Sometimes a big heavy-duty enterprise relational database is not a good fit for the things you want to do for your business. Sometimes, you need to use the tools you have available… like Microsoft Excel and Access.
Of course, Dash Technical Solutions can help you implement a solution that uses any of them (including the enterprise-ready databases like Microsoft SQL Server). But for those who like to give it a try before calling in outside help, there is this handy guide, put out by Microsoft Office Online.
Making the right choice is critical if you want to access and update your information with maximum performance and accuracy. So the article talks about how to pick the program that will work best for your data.
To summarize, take a look at the chart below to compare the capabilities and features of each:
| Feature | Access | Excel |
| Query to sort and filter data | X | X |
| Calculations to derive information | X | X |
| Work with data interactively | X | X |
| Generate reports in multiple formats. | X | X |
| Use forms to add, change, delete, and navigate data easily. | X | X |
| Create a mail merge | X | X |
| Connect to external data without having to import | X | X |
| Create Web pages | X | X |
| Import data from external databases and other file types | X | X |
| Stores data in multiple related tables (relational database) | X | |
| Allows additional related tables to store more data | X | |
| Stores very large amounts of data | X | |
| Handles long text, string type data efficiently | X | |
| Can connect to multiple external databases to derive and analyze data | X | |
| Can maintain constant connectivity to a large external database such as Microsoft SQL Server. | X | |
| Complex queries of data possible | X | |
| Allows multiple people to work in the database simultaneously | X | |
| Provides a flat, non-relational view of data | | X |
| Efficiently handles calculations and statistical comparisons on data | | X |
| Handles smaller datasets efficiently | | X |
Have a read. And then when you are ready to make the jump, call Dash Technical Solutions to discuss how we can help!
Using Access or Excel to manage your data - Excel - Microsoft Office Online