Database Migration from MS Access to SQL Server

Abstract

Database migration from MS Access to SQL Server is important because growing organizations need more scalable, secure, and reliable database platforms for handling larger data volumes, multiple users, and enterprise reporting needs. MS Access is useful for small departmental applications, but its limitations in concurrency, security, performance, and centralized management often require migration to SQL Server. Existing literature highlights schema conversion, table migration, data type mapping, relationship preservation, query rewriting, form and report adjustment, validation, and post-migration testing as major activities in database modernization. However, many organizations still face challenges such as incompatible data types, missing constraints, broken relationships, unsupported Access queries, duplicate records, and user disruption during migration. This research is important because poorly planned migration can lead to data loss, application failure, reporting errors, and reduced business continuity. This article discusses database migration from MS Access to SQL Server, focusing on source database assessment, schema redesign, data cleansing, migration execution, validation checks, application connectivity, and performance tuning. The study concludes that a structured migration approach improves database scalability, strengthens data security, supports multi-user access, and enables more reliable enterprise data management.