About

About this site

I started this site because I think Access is unfairly maligned in the software world.  Most computer science graduates look down on Access programmers as unworthy of the title "software developer."  And for good reason.  Many Access programs are a hot mess.

My mission is to help Access programmers evolve from writing code to developing software.  There are five steps:

1. Embrace version control.
2. Automate error logging.
3. Develop a library of code.
4. Understand testing.
5. Script everything.

About me

My name is Mike Wolfe.  In 2007, I began working at Grandjean & Braverman, Inc.  I was 27.  I started as a junior developer writing and maintaining custom Microsoft Access applications.  I purchased the company in 2012 and became sole owner in 2016.

Over the years, I've delivered projects using a variety of languages and frameworks.  These include C#, Python, VB.Net, VB6, classic ASP, ASP.NET, .NET Core, Django, web2py, and others.  My bread and butter remains writing Microsoft Access front-end databases that connect to SQL Server for back-end data storage.

I'm in the list of Top 20 users in the Microsoft Access tag on Stack Overflow.  

I'm also a Microsoft Access MVP:

Mike Wolfe (Michael Wolfe)

Microsoft - Official Home Page

My business

At Grandjean & Braverman, we primarily serve county governments and community banks.  Our specialties include accounting software, image management systems, and Pennsylvania property tax software.

When I first started, we billed by the hour.  That doesn't scale, though.  Since I became sole owner, I've been migrating into value pricing for all of our new projects.  My revenue is now split about evenly among annual maintenance agreements, hourly billing, and value priced custom software projects.

My backstory

I graduated from the United States Military Academy (better known as West Point) in 2002.  I served two yearlong tours in Baghdad as a Signal Corps officer.  I held three very different positions over the course of four and a half years (platoon leader, company executive officer, and division protocol officer).

I became very good at learning new jobs.  I put those skills to use now whenever I start a new project.  I pride myself on learning and understanding the needs of my clients to deliver the best value possible for them.