Eql Data (internet Synchronization Service)

[tbaker818]

Has anyone tried this service? I have a client that's understandably hesitant because it took several days to respond to a basic sales inquiry and then they dropped the ball completely on a technical inquiry before we were even a customer. They claim a 5 day turnaround on technical questions, which is seems like a lot just to get a response, let alone resolve the issue. I'm wondering if anyone has actually worked with their tech support and what their experience was.

[NTC]

I am familiar and while I hesitate to say bad things - I believe the developers have moved on to other opportunities and are not actively focusing on this venture any more.

Specifically what issue are you trying to resolve? Wide area sync of distributed dbs or web enabled or....?

[tbaker818]

Thanks for your response. I have a database that was developed entirely in Access for about 90 outside sales people who are mostly only able to connect to the main office through the internet. Right now, they're connecting through a VPN to synchronize. I'm getting indications that this has been problematic and they've asked me to look into other options. Our first choice would be services like this and this is the only one I've found that's likely to be able to support all of these users without re-doing a lot of the development work. From what I can tell, SharePoint Services is not an option in this case - the size and other design factors would probably rule that one out.

Do you think there's lack of demand for this service, or do you think it will continue to be supported and they're just moving on to newer things? If it's lack of demand, what are people doing? I didn't get the sense that indirect sync via the internet is a good option because I believe this requires the company to use the Microsoft's highly unpopular IIS web server. The only other option I know of is to use SQL Server as the back end. I'm not sure if I can convince them to go this direction. I suppose if that's the only option, they might go for it.

[NTC]

Well in a nutshell my advice, based upon 90 outside db users, is to develop a web based application from the ground up. I would not attempt to migrate or evolve your Access database nor even to use Access. As your current Access db was not written to be web based you are therefore starting from scratch.

The Access app will serve as a good working model for your web developer - which is helpful - but that's about it. The technologies of web applications are significantly different than desktop applications and there is no migration path IMO. There have been a few schemes to attempt to make a less painful migration path from an old/classic Access db to be web enabled - but if you know the technology then you know that there are trade offs in terms of functionality, responsiveness and it simply doesn't seem feasible.

On professional experience I will need to disagree with your statements that Sharepoint would be out, or that IIS is unpopular ; or that you would need to convince anyone to use SQL Server: thousands of very large corporations all use and depend on these products. They are very very solid. But the point is that unless you are a full time web application developer then one shouldn't even attempt to select the technology. The premier Microsoft web development environment is ASP.net with IIS & SQLserver backend. However development environments/tools can be a bit like religious wars and Microsoft has plenty of competition in web development tools - and if this forum were visited by devotees of the LAMP stack we would be inundated with the advantages of Linus/PHP/MySQL. In the end you need a solution, and the technology behind it maybe is not as important as the reputation of the developer and their ability to suppor you in the long run. This is not an area to cut corners nor make decisions on hearsay. You will need to find some very strong web developers with a solid base of business and have them bid on providing a web application.

Finally; my 2 cents on Access 2010 as a web development solution is to use the analogy of going to MIT to be a French Literature major. MIT is the best engineering school just as classic Access is the best desktop/PC/LAN database. Clearly the best. But MIT is not the best school for french nor is Access the best tool for web development. I'll leave at that.

Good luck.