IMO, Access is closer to a spreadsheet than a Database and fills that need fairly well. (By that I mean how the UI is setup and what it focuses on.) IMO there is a huge opertunity for a similar interface and a much better back end. Something like sharepoint + access.
I have built a couple enterprise one-off tools on Access and at the time (6 years ago) it was fantastic - easy to get access to remote databases, sync to local stores, run complicated data reports or structure entries using forms so that anyone can use it and it would look nice. I think Google docs + forms fills some of this function now, but I still think that was some of the most raw fun I have had using code to quickly and efficiently solve a business problem.