We're trying to update our internal customer/transaction database and I'm starting to see that we desperately need an online version of our data for improved customer service.

Can anybody suggest a design model that includes local applications (VB perhaps) and web applications??

For example, we have customers walk in to our showroom and order stuff, and their information would go into the database through the local application. We have online orders as well and that would require an online "arm" of the application with the same access to the database. A person who walked in one month might reorder online the next month, etc etc.

I love working with SQL and have for a long time, but upper management (and primary developer) prefers Access.

Any ideas??

HJ

Access with its Jet (MDB) engine is often cheaper in the short haul.

SQL (using MS Access for a front end) is a better solution, and often cheaper in the long haul, especially when you need to go online to the web.

-PatP

That, I believe, is what we're heading towards...as per my boss' preference. I guess I'm cool with that, but will it hold up when our internet business increases? I suspect that in a year our internet business could triple. I heard chatter here and there about decreased performance of Access in medium to high volume web scenarios.



I like this idea. Does that mean:
All users use Access as an "interface" to add/view data to the SQL DB
and
Web applications could interact with the same SQL DB??
HJ

No, Jet will support 5 to 10 simultaneous users reasonably well. If you have the Jet engine running on the same machine as the web server, it may be a bit slow.

If you use Jet, I wouldn't allow the webserver and the client machines to run off of a single copy. You'll have to set up and monitor replication between multiple database copies (one for the server, one for each 5-10 of the MS-Access users). This is a lot of work, and it takes a fairly high degree of technical competence to make it work well.

If you set up an MS-SQL server, you can support hundreds to thousands of web connections, along with at least a few hundred MS-Access connections using a single server. While it costs more up front, it will end up being less expensive between 18 and 30 months down the road.

-PatP