Jim Hewson
JHewson at karta.com
Wed Oct 13 12:31:59 CDT 2004
Below is from the FMS monthly e-newsletter. Thought the list would be interested. Jim H. MICROSOFT INVESTING HEAVILY IN ACCESS Last week at the Access Advisor conference in Las Vegas, Microsoft announced their plans for enhancing Access over the next several versions. In his keynote, Richard McAniff, Corporate Vice President of Access, Excel and Office Programmability, revealed the future direction for Access and their renewed commitment to the roots of making databases easy, along with SharePoint integration for web connectivity. With the largest Access development team since the early days of Access, Microsoft is refocusing its efforts on making Access the no-brainer choice for Excel users who need more power. By simplifying the development of database applications, information workers will be empowered to solve more database problems on their own. Meanwhile, the developer features will allow the continued creation of professional solutions. Overall, the investment Microsoft is making, the change in focus and simpler marketing message for Office, is quite tremendous and bodes well for the future of Access. At FMS we are extremely pleased to see this new focus. Rather than focusing on SQL Server or .NET, Microsoft is returning focus to Access' core strength: a rapid development environment for users that can be extended by experienced database developers and programmers. The new initiative will result in even more databases that can be created by information workers, and gives skilled Access users and developers more opportunities. While there are tradeoffs between Access and other, more advanced platforms, making it easier to create Access projects will allow organizations to build applications they could not cost-justify on more expensive platforms. We at FMS have always believed there are a wide range of business and organizational challenges that require database solutions. Some justify expensive and sophisticated solutions, while others are best satisfied with the rapid, cost effective solutions Access offers.