I once contracted with one of the largest library systems in the USA because their system ain't broke, but it still needed fixing because it had grown unmanageable in its present form.. To fix the problem the floorboards needed to be completely torn up and the whole system needed a full do-over.
What was wrong?
The entire system was using Microsoft Access as the back end database. Not just one MS Access MDB file. There were (literally) 50 of them. Each with their own ODBC connection. This is a system with tens of thousands of county residents who were subscribers to a system that among other things tied into the U.S. Library of Congress every day (who used Oracle, BTW) to a) see what books had been published that day that matched the subscriber's preferences, so the subscriber could check off what they wanted when it came in b) which new books had been delivered to which library branches and c) reserved those books for subscribers who signed up to get first dibs on them when they came in. Oh and d) notified said subscribers of the book delivery and lets not forget e) managed everyone's login details and security.
50 Access database files, each of which had any number of individual database tables inside. I converted it all to one, single SQL Server database on a dedicated server. And re-did the Library of Congress feed. And the security system, and the subscription system.
But it was still working when they hired me. Pretty much. If it ain't broke, that doesn't mean its going to stay that way in a changing world.
I got that years-long job, btw, by hacking into the system in real time from the browser url while I was on the phone with the administrator and reading off to her the details I was seeing that I shouldn't be.
. Not worth it IMHO.
