerably.
STAY HERE IF
It is a forms-and-workflow application of moderate complexity and you already pay for Microsoft 365.
WORTH KNOWING
Power Apps is not a drop-in replacement. Dense VBA logic rarely converts one-to-one, reporting works quite differently, and per-user licensing can surprise a team used to Access being included. We price this honestly before you commit.
RUNG
05
Custom web application on .NET
A purpose-built application on ASP.NET Core with SQL Server or Azure SQL underneath. Role-based permissions, full audit trails, REST APIs, customer or supplier portals, and real integration with your accounting or ERP system. This is what we build when the application is the business rather than a tool beside it.
STAY HERE IF
The system is core to operations, has users outside your organization, or needs integration depth that low-code platforms cannot reach.
STAY HERE IF
Highest cost and longest timeline of the five. We recommend it when it is genuinely warranted, and say so when it is not.
● 05 · INHERITED APPLICATIONS
We take over databases other people wrote
The most common call we get is not "build me a database." It is "the person who built this left, and now nobody can change it." That is a normal situation and a solvable one.
We start by reading, not rewriting. Before a single line changes, you get a written map of the tables, relationships, queries, forms, reports and VBA modules that actually exist — including the ones nobody knew were there.
WHAT WE ROUTINELY UNTANGLE
-
Undocumented VBA and hidden modules left by a departed developer
-
Locked or password-protected VBA projects
-
Broken references after a Microsoft 365 update
-
32-bit to 64-bit Office conversions and the API declarations they break
-
Legacy .mdb files that need to become supported .accdb applications
-
Databases that corrupt on a schedule nobody can explain
-
Applications running on Access 2016, 2019 or 2021 past their support dates
● 06 · SERVICE SCOPE
What the engagement actually includes
01
Database
design
Normalized tables, enforced relationships and constraints that stop bad data at the door instead of cleaning it up later.
04
SQL Server and Azure SQL migration
Schema conversion, data transfer, index and query tuning, ODBC re-linking, and a parallel run before anything is switched off.
02
Forms, queries and reports
Interfaces built around how your staff actually work, and reports that produce the numbers management asks for without manual assembly.
05
User roles and data security
Permissions by role, activity logging, encrypted connections and backup routines that are tested rather than assumed.
03
VBA
automation
Validation, batch processing, document and email generation, and scheduled routines replacing repetitive manual steps.
06
Documentation and support
Written technical documentation, commented code, and an ongoing support agreement, so the next person is never in the position you were.
● 07 · DIAGNOSTIC
Signals it is time to move up a rung
If two or more of these describe your situation, the platform is now the problem rather than the application.
◇ The back end keeps approaching or hitting the 2 GB file ceiling
◇ Remote staff work over VPN and everything crawls
◇ More than ten to fifteen people are in the file simultaneously
◇ A client or auditor asks who accessed a record, and you cannot answer
◇ "The database is corrupted again" has become a monthly event
◇ A second office needs the same live data
◇ Nobody knows what the VBA does, and its author is unreachable
◇ The data file lives on a workstation under a desk, backed up by hope
● 08 · ENGAGEMENT
How the work runs
STEP 01
Audit
We open the file, map the schema, inventory the VBA, and talk to the people who use it daily.
STEP 02
Findings
A written recommendation: which rung you are on, which one you need, what each option costs.
STEP 03
Build
Development or migration in stages, with checkpoints you approve before we continue.
STEP 04
Parallel run
Old and new run side by side until the numbers agree. Nothing is decommissioned on faith.
STEP 05
Handover
Documentation, training, and a support agreement sized to how critical the system is.
● 09 · QUESTIONS WE GET
Frequently asked questions
Is Microsoft Access still supported?
Yes. Microsoft has not discontinued Access. It is included with Microsoft 365 business and enterprise plans on Windows, and the perpetual Access LTSC 2024 release is supported through October 2029. Specific older versions have deadlines: Access 2016 and 2019 lost support in October 2025, and Access 2021 reaches end of support on October 13, 2026.
Can you take over a database somebody else built?
That is a large part of what we do. We do not require the original developer, the source documentation, or even a working knowledge of what the application does. We audit the file, document what exists, and take it from there.
Will migrating to SQL Server mean rebuilding all my forms?
No. Moving the back end to SQL Server keeps your existing Access front end — the forms, reports and VBA stay. We relink the tables through ODBC and retune the queries that were written for a file-based back end. Your staff generally see no change beyond better performance.
How long does an Access to SQL Server migration take?
For a typical small business database, the migration itself is usually measured in days rather than months. The audit comes first and gives you a firm scope and price before any work begins. Complexity in the VBA, not the size of the data, is what usually drives the timeline.
Does the 2 GB limit still apply after migration?
No. The 2 GB ceiling is a property of the Access file format. Once your data lives in SQL Server or Azure SQL, that ceiling is gone. The Access front end file itself has its own 2 GB limit, but front ends hold no data and never approach it.
Do we have to leave Access entirely?
Rarely. Most of our clients climb one rung and stop. Keeping a front end your staff already know, over a database engine that can actually carry the load, solves the real problem at a fraction of the cost of a rebuild. We will tell you when a full replacement is genuinely warranted.
Where does our data live after a cloud migration?
In Canada, unless you direct otherwise. We deploy to the Canada Central and Canada East Azure regions so your records remain on Canadian soil, which keeps your obligations under Quebec's Law 25 and the federal PIPEDA straightforward rather than something you have to argue about later.
Do you work with Toronto businesses?
Yes. We serve Toronto and the GTA, Calgary, and clients across Canada, with remote and on-site support.
