Access databases grow where a team needed a form and a report faster than IT could provide them.
| Element | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Tables | local copies of ERP extracts, plus the team's own records |
| Forms | data entry with VBA behind the buttons |
| Queries | the logic: joins, filters, calculations |
| Reports | printed or exported lists |
| Macros and VBA | validation, routing, exports |
| Linked tables and ODBC | some reach the ERP or a warehouse directly |
| In microsoft access databases | In SmartApps |
|---|---|
| A table copied from the ERP | A table handler on the ERP object, read in place |
| A team's own table | A Lima-owned table, with lineage and access rules |
| A form with VBA validation | A screen with validation properties and actions |
| A query | A query handler with parameters, reused by screens and criteria |
| A report | A grid or chart on the same handler, exportable |
| A macro that routes | A flow with lanes and criteria |
| The one person who knows it | A versioned definition with a change log |
Microsoft continues to ship Access with Microsoft 365; the reason to move is the copied data, the single-user design and the dependence on one author.
A distribution company found 190 Access databases on shared drives. 70 were dead, 80 were reports on ERP extracts refreshed by hand, and 40 ran a process: returns, credit holds, sample requests. The reports became query handlers and grids; the 40 processes became 9 app types. The credit-hold database became the credit limit change app in four days, reading the exposure live from the ERP for the first time.
It becomes a registered function the app's actions call by name, with its inputs and outputs logged.
The process owner, with the configurator role; the application team keeps the gates and the write-back switches.
The inventory is fixed-scope; the first ten apps carry a fixed price written before the work; the platform is priced by capacity with apps included.
We list the applications, the forms and the workflows you run today, group them by the app type they become, and write a fixed price for the first ten before any work begins.
