Let me ask you a question: Does your ERP system actually fit your business?
Does it match the way your people work and/or how your business operates day to day? Probably not…and you’re not alone. I talk to IT leaders all the time who tell me the same thing. Their ERP handles the core stuff fine. Beyond that? There are gaps.
Watch the full walkthrough: In this 20-minute video, we build a purchase order form, and approval workflow, all over ERP data (without touching the ERP).
Some things don’t really “click” until you see them in action. You hear people talking about some new technology, trend, or tool. But you don’t really “get it” until you see it.
That’s how data-driven AI workflows were for me.
I’d heard the AI hype. Then I saw an AI assistant working over live business data. My wheels started spinning. It opened up so many possibilities.
Then I saw that AI assistant added to a workflow. Data was passed to the assistant, which then made a decision…and led to another workflow step, which could then lead to another assistant and so on.
That’s when it really clicked. You can do anything with this.
In this article, I’ll explain more about AI workflows and why they’re so important to businesses. What are they? How do they work? Why should you care?
Also, we’ve included a video that walks through the whole process of creating an AI workflow from start to finish. After all, some things don’t really “click” until you see them in action.
What is MS Access database modernization?
Access database modernization means moving data out of file-based Access databases (.mdb/.accdb) into a server database like SQL Server, PostgreSQL, or MySQL, then rebuilding the forms, queries, and reports as web applications. The result: Multi-user performance, browser and mobile access, and centralized security.
Is Microsoft Access still supported?
Microsoft ended support for Access 2016 and Access 2019 on October 14, 2025. Those versions no longer receive security patches or fixes. Newer versions remain supported, but share the same file-based architecture and limits.
What’s wrong with MS Access?
There’s nothing inherently wrong when it’s used as intended. The real issue is that simple Access apps can quietly balloon into complex, mission-critical systems that Access wasn’t built to support.
When should you not use Access?
MS Access falters in multi-user environments, in projects that require integration, apps that require mobile access, or once your database grows past its 2 GB limit.
Can we just build web apps directly over our Access database?
Not reliably. Access has no native web deployment and its file-based engine isn’t designed for web concurrency. While you can connect a web server to an Access file for very light scenarios, it’s fragile and doesn’t scale. For web apps, you need to move the data to a server database (e.g., SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL).
How can you migrate Access to the web?
As demonstrated in the below video, moving Access data to a relational database and building web applications over it is pretty straightforward with the right tools.
Imagine being stuck in an endless email chain…just to get a simple approval. Or worse, imagine wasting hours pulling data from disconnected spreadsheets only to realize it’s already outdated.
The fact is, most internal processes are a mess.
Teams jump between tools. Spreadsheets do things they were never meant to do. Manual workarounds become the standard. Everyone knows it’s inefficient, but…no one knows how to fix it. Or, they’re just used to it.
That’s where internal tools come in.
Internal tools are custom apps built to solve problems inside your business. They help your team work faster, cut out repetitive tasks, and replace duct-taped processes with real solutions.
Better yet, they fit into your own infrastructure and unique business processes. When done right, these custom internal tools are invisible. They just work. They streamline processes and never get in the way.
The best part? Creating internal tools isn’t that hard. You don’t need a huge development team or a massive budget. With the right plan (and the right tools), anyone can build internal tools that make a real difference.
In this article, I’ll walk through how to do it. You’ll learn what works, what to avoid, and how to make internal tools a real advantage for your business.
Dashboards should make your life easier. Many don’t.
What happens? Some try to show everything at once…without really showing anything useful. Others take months to build and still don’t have the right data. Yet, making a change might take weeks. I could go on.
The good news? Dashboards have come a long way. They’re accessible from anywhere. They update in real time. And with the right tools, you can build one in a day—not a quarter.
In this article, you’ll learn how to build web-based dashboards in minutes that actually help people do their jobs. We’ll cover different types—like KPI dashboards, executive dashboards, and other business dashboards your different teams might use. You’ll learn some best practices, mistakes to avoid, and the best approach to development.
Let’s be honest: There’s no shortage of web-based calendar tools these days. You’ll find dozens of off-the-shelf scheduling calendars that you can set up and deploy in your business.
The problem is, they’re all generic and every business is different. While these off-the-shelf scheduling applications might fit most of your needs, they won’t provide a perfect fit. They might do some things very well but lack key features in other areas.
But, what if you could create a custom scheduling application…faster than it takes to deploy a generic solution? What if you could create a data-driven, web-based calendar that was 100% tailored to your business…in a little over 10 minutes? It’s possible, and we’ve created a video to show you how it’s done.
Let’s talk about the unsung hero of business web applications: The CRUD application. They’re everywhere, whether you realize it or not. Your customer database? It’s a CRUD app. Your company’s inventory system? Also a CRUD app. Even when you’re posting updates on LinkedIn – you guessed it – you’re using CRUD apps.
But what exactly makes these applications “CRUD,” and why should you care? In this article, we’ll cut through the technical jargon and explore:
What makes an application “CRUD”
Real-world examples
Important tips for building them (the right way)
How to build CRUD apps quickly
Whether you aim to replace that aging system or build new applications, mastering CRUD apps allows you to understand your development project better and ultimately make more informed decisions about them.
I’ve mentioned the dangers of spreadsheet misuse on many occasions, and explained why it’s so important to put that spreadsheet data into your database. However, I realized that I’ve never showed you how to turn your spreadsheets into database-driven web apps.
So, we created a video to do just that. The following video explains why you should convert your spreadsheets into web apps, and even shows you how it’s done. You might be surprised to learn just how simple this process is.
Note: This video is best viewed in 720p(HD) resolution at full screen. Click the “gear” icon below the video to change the resolution.
A customer portal provides a secure, customer-only area on your site where customers can purchase products, view information, submit support requests, update account information, and more. They help businesses improve customer satisfaction, streamline customer support, and even drive revenue.
But…building a customer/vendor portal is a tricky task. One portal must display different data to different users. If one user logs in and sees data that they shouldn’t see, you’ll have a big problem on your hands. You need a way to not only build all of the applications in your portal, but ensure they have at least 3 types of security set up:
1. User security: The most basic security option, user security limits portal access to only registered users. 2. Application security: Once a user logs in to the portal, application security controls which applications they can access. 3. Multi-tenant security: This type of security controls user access at a row level. That means different users can access the same application but only see the data that they’re authorized to access.
Here’s a question: How long does it take to build a secure customer portal and populate that portal with applications for your customers? A few weeks? Months?
How about 11 minutes?
We just created a video to show you how it’s done. This video walks you through the process of building a few applications, setting up security, and creating a customer portal. We walk you through everything from start to finish so you can see just how easy portals can be (with the right tools).
We just released a new video that takes you step-by-step through an inventory management system build process. We created this video to demonstrate just how quickly you can create custom applications (like an inventory management system) with m-Power. In roughly 75 minutes, we go from just the data in our database to a fully functional inventory management system, and explain each step along the way. Watch the video below to see the whole process!
Want to see what m-Power can do for your business? Shoot us a note to set up a demo: Setup an m-Power Demo.
What is a database front-end? As a basic definition, it’s a web interface that lets users access, modify, delete, or add data to a database table. They’re simple enough for non-technical users to work with, and typically includes role-based security to limit which users can make database changes. A business might use a database front-end to:
Let employees maintain customer data
Manage and schedule shipments
Maintain product data
Manage customer order history
Reduce dependence on spreadsheets
And much, much more…
In short, it lets you manage data in your database with a user-friendly, web interface.
The big question: How quickly can you create front-ends over your database? I believe the answer to that question should be measured in minutes, and we just created a new video to show you how it’s done. The following video walks you through a start-to-finish process used to create a front-end over any relational database…in just 5 minutes. You might be surprised to learn just how simple this process is.
If your business had a choice between an off-the-shelf CRM system and a CRM that’s custom-built to your needs, which would you choose (assuming you’d get either one immediately)? I’d say the vast majority of businesses would prefer a custom CRM. After all, custom CRM systems offer a number of advantages, such as:
Scale without user fees: Off-the-shelf CRM systems typically charge per user…which can quickly drive up the cost in larger companies. With a custom CRM system, you can scale across your entire company without user fees!
Custom Workflow Processes: You can build custom workflow processes into any aspect of your CRM. For instance, you can create customer onboarding workflows that fire automatically when a lead becomes a customer.
Integration with existing software or third-party tools: For example, you might want to update your ERP system or pass data to a third-party tool using an API.
Deploy anywhere: Most off-the-shelf CRM systems only run in the cloud. A custom CRM can run in the cloud or on-premise. The choice is yours.
Control the security: Every business has different security needs. With a custom CRM, you can control how much or how little security you’d like to have.
With these advantages, why doesn’t every business opt for custom CRM systems? It all comes down to development time. Building a custom CRM from scratch can be expensive and easily take months.
The big question: What if you could create custom CRM systems in days or weeks? What if you could get all of the benefits of a custom CRM with non of the drawbacks?
It’s not as hard as you think. We recently released a new video that shows you how easily you can create a custom CRM system using low-code development. In the video, we create a CRM system that includes custom workflow processes, API integration with third-party software, and ERP integration. The result: A custom CRM that perfectly fits our needs and can be easily enhanced and changed.
The best part: The whole process only takes 75 minutes. You can watch the video below:
Want to learn more? Set up a demo here: Set up a demo.
By now, you’ve probably heard all about the benefits of low-code development tools. They let you build business applications with little (or no) code. They reduce development time by 50-80%. They let you deliver custom business applications in hours or days.
I could go on.
The big question: If your organization does any type of manual web application development in-house, why aren’t you using low-code? If it still takes months to deliver business applications from scratch, what’s keeping you from using development tools?
Chances are, you’re skeptical.
Maybe you don’t believe the time-saving claims.
Maybe you’re worried that it isn’t as easy to use as the vendor claims.
Maybe you’re worried that it will limit your options.
Or, maybe you think that low-code is just 4GL or RAD tools all over again.
I could debunk every one of those fears, but prefer a different approach. I’d rather let you see it for yourself. To help you understand the low-code development process, our consultants put together videos of full development projects that:
Walk you through the entire process from start to finish
Show (and explain) each step in the development process
Are completed in under 2 hours
Word of warning: These are longer videos (1.5 – 2 hours each) because we didn’t want to leave anything out. But, you’ll get a good idea of how quickly you can go from nothing to a working application with low code. Sound reasonable? Here are the videos:
1. How to build a custom helpdesk portal with low-code
In this video, we create a helpdesk portal from scratch using low-code. This portal includes user security, a helpdesk ticketing system, a helpdesk calendar, support dashboard, and more.
2. How to create a BI/Reporting suite with low-code
In this video, we walk you through a custom business intelligence/reporting project. We start with a single spreadsheet full of data and create a suite of BI & reporting applications that includes features like multi-tenant security, forecasting, dashboarding, data write-back, data warehousing, and many more.
3. Create a Field Service Management Application with low-code
In this video, we create a custom field service management system from scratch. This system includes a job listing application, signature capture, mapping, multi-tenant security, and much more.
We just released a new video that shows you how to create a database CRUD application in 5 minutes using a low-code development tool. If you’re not familiar with CRUD, it stands for Create, Read, Update, and Delete, and it’s a fundamental concept in database management.
A CRUD application lets you perform these four basic operations on a database table. I know…this might not sound very exciting. But CRUD applications are the backbone of most modern software applications.
Let’s be honest: There’s no shortage of web-based calendar tools these days. You’ll find dozens of off-the-shelf scheduling calendars that you can set up and deploy in your business.
I’ve mentioned the dangers of spreadsheet misuse on many occasions, and explained why it’s so important to put that spreadsheet data into your database. However, I realized that I’ve never showed you how to turn your spreadsheets into database-driven web apps.