It's an interesting question, and generally asked by kids at school who look at the Microsoft Office Suite briefly during school. Many of these kids are of course now adults who never originally were answered when they asked "What is Microsoft Access?" Most schools quickly cover the other programs in the Microsoft Office Suite, all kids know that Word is for typing up assignments, Powerpoint is for making slideshows, and Excel is for maths and data manipulation. But most schools wont teach a student what MS Access does, unless they take Year 11 or 12 IT courses.
What most people never really find out is how powerful a tool MS Access really is, as a Database Management System it is extremely easy to use. Not only that, but due to most people's familiarity with the Microsoft Office Suite of programs, they are hopefully by now proficient at using the ribbon design and the standard MS Office User Interface. Most users, however will most likely never create a database, despite databases being one of the most important aspects of modern living. Bank records, Government records, all are stored in electronic databases and without them 21st century living would be far more time consuming and expensive. Unfortunately, this lack of knowledge about databases can often be the downfall of small businesses, many businesses think that they can hold all their records in filing cabinets or other extremely inefficient systems, when most have Access(pun intended) to a simple to use database management system that can easily fulfill their needs.
Admittedly Microsoft Access does have a slightly higher learning curve than the rest of the MS Office Suite, and this is perhaps the reason why most people tend to shy away from it. This in itself is fine, not everyone is cut out for the complexities involved in creating a database, fortunutaly there are many IT businesses that are extremely proficient at creating powerful and invaluable databases using MS Access, providing businesses with the tools they need to succeed.
Of course advanced database creators could point to MS SQL Server and a variety of other Database Management System programs as being far better, but the point is that MS Access has a large degree of familiarity due to it's MS Office roots and is relatively simple in comparison making it far easier for both unskilled users trying to make their own database, and for IT companies creating them for clients who will be instantly familar with the UI.
What most people never really find out is how powerful a tool MS Access really is, as a Database Management System it is extremely easy to use. Not only that, but due to most people's familiarity with the Microsoft Office Suite of programs, they are hopefully by now proficient at using the ribbon design and the standard MS Office User Interface. Most users, however will most likely never create a database, despite databases being one of the most important aspects of modern living. Bank records, Government records, all are stored in electronic databases and without them 21st century living would be far more time consuming and expensive. Unfortunately, this lack of knowledge about databases can often be the downfall of small businesses, many businesses think that they can hold all their records in filing cabinets or other extremely inefficient systems, when most have Access(pun intended) to a simple to use database management system that can easily fulfill their needs.
Admittedly Microsoft Access does have a slightly higher learning curve than the rest of the MS Office Suite, and this is perhaps the reason why most people tend to shy away from it. This in itself is fine, not everyone is cut out for the complexities involved in creating a database, fortunutaly there are many IT businesses that are extremely proficient at creating powerful and invaluable databases using MS Access, providing businesses with the tools they need to succeed.
Of course advanced database creators could point to MS SQL Server and a variety of other Database Management System programs as being far better, but the point is that MS Access has a large degree of familiarity due to it's MS Office roots and is relatively simple in comparison making it far easier for both unskilled users trying to make their own database, and for IT companies creating them for clients who will be instantly familar with the UI.