Question Is Access the right program for this project? (1 Viewer)

[KaylaSimmonds]

First of, thank you to all who assist me with this. My job is on the line with this.

I work with a company that provides auto financing for people with bad credit. My boss purchased Access 2013 and described to me how he wanted me to set up a database to track the customers from the last 12 months that have been repossessed so we can look for any similarities to help provide a prediction for future customers' repossession possibility. I've spent about a week learning the program in order to set this up and, apart from queries, I am somewhat sound in the idea that my current database can provide this information (that will be a different question in another forum).

The problem, though, is that my boss's end vision for using Access with the company is to have a database with all previous customers programmed in it and with standard statistics laid out which provide the percentage that a potential customer will end up getting repossessed due to past evidence.

Basically, he wants Access to be present on all computer stations on our car lots, so a manager on site who is working with selling a vehicle can log on and basically see a view of whether he can finance them or not. They would not be doing any queries or changes, they would just view the screen there would be a 'yes' if the transaction was good and a 'no' if the transaction was bad, along with the issues that needed to be fixed. Example: This person doesn't bring in a substantial amount of income for us to take the risk selling them that vehicle so, in order to finance them, they need to be placed in a cheaper vehicle by X amount of dollars). In theory, it's an underwriting program so managers don't have to keep calling in to the underwriting office for those basic situations.

After doing my research and playing with the Access, I'm not entirely confident that he's invested in the proper program for that task. Do you have any wisdom on how to do this if it is possible? Or, suggestions of better suited programs for this purpose?

 

[plog]

Access, in the right hands, is a development platform. So yes, it can do what your boss wants. However, what he wants probably can't be done by someone with advanced knowledge of excel and a few months working with Access.

That's not a knock on you, that's a testament to how ambitious what he wants is. Additionally, if he's like most people with a software project in mind, he probably has a great idea of what the input form looks like and what pops up when the user clicks Submit, but has only a faint idea of the algorithm that will go into determine a person's likelihood of default. Getting it to work to his specifications will be an endless game of trial and error:

Ok tweak this variable to weigh more, make this value count for twice what it is now, ok run it and see what you get. No that's not right, let's go back 6 months instead of 3 months and see what that give us. Ok, what if we add in 4 more variables and adjust...

This project should probably be outsourced and not just to someone who knows how to develop in Access. But a company with project managers so that they can reign in his idea and get specifics of what goes into the computation.

 

[CJ_London]

Hi,

With regards the question 'Is access suitable for this task' the answer is yes it can be- I did a similar project a year or so ago.

However you will have two issues, data quality and data quantity.

Data quality issues will arise typically because of missing data from your legacy data history - missing postcodes, misdescribed income etc.

Data quantity will matter in order to be able to come up with a statistical 'accuracy' or degree of certainty. For example, if you are basing a decision on stated income and postcode, you will have some people who are are in a postcode with many previous customers whilst others will be in one with relatively few previous customers.

The project I did a year or so ago used about 8 key pointers on a customer base of 1.2m and we had massive issues with both quality and quantity.

It is a big subject so would recommend you bone up on statistical techniques around population mapping and perhaps also take a look at CLV (customer lifetime value).

With regards other systems, why not simply subscribe to a credit rating agency who not only have this sort of thing down pat but also have credit assessment details on your customer.

 

[jdraw]

Just to say I agree totally with plog and cj. This is what we would refer to as SMOP in the old days. Small Matter Of Programming .

Of course most anything can be done given sufficient resources. What your boss is asking for can be done. But this is not yet an Access issue. The first step is some appreciation of the scope of what is being asked. Any firm coming to look at this would want a) to be provided with a detailed list of requirements, or b) offer to create such a list for some amount of money. They would also identify general phases (design, testing, populating historical data, training...) into which such a project would be broken into and developed.
Only once the requirements have been fleshed out would some approach to general design -- prototype/mockup, a few forms be considered ---and that to prove the concept and suggest the detailed work for a defined phase. Many projects like this are discussed in the abstract, usually by people with little knowledge/appreciation of the details involved.

There is insufficient info to do anything in Access at this point. I think the boss needs a reality check by getting a few designers involved to discuss the "project".

You haven't mention "available on the internet", but that might on his mind also.

I'm sure you've looked to see if there are commercial programs available that do this sort of thing. There are lots of car lots and other businesses) that must have similar needs. Might be an option.