Microsoft Access database migration
Your Access database replaced with a system the whole team can use from anywhere, without losing the rules, reports and history it holds.
63Digital, a Scottish software company, moves businesses off Microsoft Access onto web systems that work from any browser, at any branch. We start from what your database already does: for a Glasgow kiltmaker we documented two Access systems, with 189 forms and 133 reports between them, rehearsed moving thousands of hire records and kept staff's printouts the same.
How we move you off Access
Find out what it really does
Every form, report and hidden rule written down with the people who use it, so nothing the business relies on gets lost.
Your data, moved safely
Years of customers, orders and history moved across and checked, rehearsed until it's right, with duplicates cleaned up on the way.
A system that works anywhere
A web system your staff, branches and, if you want, customers can use from any browser, with proper logins and backups.
The same answers as before
Old and new systems run the same orders until every price, total and printout matches.
A gentle switch-over
Familiar paperwork, both systems running side by side, and people moved over in stages.
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.
Is it time to move off Access?
A good fit when
- ✓More than one shop, branch or team needs the same live data
- ✓The database has become something only one or two people fully understand
- ✓Staff, customers or suppliers need to use it from anywhere
- ✓You worry about what happens if it breaks, or the person who built it moves on
Probably not when
- –It's a small single-user tool that still does its job well (keep it)
Related: Bespoke platforms, System integration
Common questions
How much does it cost to move off Access?
It depends on what the database does, so we start with a fixed-price system review: £450 + VAT for a written, staged plan and a fixed price for the first stage. If you go ahead, the £450 comes off the build. Most of our projects cost between £10,000 and £20,000 + VAT.
Will we lose the way our database works?
No. Before anything is replaced we write down every form, report and rule it contains, working with the people who use it, so the new system carries them forward rather than rediscovering them the hard way.
Can staff keep working while we move?
Yes. The old and new systems run side by side, and people and features move over in stages. We also reproduce the reports and printouts staff know, down to keeping the main order form on one page.
Can you move our Access data to SQL Server?
Yes, history and all. SQL Server is the database behind the systems we build, and we move your records with a process we rehearse until the totals match the old system, cleaning up duplicates on the way.
Can our Access database move to Microsoft 365 or the cloud?
Not as it is. Access is a desktop program, and Microsoft switched off its browser-based Access web apps in Microsoft 365 in 2018. To use your data from anywhere it has to move into a proper database behind a web system, which is what we build.
How long does it take?
It depends on the system. On a recent one, we were extracting the database the day after we received it, and a repeatable data migration was in place seven weeks in, alongside building the new system.
Typical costs for every kind of project are on our pricing page.
Related platforms
System review
Thinking about replacing the Access database or spreadsheets the business runs on? Start with a fixed-price review: a written plan and a fixed price for the first stage. £450 + VAT, and the £450 comes off the build if you go ahead.
Spreadsheets
The spreadsheets your business runs on, rebuilt as a proper system with access control, an audit trail and search.
Book a system review
We go through the system you have now: what it does, what the data looks like and who relies on it. You get a written plan and a fixed price for the first stage.
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