I work at a nonprofit that provides direct services to clients. Our division is a small program with few resources and a shoestring budget. Up until now, we've been tracking clients on an enormous excel spreadsheet. I came to the realization that this situation is screaming for an Access database.
So, I designed one, and I'm planning to transfer all the client data soon. But I plan to leave the agency in a few months- so I only have a short period of time to work out any kinks that could arise. And I'm worried about what will happen afterward if problems arise with the database, since our IT department is not willing or able to help with it.
Even after I leave, I wouldn't mind helping out here and there by phone or skype, or maybe even dropping by, to troubleshoot a problem. But when a problem arises, I won't neccessarily be available immediately, and my time will be limited.
Is this a dumb thing to do?
I feel that I've designed the database well. It has 8 tables, 28 queries, and 2 reports. And it has 6 bound forms, 3 subforms, a sub-subform, and 3 unbound forms. It uses a lot of VBA. Without any data in it, the DB is 4MB. I'll be transferring about 3,000 client records into it, and we'll add several thousand more over the life of the database.
I guess what I'm trying to ask is, how much annual maintenance will a database like this require? Can it be adequately maintained by skyping or dropping by the office a couple times a year? Or, if it's well-designed, can it function without maintenance altogether?
Please share your thoughts. Thanks very much.