Why do IT guys hate Access?

[jpopovac]

Our IT guys are on a vendetta against MS Access (and Lotus Notes but they've
won that fight). What I can't understand is, what's the problem? Why does
IT hate MS Access so much.

I have tried to find out who it is that actually wants to get rid of it, but
I can't find anyone who will admit to trying to get rid of it. Nevertheless,
I'm always hearing about how their "phasing it out" or "getting rid of it".
Because no-one owns up I can't even have an open debate about the pros and
cons of MS Access.

It is certainly amazing what disinformation is out there about what MS-Access
can and can't do. "MS Access clogs up the network". Well yeah... when IT
forces you to install the client of your client server app on the Network
Server it does. How come IT developer's clients can reside on the PC, but a
non-IT developer's client can't? "MS-Access requires you to download a copy
of the data before you can create a management report". Well no, we have a
thing called ODBC. "MS-Access doesn't let you set up views/derived
tables/abstraction layer/ multi-dimensional cubes blah, blah, blah" Well,
actually,... it does! "MS-Access can't publish reports to the web" Wrong!
"You can't upgrade Access 95/97 apps to Access 2000/2003/XP". Bzzzt! Wrong
again!

Meanwhile MS-Access has a number of exceptional strengths (a) an (almost)
comprehensive SDK (b) its cheap (c) lots of people have skills in it (no
$1500/day for an MS Access developer) (d) its well integrated with a
spreadsheet, a wordprocessor and its operating system (e) it's context
sensitive help is nothing short of fabulous (f) it has few limitations with
regard to aggregating aggregates or filtering by aggregates, maintaining
previously calculated data, etc etc. Look I could go on, but I have no
forum to argue my case.

So what is it? Is it the security model of Access? Is it the fear that IT
will be left holding the undocumented spaghetti-coded baby when the non-IT
developer skips town? Is it just that it's Microsoft, and its cool to thumb
your nose at Bill Gates? Or is it that IT doesn't like non-IT people having
access to the VB coding environment which can be used to overcome PC and
possibly Network security? Or is it something else?

I used to be in charge of Oracle DBAs and have been responsible for an
organisation's data management policy. I had nothing against MS Access then.
So what's the deal?

Regards,
Jeff Popova-Clark
Gold Coast Australia

 

[kriemer]

I believe that you hit the nail squarley on the head with your item c!!!

 

[WayneRyan]

Jeff,

There have been quite a few discussions on this topic in the past.
But you do bring up a few new points.

First, the debate thread is in the WaterCooler.

A poorly designed Access app can really punish a network! But the
key word is "poorly". If the Access app makes no effort to restrict
the dataflow over the net; forms based on entire tables, rather than
queries which trim down the amount of data, then you will have some
serious performance issues. But mandating that the "poor" front-end
ALSO reside on the server is just stupid! Doing that just magnifies
the problem.

Now, a legitimate reason to hate Access (for the IT guys & management)
is that no matter how well-designed, efficient, and trouble-free an app
may be, one must ALWAYS assume that it can die at any minute. Someone
has to be available for the Compact/Repair duties (easy) and for the
inevitable time for the "Database is in unrecognized format" message.
If folks are just tossing DBs out there and expecting IT to fix them
when they break, then I'd hate Access too.

As far as a database engine, I really miss some of my old ORACLE DBs.
I've had DBs that after development ran for years with no maintenance.
The ORACLE engine supports all of the "nice" sql features like Nested
Selects (which JET hates). BUT ORACLE is a very expensive platform.
As a major DB vendor, they really had to be dragged into the PC arena.

SQL Server is a very affordable DB engine though. It's very stable,
supports major SQL requirements (nested Selects), can have a tremendous
capability for data throughput, and is very managable with tools like
the Enterprise Manager.

But those are just the DB engines. Access is a great front-end tool.
As you stated, it's inexpensive, widely available, well known to s/w
people, and integrated with the MS Office Toolset. The Access database
is an excellent front-end to data in ORACLE, SQL Server and even Access
tables. It's currently my front-end choice for everyday life.

Anyway, the issue with the IT guys is probably performance. If they are
wiling to they can monitor an app's performance? It would be pretty
simple to demo a "bad" VB app versus a "good" Access app. They really
just have to have an open mind.

Just some thoughts,
Wayne

 

[Pat Hartman]

Here's a link to a great article that you should try very hard to get into the hands of your IT people. http://www.fmsinc.com/tpapers/genaccess/DBOD.asp It puts some perspective on the Access vs the world of IT conflict. Hopefully, it will give you the ammunition you need to fight some battles with the powers that be.

While you're at the website, take a look at the other articles. You'll find them all interesting and useful.

The FMS products are also quite useful. I've used TotalAccessAnalyzer for years.

 

[KenHigg]

Excellent link Pat, Thanks!