I basically stopped using this SAS/ACCESS solution several months ago after changing jobs. It was not a matter of switching tools or finding something better. While I do not have any SAS exposure at the current company I work for, I have years of experience with SAS/ACCESS.  

The previous company had created a work-around solution and had licensed separate connectivity for their desktop and was indirectly routing data from the desktop into the Unix SAS server. It took too much time and the software that they were using was actually out-of-date. Officially, the software company whose product they were using had been sold to another company, so they were not even under a supported version. That is where I suggested taking a different direction and, instead of moving data around, use SAS/ACCESS to get it directly from the database.  

So in the case of the former employer, it could be said that the reason for switching was to bring the solution up to date with current technology.