QuickBase: The Missing Manual

Chapter 13. Switching from Microsoft Access to QuickBase

As your company changes, so do its database needs. What worked a few years ago may no longer be serving your organization. You need a solution that works equally well for workgroups, departments, branches, and the entire enterprise—plus folks outside your company like partners, vendors, and customers. And because you know that change happens fast and can be unpredictable, you want something that will still be working five years down the road.

QuickBase can meet these challenges and more. But your employees are used to working with Microsoft Access, and you want to be sure that their learning curve won’t be too steep when you switch. This chapter can help put your mind at ease by showing you how to move from Access to QuickBase: what’s similar, what’s different, and how common tasks and terminology compare.

Why Make the Switch?

The reasons to switch to QuickBase are the same ones that make so many organizations choose QuickBase in the first place. QuickBase is powerful, flexible, and easy to use. If you’re used to the old-style model of software that’s installed on site, the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model that QuickBase uses offers some additional perks. When software is a service you subscribe to, you don’t have to buy licenses. With QuickBase, your monthly cost is based on the number of people in your organization who use the service. Technical issues such as installation, upgrades, and bug fixes become a thing of the past. ...