[Interview] Part 7: Teresa Hennig, International MS Access Authority

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This is the next blog in the continuing series of interviews with leading professionals. In this series of blogs, I have an exclusive interview with Teresa Hennig. Teresa is an international authority on MS Access, a top user group leader, a best selling author and a recognized and profiled MVP.

Enjoy!

Stephen Ibaraki, FCIPS, I.S.P., MVP

The Evolution of Access

clip_image0011Stephen: How will Access evolve in the future?

Teresa: That's a good question. I am very excited about the potentials and looking forward to helping a huge new wave of users learn how they can leverage and enjoy the benefits of Access. You know that Bill Gates included Access when he listed his favorite programs going into the future. That was right along with mobility and connectivity. Of course, this vision is no secret, just look at Vista, and how so many Office programs are working with web interfaces.

So, I'm guessing that it will continue to be easier to create and work with web based applications. Whether it is storing static data online or connecting to a remote file server, I expect that we'll have a lot more options and hopefully not require serious expertise in other programming languages.

The other area of emphasis that I see is for Access to become more of a user tool, right out of the box. Not to the extent that Excel is used for number crunching, but certainly to the point that people will be aware of the benefits of using a database instead of a spreadsheet and that it will be easy for them to make the transition. Access 2007 is pointing us in that direction. There are dozens of functions that once required VBA code and now they are not only built in, they provide more options and features than most programmers included. Some of great examples are the groups and totals for spread sheets, the ability to filter forms on the fly, and interactive reports that allow users to drill into data on a report.
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Look for more with Teresa in the next blog.
I also encourage you to share your thoughts here on these interviews or send me an e-mail at sibaraki@cips.ca.
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