Wouldn’t it be nice if you received an alert when your database was no longer working for you? Unfortunately, it’s typically not so black-and-white when this happens. Rather, it’s more common to see signs that your database isn’t as functional as it once was, but you might not know when it’s time to make the switch.
In this post, we are going to explore some of the biggest signs that your database is no longer meeting your needs and why it’s probably time to upgrade to a more sophisticated program like Microsoft Access.
You have a large amount of data to keep organized.
Data is everything. Data helps you make sense of your business and how well it’s growing and performing. When your business first starts out, it’s easy to manage this information on your own. But as you grow and expand, it becomes more difficult.
As you find your data becoming unmanageable, overwhelming and time consuming, upgrade to a database that will organize, sort and filter your data in a logical sense.
You waste time entering the same information into your spreadsheets.
When you don’t have intuitive databases like the ones found in Access, you’re eventually going to get to a point where you’re re-entering the same data.
For instance, when you make changes to your spreadsheets, your team is going to have to make the same ones to keep things consistent. Think about how much time everyone is wasting. A program like Access updates data in real-time, keeping everyone the same page.
You find yourself tracking similar data on your spreadsheets.
Since spreadsheets are more limited than Access databases, you need different sheets and tabs for various locations, departments, etc. The trouble is that this leaves you with a disjointed experience. Rather than having everything in one database, you have similar information across multiple spreadsheets. By upgrading your database, you can see the whole picture rather than just part of it.
Your administrative and IT costs are expensive.
It’s always amazing to hear how many companies are reluctant to switch to a bigger and better database for fear of cost. However, what they don’t realize is how much money they’re wasting on things like fixes, patches and add-ons to make their database more functional.
If your expenses are too high in these departments, it means you need to reduce costs by upgrading to a new database. Though it might be an investment on the front end, you’ll see that it quickly pays for itself.
If you’re still not sure whether your company is ready to upgrade to Microsoft Access, give Arkware a call. We’ll be happy to help, or we can recommend an alternative database solution.