I've got a non-profit organization looking to develop an application
accessible to many people in different cities

Non-profit doesn't mean pennyless, but in this economy, cost is a
concern

So I can create a php/asp/mysql application deployed on web server for
$10-30 / month
But there's a learning curve and I'm not sure the development tools
are as powerful
as ms-access

Or I can create an access2007 application deployed on a terminal
server accessible from web ?
Are there other terminal server solutions other than citrix ?

Or I can create an access2010 application using web forms, and deploy
it via sharepoint
But from a recent post, it seems a sharepoint server is expensive to
deploy
Are there web hosting sites that support sharepoint ?

Are there any other approaches / solutions ?

On Fri, 27 Aug 2010 01:45:30 -0700 (PDT), Roger
<lesperancer (AT) natpro (DOT) com> wrote:

A web application may be best. You don't have to implement it
yourself; there are plenty of developers who can do this. Microsoft
Lightswitch is a new tool with interesting capabilities.

In addition to Citrix, you have Windows Terminal Server. On good
hardware it can support several dozen users.

The route via Access forms on Sharepoint still seems a bit fragile to
me.

-Tom.
Microsoft Access MVP

On Aug 27, 8:23*am, Tom van Stiphout <tom7744.no.s... (AT) cox (DOT) net> wrote:
The lowest cost cost, and perhaps highest performance, solution will
likely be MS Terminal Services.

It is close to trivial if all of the users already have network
accounts. If you're opening up the application to a wider audience
then moving to a pure web application makes more sense.

One thing to note - you can move the application to SQL Server or
similar and have your existing Access front end with little or no
modifications. Then you can have the newly engineered public web
version using the same data set. Often the public version is much
more streamlined than the admin version and with good planning you can
possibly save on development costs by only deploying what you need.

Good luck,

Tim Mills-Groninger

timmg <tmillsgroninger (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote in
news:abe8e9b4-7f78-4a0e-9ebe-42c516518ade (AT) y11g2000yqm (DOT) googlegroups.co
m:

I would second this assessment. But whether it's practical or not
depends on the number of users. If you've got 30, not so much of a
problem. If you've got 500, it's a much bigger deal.

Writing a web-based front end is not trivial. To entirely replicate
the functionality of an Access app of even moderate complexity will
take as much as 3 to 4 times as much time, even with a developer
experienced in the chosen web platform. On the other hand, if you
really only need to roll out a small part of the functionality of
the Access app, that can work very well.

Because of pricing, Sharepoint deployment of A2010 web databases is
a non-starter for anything but large corporations or organizations
willing to spend on monthly subscriptions of $5-10 per user for
hosted services.

--
David W. Fenton http://www.dfenton.com/
contact via website only http://www.dfenton.com/DFA/

On Aug 27, 1:10*pm, "David W. Fenton" <NoEm... (AT) SeeSignature (DOT) invalid>
wrote:
um... so who hosts sharepoint at $10/month/user ?
I presume if I have 20 users, but only 5 users need access to the app
at any one time, it would cost 5*$10/month ?
and if needed, they just need to buy more subscriptions as required,
given workload ?

a few months back, didn't Albert provide a test sharepoint site ? or
is that just one of the hosting companies ?

I agree that a web based front-end is a long/hard road, that why
sticking with ms-access makes sense

The complexity of your applications requirements is a really important
point to consider. If all you need is a simple 'report' to be
displayed on the web then thats pretty easy, but if you need to
implement complex business logic during data gathering and processing
of user input then thats a totally different game.

A lot of applications can be built quite quickly and easily for the
web, but the more complex the application then the harder it becomes
(duh!) - in the sense that building the app in Access will be much
simpler when you are dealing with increased complexity. That being
said, how complex would you rate what you are trying to build? If its
really complex then head with Terminal Services. If its 'middle'
complex you might want to assess both paths of development to see what
is required. If its on the 'simple' end then I would suggest bite the
bullet and just build a web app - or have it built. You might also
want to consider some of the online web app services that are
available to you, such as a Google Apps domain. There are many
template type apps and sites that you can customise to your purposes -
again it depends on the complexity. There was also that online service
that gives an almost Access like experience, I think it was called
Zoho. Might be worth a look.

Cheers

The Frog

"lyle fairfield" <lyle.fairfield (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote

On Aug 27, 4:45 am, Roger <lesperan... (AT) natpro (DOT) com> wrote:
To be fair, there is no migration path for the Access developer to ASP.NET.

On Aug 31, 5:26*am, "mbyerley" <mDotByerley@VerizonDottieNettie>
wrote:
too bad there isn't a simpler alternative to citrix / terminal
services / RDP ?

But the Access developer will already have many skills that can be
used with asp.Net:

1. VB can be used both for coding, and further afield in SQL Server
functions. VB is very little different from VBA;
2. The preferred methods for displaying and editing data are dependent
on objects; the Access Developer is likely to already be familiar
with objects;
3. The tool for interacting with data can be T-SQL; while it's very
powerful, perhaps more powerful than that used with JET/ACE, it's also
quite similar.

Aiding the Access Developer in asp.Net development are MS's tools,
Visual Web Developer and SQL Server Management Studio; both are highly
enhanced with a very powerful intellisense. SELECT
[I_can't_remember_the_field_name] FROM [How_did_I_spell_that_table]?
As soon as you enter FROM you will have a pull-down of tables, and as
soon as you choose a table you will have a pull down of fields.
Intellisense works perfectly with aliases as well.

One of the things I like best about asp.Net is that I can specify
Select, Update, Insert and Delete SQL for Forms. and thus save only
the fields the user is editing. I think this can minimize conflicts
among multiple users. If I am editing name and you are editing address
there is no need for me to save ever any part of address, even though
it is shown on my form; I can reflect this in my Update SQL and thus,
not screw up any address changes you make.




On Aug 31, 7:26*am, "mbyerley" <mDotByerley@VerizonDottieNettie>
wrote:

> To be fair, there is no migration path for the Access developer to ASP.NET.

On Aug 31, 7:54*am, lyle fairfield <lyle.fairfi... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:
ok, sounds interesting, since the data is already on sql server (msde)
I'll try to find all the development 'bits' that I need to do this

thanks