[AccessD] Access development in the cloud

[Paul Wolstenholme]

Hi,

Has anyone tried doing Access development in the cloud?  I'm looking for a
cost-effective cloud solution that at least 2 people could log into
remotely (although not necessarily at the same time and not necessarily
with unique login credentials).
There are a number of providers with a bewildering array of options and
non-obvious pricing.  Microsoft's Windows App, Google cloud and Amazon Web
Services all have servers that are not too distant (from New Zealand) so
I'm assuming lag will not be an issue.  There may be others by ploughing
through the options is daunting!

It is getting to the time when I must upgrade my Access with SQL Server
Express development environment.  The hardware platform and Access licence
are both old and in need of renewal (but SQL Server Express is free).
Furthemore I'm sharing that development machine with a sub-contractor who
is learning to take over the support of my customer.  It is working fine
now but if I'm away then a hardware problem would be hard to deal with.  We
need a development system that is separate from the customer's live system
(and security concerns limit how we can access the live system anyway).

I'm wondering whether a development environment in the cloud might be an
effective way of implementing a succession plan as I train my successor and
eventually hand over that environment.
My full development environment also includes other software running on
Windows that interacts with the same database.  That issue is outside the
scope of this group but hopefully it might run in the same cloud.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Paul Wolstenholme