If you have been using Microsoft Access Services (in SharePoint), be aware of the latest news last week of this being dropped.
Not to surprised! Microsoft Access is a desktop power application tool which works very well with VBA (Visual Basic for Applications).
A web version always had its limitations and it seems now perhaps there was never a large enough take up of developers when other and better alternatives were in the offering.
Anywhere, here’s the article:
Microsoft Access News: Updating the Access Services in SharePoint Roadmap
When we first created SharePoint Access, we set out on a mission to enable both information workers and developers to quickly create data centric web applications with little or no programming. Over the last several years it has become clear that the needs of our customers have grown beyond the scope of what Access Services can offer, such as mobile device support, integration with line of business data, and professional developer extensions.
When we researched how to close these gaps, the answer became clear as well; we’re aligning efforts behind PowerApps as the way to build no-code business solutions on desktop and mobile devices. MS PowerApps offers a comprehensive set of application building tools, connection to custom web APIs, and a wide array of database options including SharePoint lists, SQL Azure databases, Common Data Service and third-party data sources.
We no longer recommend Access Services for new apps. This feature will be retired from Office 365. We will stop creation of new Access-based apps in SharePoint Online starting June 2017 and shut down any remaining apps by April 2018.
We know that many of you have come to depend on Access custom web apps and we are working to make the transition to PowerApps as smooth as possible. We have added a feature to export your data to SharePoint lists where you can create PowerApps and Microsoft Flows. We have also published guidance on how to port your custom web app to PowerApps here.
We will include Access Services and Access Web Apps in the next version of SharePoint Server. Access Web Apps and Access Services will continue to be supported in all current versions of on-premises SharePoint servers for the remainder of the product life cycle.
Access Desktop databases (.ACCDB files) will not be impacted by this decision. If you’ve used previous versions of Access, these are the databases you’re already familiar with, and you’ll continue to work with files you’ve created in the past. Desktop databases have all the powerful features, such as VBA, that has made Access such a popular way to run a business. We will continue to invest in Access Desktop databases to expanded data connectivity, management, and developer features.
– the Access and SharePoint teams
Source: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Office-Retirement-Blog/Updating-the-Access-Services-in-SharePoint-Roadmap/ba-p/57148
Whether this is the right thing to do or not, it’s being deprecated and that may annoy some (those who actually invested their time into this) but it’s not the first time a large corporation changes its mind and makes u-turns etc.
Sorry, web Access users 🙁