Microsoft Access support, repair and development
Practical help for Access databases and VBA applications that a business depends on, whether the need is an urgent fix, steady support or a planned improvement.
A structured review of an existing Access application: its tables and relationships, queries, forms, reports, VBA code, multi-user design, backups and dependencies. You receive a written report that sets out the immediate risks, the problems found, recommended fixes and realistic modernisation options, in priority order.
It is the usual first step, and it can be carried out before you commit to any larger development project.
Microsoft Access Support & Repair
Most Access applications that need help were written by someone else, often years ago, and often without documentation. That is normal, and it is the work Talyon does.
The starting point is to read and understand the existing code and fix what is wrong with it. A rewrite is only recommended when the evidence supports one.
Typical support and repair work
- Broken Access applications
- VBA errors
- Database corruption investigation
- Form and report problems
- Query problems
- Performance issues
- Multi-user problems
- Linked table problems
- Office upgrade problems
- 32-bit to 64-bit compatibility
- Missing references
- API compatibility
- Undocumented legacy applications
- Applications where the original developer is no longer available
Access Performance & Reliability
An Access application that was fast with three users and a small data file can become slow and fragile with twenty users and fifteen years of records. The cause is usually specific and fixable: a query that reads far more data than it needs, a missing index, a form bound to an entire table, or a front end shared over the network.
Talyon measures where the time goes, fixes the causes in order of effect, and explains what was changed and why.
Areas commonly addressed
- Slow forms and reports
- Slow queries
- Poor indexing
- Excessive network traffic
- Large Access backends
- Multi-user contention
- Record locking
- Database splitting
- Frontend/backend architecture
- Local frontend deployment
- Query optimisation
- VBA optimisation
- SQL optimisation
Businesses can often keep their familiar Access front end while moving the data to Microsoft SQL Server. Done properly, this improves multi-user performance, security, backup and capacity, and gives a foundation for later modernisation.
It has to be engineered. Moving the tables and hoping performance improves is the most common reason upsizing projects disappoint.
Some systems eventually outgrow Access. Talyon helps organisations move gradually towards SQL Server, VB.NET, C#, web applications, APIs and modern reporting tools, in stages that keep the business running.
Modernisation doesn't have to mean throwing away twenty years of business knowledge. The rules and workflows built into a mature Access application are carried forward deliberately.
Microsoft Access & VBA Development
Talyon builds new Access databases as well as looking after existing ones. A new system is designed properly from the start: sound table design, a split front end and back end, sensible multi-user behaviour, and a structure that can move to SQL Server later without being rewritten.
Existing applications can be extended too, with new forms, reports, features and integrations added in a way that fits what is already there.
VBA holds much of the business logic in a mature Access application. Talyon maintains and extends existing code, tidies what has become hard to change, and adds proper error handling so faults are reported clearly rather than leaving users with a cryptic message.
New work is written to fit the application you already have, so it can be supported afterwards.
Development work includes
- New Access databases
- New forms, reports and features
- Existing VBA maintenance
- Refactoring
- Error handling
- Automation
- Office integration
- Import/export processes
- Excel integration
- Outlook/email integration
- APIs
- Legacy code analysis
Has your Access system suddenly stopped working?
When people cannot do their jobs, the first priority is getting the system working again safely, without making a recoverable problem worse. Finding and fixing the underlying cause comes next.
If you can, take a copy of the database files before anyone attempts a repair, and note exactly what the error message says.
Request Access supportCommon urgent problems
- Application will not open
- Database corruption
- Errors after an Office update
- Missing developer
- Broken reports
- Users suddenly unable to work
- Database running extremely slowly
- Broken links
- VBA compile errors
Business-critical systems, whatever the industry
Microsoft Access applications are found throughout organisations of every kind. The sector matters less than the fact that the business relies on the system. Talyon takes the time to understand how each system is used before recommending changes to it.
Not sure whether to repair, upgrade or replace your Access system?
Start with an Access Health Check. You get a practical, written assessment of the system you have, the risks it carries and the sensible options, before committing to any larger project.