I've played around with Power Platform and Dataverse a little bit and I've watched several videos on it and read a few articles on it but I don't consider myself an expert on it at this point. It is true that Microsoft is spending a lot of development dollars working on that and I think that it's because they're trying to make and easy "no code" solution for people who are used to working with things like Excel to be able to easily connect to a database. There is a Microsoft Access connector for Dataverse but I'm not sure when it will be generally available. It is on my To Do List for the next couple of months here to spend some more time working with power platform. I'll chime in as soon as I've done my due diligence and research.

Microsoft Access has been around for 30 years, and honestly if we get another 10 to 15 years out of it, I'll consider that a good run. I'm sure eventually something will replace it but for now and the foreseeable future it's still the best solution available for small and midsize businesses especially.

Access likely won't be gone completely.  In my old job, I used modern "emulation" tools that allowed me to use ancient mainframe software on a Windows PC.  Maybe Access will be "emulated" similarly in future computers, the same way we now have "virtual machines" that run virtualized Windows XP or something.  The "end day" of Access comes when companies no longer use it for its primary functions, and only use it peripherally such as running legacy Access apps for certain users or customers.  Access doesn't need to be totally dead for it to be "essentially" dead.  If it isn't totally dead, then there is always need for Access skills somewhere out there.  But of course job opportunities will go way down.

Thanks for your input Richard and Kevin.

Based on all companies I have worked in the last 5 years, their IT always had in common one point: they rarely knew Access or had few understandings of the tool. One even told me Access was not reliable or offer very little security to be considered for heavy duty apps.

But this Power Platform that is being developed seems to offer many possibilities for internal use taking advantage of Dataverse and the push from IT and also the heavy work Microsoft had been doing to build Developer Citizenship inside major companies. We had dozens Citizenship classes in 2022 so people could build their no-code-low-code apps. During my first Citizenship session I asked them about connecting or using Access, the answer was so vague that got me thinking that even Microsoft employees do not seem to be very fond of Access. I am willing to take a step to Dataverse and Access, maybe I can bring this project to be approved by my IT.

I hope we will see Access for more time and maybe Dataverse will help to make Access a reliable resource for some companies, despite the pricing for the licenses.

Richard, I am really looking forward to hearing from you about Power Platform and Access!