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A Database for the Office?
travellerjohn asks: "I work in a small company (200 people in 7 offices), where the staff uses Microsoft Access to create various databases. Most of the time they lose interest before the databases become complex or important enough to warrant the IT department getting involved. However, from time to time, someone turns up at our door looking for help with their pet project, often starting with statements like 'it should work over the intranet' or questions like 'why can't it store documents and pictures?' or 'how do I control user access?' When we sit them down and explain how much it will cost to rewrite their database in PHP/VB/JSP, or whatever we sound unhelpful and expensive. What database tool does Slashdot recommend I provide our staff? It has got to be easy to use, web enabled, capable of storing documents and pictures and offer user level security. We have tried Sharepoint with some success but that is pretty limited, too, and I have looked at Oracle Application Express. Open source would be good, but I would pay for the right product. Any suggestions?"
A relational db is one thing, a document collaboration tool is another. If it is a MS Office environment, get someone who knows Sharepoint to come out and show you and one of your power users what it can do. You can even buy/build modular web parts if your document needs are out of the ordinary.
You'll need MSSQL on the backend, so that solves your "bigger than Access" problem right there. These tools dominate their markets for a reason.
In a 200 person company, I would get rid of Access on the desktop. I see the appeal, but it's time for the IT department to step up and consolidate database development/maintenance so that it is more centralized.
Once IT takes control of all databases, all sorts of things fall into place, such as security, backups, moving to a single technology (SQL Server or MySQL), etc. At first it is a bit more costly and people will complain about losing flexibility. But in the lgng run, it is cheaper and people who do OTHER work will find it nicer to be able to focus on their core expertise.
"If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid." - Epictetus
Holy crap. Moving them from Access to Excel is a good thing? Are you nuts? If you don't like rogue Access apps, the solution is to offer a better solution, not ban the technology that comes closest to solving their problems.
Assuming there aren't internal resources, get some broad guidelines for those rogue people and better yet, cultivate a stable of smart outsiders who can be the "approved" rogue IT for when business people bypass IT and do their own thing using Access. If you are going to have rogues, have good rogues.