Is Data Access Really This Hard?

I’ve been spending some time lately reviewing how companies are doing data access in .NET.  When I look at how most of them have crufted up solutions, I am amazed.  The model that Microsoft supports seems so obvious to me, but I am neck deep in it.  I’d like to hear from my readers their specific experience with creating data access in .NET; with an eye to why or why not use COM+ for transactions; Typed DataSet or DataReaders; Business Objects or Messages.  I am trying to understand where the community is.

Thanks in advance…