Access 2013 is a great database application on its own, but it also plays well with others, allowing you to display and retrieve data from several other programs. If a program supports Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), you can control it from Access. Here’s a brief list of applications that you can take control of and share data with:
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Microsoft Excel: Many users of Excel end up getting involved with Access because they need more structure for storing their data. Some of these people don’t make the leap to Access, however, so a strong tie still exists between Access and Excel. You can use an Excel spreadsheet as a table in Access or completely take control of an Excel application from VBA.
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Microsoft SQL Server: SQL Server is like Access on steroids — at least from the table and query standpoint. You can move your data from Access to SQL Server to improve speed and performance when you’re using large amounts of data. After the data is in SQL Server, you can build your Access forms, reports, macros, and modules to use the data from SQL Server.
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Microsoft Word: Most people who use Access have also used Word. Whether you’re writing a letter or making a list of tasks to do, Word is where you may be used to turning. You can also use Word as a reporting tool, where you can create bookmarks to place data from Access and someone else — who may be unfamiliar with Access — can edit the other information in the Word document.
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Microsoft SharePoint: SharePoint is Microsoft’s vision for sharing and collaborating with data on the web. From Access 2013, you can share data with a SharePoint server. You can even create a custom web app that stores Access tables, queries, forms (as views), and macros on a SharePoint 2013 server and allows you or anyone else to access these forms on the web — all without having Access 2013 installed.
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Microsoft Outlook: Outlook is more than just an e-mail tool; it’s also a contact management system. You can share contact, calendar, and task information with your Access application so that you have to enter it in only one place.
