Legacy system modernisation
Access databases, spreadsheets and in-house systems carried forward onto modern web platforms, without losing what they know.
63Digital moves businesses off Microsoft Access databases, spreadsheets and older in-house systems onto modern web platforms. We start by extracting and documenting what the existing system actually does, migrate the data with checks at every step, prove the new system gives the same answers, and keep staff's paperwork familiar, so years of hard-won knowledge comes with you.
Platforms we work with
How to, from jobs we've done
How to extract forms, reports, queries and VBA from a Microsoft Access database
Before replacing an Access database, we take a copy and read everything out of it: tables, saved queries, forms, reports and the VBA code behind them. That gives a searchable record of how the system really works, which becomes the specification for its replacement and shows where the business rules actually live.
How to migrate data out of Microsoft Access into SQL Server
Move Access data with a repeatable process you can rehearse, not a one-off import. Load it in a sensible order, split all-in-one rows into proper records, merge duplicate customers carefully, keep a link from every new record to its original, protect real email addresses until cutover, and let validation decide when you're ready.
How to prove your new system matches the old one
Treat the old system's behaviour as the specification and check the new one against it. Put the same orders through both and compare every total, check what the old code actually does before trusting a stored value, reproduce reports in their old layout, match every automated email, and re-check the old system just before switching over.
How to run old and new systems side by side, and cut over safely
Let staff enter real work in the new system while the old one stays the official record, but make sure the new one can't contact customers until you decide. Keep the paperwork and spreadsheets people rely on, decide how order numbers continue, move people over in stages, and switch over from a fresh copy that passes validation.
How to replace a business spreadsheet with a web app
Start by reviewing how the spreadsheets are really used, and adapt the approach to what you find. Most replacements turn tabs into proper tables, build in per-person access and an audit trail from the start, move the data across with checks, and let staff settle in before any customer sees it.
Outgrowing a system that got you here?
Tell us what it does and who relies on it. We'll show you how to carry it forward without losing a thing.