Professional services: hosted Access bridge for 22 remote users
Remote staff emailed .accdb copies because VPN was too slow. Hosted desktop put everyone on one live database while SQL upsize and web scope were written.
Anonymized scenario · Representative of projects we deliver weekly
Example
Before and after: remote consultants on local copies
Before
Fourteen remote users kept offline .accdb copies on laptops. Month-end billing reconciliations found $40k in mismatched invoices between "versions." VPN was too slow for daily file-share Access.
After
Hosted Access desktop: one golden database, MFA login, pinned shortcuts. Everyone edits the same live data. SQL upsize scoped as phase two with the same project team.
- Time to first login
- 3 weeks
- Remote users
- 14 of 22 total
- Bridge plan
- 90 days hosted → SQL
Peak sizing covered Monday 8–10 AM concurrent logins. Finance sign-off required a written comparison of hosted vs web before phase two funding.
Challenge
Problem
Billing, time entry, and client matter tracking ran in Access. Office staff used the network share; remote consultants worked from outdated local copies. Finance could not trust which version was current at month-end.
Solution
Approach
We deployed a hosted Access environment with one golden copy of the database, pinned shortcuts, and MFA per client policy. Concurrent user sizing covered peak Monday mornings. In parallel we delivered a written recommendation for SQL upsize followed by billing workflow on the web.
Outcomes
Results
- Remote users on live data within three weeks of project start
- Version mismatch support tickets dropped in the first month
- 90-day bridge plan approved with fixed monthly hosting cost per user
- SQL upsize scoped as phase two with the same project team