Every company has one: an Access database on a file share, a macro-heavy spreadsheet or a VB6 desktop app that a critical process depends on. Why they are risky, how to replace them without breaking the people who rely on them, and when a low-code tool beats a custom build.
These tools were often the right choice when they were built. Someone close to the work solved a real problem quickly. Years later, the problem has grown and the tool has not: one person understands it, it runs on one machine, and it holds data nobody has backed up properly.
A single owner. When that person leaves, the process stops or nobody dares change it.
No access control or audit trail. Anyone with the file can change anything, including the numbers finance reports.
Concurrency limits. Access databases on shared drives corrupt under multi-user load.
Platform drift. Office updates disable macros from the internet by default; VB6 components and 32-bit dependencies get harder to run on current Windows.
Book a free 30-minute call. You'll leave knowing what we'd do first and roughly what it costs, whether or not you hire us.
Sit with the people who use it and watch them work. The real requirements are in the workarounds, not the menus.
Extract the data and the rules: tables, queries, macros and VBA. Rules hidden in VBA are the part most often missed.
Build the replacement to do the same job first, with the same outputs, then improve it once people trust it.
Run both in parallel for at least one full business cycle and compare outputs.
Retire the old file by making it read-only, not by deleting it, for the first few months.
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Book a free 30-minute call about it. Bring your setup and your bill; you'll leave knowing what we'd do first and roughly what it costs, whether or not you hire us.
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As of October 25, 2026. Provided as is, for general information, and accurate to the best of our knowledge on the date shown. Not legal, compliance, tax, financial or other professional advice. Prices, limits and vendor services change; check current vendor documentation before relying on anything here. Terms of use.