In: Computer Science
Discuss whether or not you feel the popularity of Microsoft Office is in jeopardy. Do you think Access is still a beneficial option for consumers or small businesses, or are the newer web-based and affordable database programs threatening Microsoft’s position in the market?
What do you think are the important factors in the selection of a DBMS?
Microsoft Office is almost 30 years old – it was launched in November 1990. Not many software packages have enjoyed such longevity. However, the Microsoft bundle hasn’t stayed the same over the years. Some elements get added, while others get dropped.
Microsoft Office is good choice since it is made available with all windows based system. Now a days, you can see that people started using open office, libreoffice, free office etc. which provides the same functionality as the microsoft office. But we can not say that microsoft office is bad.
A common use of Microsoft Access is to keep it as a front end to more commercially successful DBMSs. For example, Access can attach to an Oracle database, so business applications written in Access can connect through to data held in an Oracle database. Access can also front for SQL Server and Sybase. However, this repurposing of the Access application feels a little like a half-life.
Microsoft couldn’t help but notice the meteoric fall of Access from its heights as the most widely used desktop database system in 2011 to being an embarrassing left-over in 2017. The company announced in November 2017, close to the application’s 25th birthday, that it intended to retire Microsoft Access from its online productivity suite.
The official shutdown date for Access Web Apps and Web Databases in Office 365 was set for April 2018. Despite removing Access from its online productivity suite, Microsoft continued to develop the desktop database software, releasing Access 2019 in September 2018 as part of Office 2019.
Important factors in selecting DBMS:
1) Usability
2) Visualisation & Reporting
3) Security
4) Functionality
5) Support & Development
6) Integration
7) Scalability
8) Cost and Suitability
9) Hosting
10) Updates
these are most common and important factor which helps in selecting DBMS as per needs.