Microsoft Access to build a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database

[CarolR]

Hi all. Just starting up a small business with a partner and was looking into several CRM software options available for purchase on the web. I'm an intermediate user of Access and was wondering if anyone had any opinions on using Access to create a Customer Relationship Management database vs. purchasing the software. Would it be difficult for an intermediate user (not advanced) user to create? I would like data entry screens, search filters, reporting, reminder pop ups, etc. I'm thinking I would much rather build my own than rely on a purchased product.

And is there any source on the web that would have tutorials or training material that would help with such a task?

THanks so much for any input!



Signed,
Newbie

[Xipooo]

Obviously this becomes a tough choice for any business. Purchase an "Out of the Box" product, or have something designed that might be tailored more toward their needs. "Out Of The Box" is usually the cheaper route but can be less effective for their business and they run the risk of a large component that their business is based around being absent.

On the other hand designed software runs the risk of lost support. If the person who started the project leaves for some reason, or the technology the product was built on goes away, then the company is left stranded and back to their original quandary.

Access can surely do all of those things that you probably want your CRM to do. However, the more complex actions you want it to perform the more you will need to study up to make it happen. Sometimes you have to get really creative to make it work. There is also a growing fear among a lot of folks in my personal community that Access itself might be either deprecated entirely, become only a shell of it's former self, or become strictly Sharepoint oriented.

Because of the fast pace at which software development technology is being refined and improved, it is easy to understand why these fears would come about. It seems every new version of Access drop components that earlier versions had (and in some cases were extremely popular) while introducing new components that befuddle us as to why they're even being suggested. However, Access has been around for a pretty considerable amount of time as a relational database management system. With so many people using it and buying it, one could argue Microsoft has every necessity to continue supporting it.

It's honestly too tough of a call for any of us here to give you a hardened answer. It's something you should really gather as much information about as you can and then make your decision after careful consideration. There are lots of CRM products on the market already. Here's a techrepublic article which lists a few good ones: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/smb...st-efficiency/

[orange]

If you are starting a small business do you really have the time to be building software?
If you have a lot of spare time to learn database, Access and maintenance and not be focused on the business, then maybe go for it.
My recommendation is to buy into something commercial that you could access from anywhere--especially phone/handheld device.

[trevor40]

Built it yourself, just start small but keep in mind future expansion when creating tables. My first DB was 25 years ago for the company I am still employed by as a Electronics Technician, self learning as i went. It started with a basic forms only structure and progressed to menu based, If something extra was required I added it and the system keeps growing with specific options features and reports not available in most purchased s/w, or not specifically tailored to the company.
And you won't have to pay thier annual licence fees and payments.

Also there is lots of Help in forums like this, and specific Access web sites offering help.

Most of the data entry into my system is done by many techs and the system is designed to minimize errors and provied a very fast custom entry system that you won't find anyware.

Most packaged systems provide a lot of functionality but also allow for various type of bussinesses and a trade off between use and adaptability is the down side.

I personally don't agree with the above "Out Of The Box" is usually the cheaper route, Ie purchase price + annual licence fees (Inc per pc install) + ongoing support +...

[CarolR]

THank you Trevor40. That's is my plan. My part in this partnership is the data, so I will have the time to learn. I've built a menu based Access database, but it is very elementary so far. I'm just using it to try and learn at this point. I can see that for many of my tasks that will need to be completed within this Access application, I'm going to have to learn some VBA code and that scares me. ha ha! THanks for you input - I feel it's "doable".

[ItsMe]

I made a small DB that you can use to practice VBA with. It centers around the MsgBox Function.

Interacting with this DB, adjusting the VBA, and reading and understanding the help files will be a good introduction to VBA in Access.

There is a lot going on in this example. It touches on

Naming Conventions
Declaring and using variables
Data types
Interacting with the VBA editor
Employing a function and passing arguments to the function; MsgBox()
Employing a method; .Print

This is just part of the application side of things. Access is also an RDBMS. You need nice tables, a normalized data structure before you can begin to create the public interface.