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2 min read

Access Migration to Power Apps and Dataverse is released to General Availability

As of today, Microsoft Access users can migrate their data into Power Apps and Dataverse.  Customers who have the current or monthly channel for Microsoft 365 and Office can update their Microsoft Access to build 16.0.15128.20248 or later to make use of the Dataverse Connector and migration tool.

The Access migration tool and connector provided within MS Access streamlines the process of migrating tables, relationships, and data with setup taking just a few minutes, and migration handled for you.

 

A picture of the MS Access logo, the MS Dataverse logo, and the Power Apps logo

Figure 1. Access, Dataverse, and Power Apps

With the GA of this feature, Access customers are now one-click away from unlocking the following capabilities for the data currently managed in an Access DB:

  • New security and compliance capabilities through Dataverse cloud storage using Azure Active Directory and role-based security while managing it from Access
  • The ability to have real-time sharing and editing of Access data using cloud-based data stores, with front-end apps created in Access, Power Apps Mobile and Microsoft Teams 
  • New front end app scenarios on mobile devices or with Microsoft Teams

Extending the ability for users to incorporate their existing data into Power Apps and Dataverse is an important feature. Almost every user who starts working with the Power Platform begins with existing data.

By offering easier ways to migrate Access data to Power Apps, customers can implement apps, workflows, virtual agents, and perform analytics on data that was previously not available to them. The Access data will behave like any other Dataverse data once migrated. In addition, user’s Access forms and queries will continue to work uninterrupted, allowing a migration without business disruption.

A screenshot showing the workflow to migrate from Access through the migration tool, into Dataverse after data validation is complete, Then also showing synchronous usage of the Dataverse data from an Access form and a Power App.

Figure 4: The workflow of migrating data from Access to Dataverse, with synchronous usage by Access forms and Power Apps.

Today’s announcement expands and enriches the cloud story for Access and continues Power Apps and Dataverse’s commitment to helping users incorporate their existing content to enrich their business.

Take the next step to migrate Access data to Dataverse and the Power Platform

To test out this new capability once it is released you will need to have an existing Power Apps trial environment, Power Apps license, or Power Apps installed as part of your Microsoft Teams license.

Talk to your administrator to confirm if your organization is on the current channel as of May 2022 for Microsoft 365 and try the new Dataverse Connector.

Once you have updated your Access application, you will be able to start migration from within Access by right clicking a table and selecting Export and Dataverse.

A screenshot from MS Access showing a right click on a table, the selection of the Export feature, and the Dataverse selection.

Figure 2: The Export menu in Access with the Dataverse option

You can also open a table, select the External Data tab on the ribbon, and select Dataverse.

A screenshot of the MS Access ribbon showing the External Data tab and the new Dataverse Export icon used to trigger migration.

Figure 3: MS Access Ribbon with Dataverse Export button

Dataverse Options

Users will have the option to migrate their Access data into Dataverse or Dataverse for Teams, allowing them to choose the capabilities that best suit their needs.

  • Dataverse provides the full featured extensibility of the Power Platform providing citizen developers and development professionals alike the power to explore the possibilities of their data and share it across their entire organization, or externally using Portals.
  • Dataverse for Teams provides the ability to create apps, flows, virtual agents and more within a team structure using Microsoft Teams, the collaboration tool of choice for the modern enterprise.

If you are interested to take the next step and evaluate this powerful combination yourself, visit https://aka.ms/AccessAndPowerPlatform.

For support documentation on how to migrate go here

To learn more about these capabilities register for Microsoft BUILD and see two different on demand sessions that educate and demonstrate these capabilities.