Best approach to convert Access 2003 ADP project to a cloud-based solution?

[Utopia65]

Hi everyone,​

I’m looking for guidance on the easiest way to convert an existing Access 2003 ADP (Access Data Project) to a modern cloud-based solution. The application connects to a SQL Server backend and includes several forms, reports, and VBA-based logic.

Here’s what I’m trying to achieve:

1. Migrate the backend to a cloud-hosted SQL Server (e.g., Azure SQL or Amazon RDS).
2. Modernize or rebuild the forms for use in a web-based or cloud-native environment.
3. Retain as much of the existing functionality as possible without an extensive rewrite.

I’ve considered the following options:

• Rebuilding the forms using Microsoft PowerApps and connecting them to the SQL database.
• Converting the ADP to ACCDB, using ODBC for SQL Server connectivity, and gradually transitioning.
• Recreating the application using a modern web framework (e.g., React, Angular) for a full migration.

However, I’m wondering if there are any tools or strategies that could make this process simpler, particularly for the form conversion or retaining Access functionality.

Has anyone here undertaken a similar migration? Any advice, best practices, or pitfalls to avoid?

Thanks in advance for your insights!

 

[Pat Hartman]

Retain as much of the existing functionality as possible without an extensive rewrite.

That is what we call an oxymoron.

There are no tools to convert Access apps to anything else. You're on your own. The data is easy to port using SSMA but everything else is a total rebuild. So, I would take this opportunity to redesign and fix any lingering problems.

You also might want to think long and hard about why you need to convert. What is wrong with continuing to maintain the Access app? The shortest path might actually be to convert the ADP to a normal Access app. That will allow you to convert the BE to a modern RDBMS and that might be sufficient. This is actually the only path that lets you save any work at all but it depends on how into the ADP you went.

The ADP was a huge disappointment to me so I never adopted it. Once I realized that it couldn't even link to Jet tables, it was clear that it was an abomination. So, I always just linked my BE's to various RDBMS's over the years and let Access be Access. I wasn't locked into a specific version of SQL Server. I just used ODBC and linked to Oracle, DB2, Sybase, whatever the client wanted.

 

[Minty]

We have done this for a very large set of applications for a client, migrated it to Azure SQL and re-written the front end to use a modern version and look of Access.
It was not a quick process, although no individual part of it was difficult, just quite laborious and required a lot of testing, due to the size of it.

As the data is already in SQL server, there won't be much to do there, it's just the front end conversion that's required. If it's a relatively small system it shouldn't be too onerous.

As Pat has stated there no magic bullet for this unfortunately.

 

[Pat Hartman]

If it's a relatively small system it shouldn't be too onerous.

It also depends on whether the ADP is all in or more like a normal Access FE with bound forms.

 

[GPGeorge]

Hi everyone,​

I’m looking for guidance on the easiest way to convert an existing Access 2003 ADP (Access Data Project) to a modern cloud-based solution. The application connects to a SQL Server backend and includes several forms, reports, and VBA-based logic.

Here’s what I’m trying to achieve:

1. Migrate the backend to a cloud-hosted SQL Server (e.g., Azure SQL or Amazon RDS).
2. Modernize or rebuild the forms for use in a web-based or cloud-native environment.
3. Retain as much of the existing functionality as possible without an extensive rewrite.

I’ve considered the following options:

• Rebuilding the forms using Microsoft PowerApps and connecting them to the SQL database.
• Converting the ADP to ACCDB, using ODBC for SQL Server connectivity, and gradually transitioning.
• Recreating the application using a modern web framework (e.g., React, Angular) for a full migration.

However, I’m wondering if there are any tools or strategies that could make this process simpler, particularly for the form conversion or retaining Access functionality.

Has anyone here undertaken a similar migration? Any advice, best practices, or pitfalls to avoid?

Thanks in advance for your insights!

The key phrase here is "... a cloud-based solution..."

Before you go too far in any direction, it's probably a good idea to decide what "cloud-based solution" actually means and why you might want to implement one.

You mention both Access and PowerApps. They are complementary in one sense, but they fill quite different roles. You need to decide what the ultimate application will need to do as a "cloud-based solution" before picking the development environment. In fact, if there is truly a need for some functions of your application to be available to some remote users at locations not connected to your network, a hybrid application might make sense.