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Is Microsoft Access going away, dying, or going end of life, and is it still relevant in the world of remote working and cloud computing?
by
Emma | Dec 11, 2020 |
Microsoft Access
There is a whole rumour mill about the demise of Microsoft Access, and to be honest there has been for the last 20 years. Dig a little deeper and it becomes fairly obvious that the rumours are put out there by the companies trying to sell alternatives to Microsoft Access. So, is Microsoft Access going away? No, certainly not anytime soon. Microsoft Access is used by millions of businesses and organisations throughout the world and Microsoft have stated that they remain committed to not only supporting Access but to continue to enhance it.
You may be reading this if you are considering developing (or having developed) an Access application, and want to know if this is the right choice. You may also be reading it if you have an existing Access database and you want to see if you can use it remotely or in the cloud, or if you should seek a cloud based alternative to Microsoft Access. So, in this article we will look at some of the myths about Microsoft Access being discontinued and provide some answers to commonly asked questions about the future of Microsoft Access.
Is Microsoft Access dead?
No, Microsoft have no plans to end Microsoft Access. They are committed to its development. See
this video from Access Program Manager Ebo Quansah where he confirms that Microsoft will continue to develop Access and included it in future releases of Office.
Is Microsoft Access being phased out?
Ignoring the commitment from Microsoft in the video above, you have to ask the question, why would Microsoft phase out Access? It is the most popular relational database management system on the planet for small business and organisations. It’s combination of simplicity and incredible functionality, flexibility and scalability mean that anyone can create a simple database, and even the most inexperienced of developers can build on that to create very sophisticated application. There are no Microsoft Access alternatives that even come close. The cloud based, online alternatives to MS Access simply cannot offer the same depth of functionality and flexibility that the desktop application does.
What will replace Microsoft Access?
Well, the replacement for Microsoft Access 2019 will be Microsoft Access 2022. After that I imagine something like Microsoft Access 2025.