It is seen that companies that use multiple Excel sheets to capture the company's human resources, find a more viable and efficient solution in Microsoft Access. By using MS Access instead of Excel, consultants can complete the work for their clients in less time and with much less hassle.

     * The Problem

   In order to capture the human resource data of a firm, the data is generally stored in Excel worksheets. Information like name, address, social security number is stored in the master spreadsheet. While the training history, salary history and benefits are stored in other spreadsheets. In this case, the employee ID is used as a key to access all spreadsheets back to the master spreadsheet. But all changes and additions were made manually. But this approach revealed many problems, the biggest being data reporting which involves running reports across multiple spreadsheets, which was difficult. Creating a simple report involved ample amounts of filtering and sorting the data into several spreadsheets and then copying and pasting the result to a single worksheet, all of which takes a long time. Another major problem was data integrity. In such a situation, data entry errors were frequent due to manual maintenance of spreadsheets and this often caused employee's records to become inaccurate. Also the client required an easy to use interface with the ability to run ad hoc queries and access data information.

     * The Solution

     The solution is a strictly a data management and reporting application with a single, easy to use interface for all data entry and management purposes, in short a good reporting engine that would allow users to build simple and complex queries easily and apply a professional and consistent looking layout to all data reports with the ability to support simultaneous and multiple connections.

     * Why MS Access?

    MS Access supports all of the above needs. It has a properly created and designed database so data entry and management is simple and efficient. Access also supports Visual Basic which allows potent programming ability as well as keeps the application flexibly open for any future advancement. Access also has a powerful reporting engine that is sufficiently easy for users to master and learn. With Access you have access to the abundant free support system of MS website regarding development, utility as well as training. Because of this support action, Access proves friendlier to clientele needs. In a development process, the first step is to define all data elements and create a data dictionary to store all the data definitions. The next step is laying out the screens and the best way to ensure that the application is matching the daily business requirements of the user is to follow the presentation with user interaction regarding the application. Creating the database through look up tables in Access, allows the client to easily manage items displayed in drop down boxes in Access. The program incorporates each attribute of clientele business requirement int their user interface without any further development.

    So Access provides default compatibility with regards to database solutions to meet all business requirements of clients.