Migrating Access Applications to SQL Server

If you read Microsoft Migration White Paper, you may think that migrating an Access application to SQL Server is a straightforward process. Unfortunately, real life is sometimes more complex that the cases the white papers describes.

This series of article will deal with all the issues of a migration from Access to SQL Server, with the front-end remaining in Access, in order to minimize the migration time and cost.

All the articles are based on real life migrations I've done these past years with different versions of Access and SQL Server, and on the book I wrote in French that has been published by Microsoft Press France this last spring.

These different articles will focus on the following subjects:

• Structural differences between Access and SQL and how to cope with them
• Access 97 and Access 2000 : from DAO to ADO
• Configuring the Access workstations
• Analyzing and migrating tables
• Analyzing and migrating queries
• Adapting Access Basic and VBA code to SQL Server
• Creating a migration plan
• Optimizing client/server queries

To keep you waiting a few days, I advice you to download and read the MS Migration White Paper at http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/accessmigration.htm.