Microsoft Dataverse and its Uses

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Recently some terminologies have been changed, Common Data Service has been renamed to Microsoft Dataverse. In general, dataverse allows you to safely store and manage data used by business applications. Some of the features of Dataverse are –

  • Firstly, data within Dataverse is stored within a set of tables. A table is a set of rows (formerly referred to as records) and columns (formerly referred to as fields/attributes).
  • Secondly, every column in the table is designed to store a certain type of data, for instance, linke, name, age, salary, and so on.
  • Further, dataverse contains a base set of standard tables that cover typical scenarios, but you can also create custom tables specific to your organization and populate them with data by using Power Query.
  • Lastly, the application developers use Power Apps for building rich applications that use this data.

Uses of Microsoft Dataverse

As we know standard and custom tables within Dataverse offer a secure and cloud-based storage option for the data. Moreover, tables allow the creation of a business-focused definition of the organization’s data for use within apps. Some of the benefits of Microsoft dataverse includes –

  • Firstly, it is easy to Manage
  • Secondly, it is easy to Secure
  • Then, you can access your Dynamics 365 Data
  • Next, it offers rich metadata 
  • Also, it helps perform business processes logically with validation
  • Lastly, the productivity tools help to increase productivity and ensure data accessibility.
Legacy termCurrent term
Entity, entitiesTable, tables
Field, fields
Attribute, attributes
Column, columns
Record, recordsRow, rows
Option set, multi select option sets
Picklist, picklists
Choice, choices
Two OptionsYes/No

Using Dataverse with Dynamics 365

The Dynamics 365 applications including Dynamics 365 Sales, Dynamics 365 Customer Service, or Dynamics 365 Talent uses Dataverse for storing and securing the data being used. Moreover, it allows the building of apps with Power Apps and Dataverse directly against your core business data, already used within Dynamics 365, without the need for integration. The use of dataverse with Dynamic 365 helps in –

  • Firstly, building apps against your Dynamics 365 data
  • Secondly, managing reusable business logic and rules
  • Also, using Reusable skills across Dynamics 365 and Power Apps

Integrating Data into Microsoft Dataverse

The process of building an app requires data from various sources. Moreover, there are cases when data integration into a common store allows you for an easier app-building experience and a single set of logic to maintain and operate over the data. In the same vein, Dataverse allows data to be integrated from multiple sources into a single store. Then you can use it in Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI, and Power Virtual Agents along with data that are already available from the Dynamics 365 applications.

  • Firstly, it allows scheduled integration with other systems 
  • Secondly, it helps transform and import data using Power Query 
  • Further, simple import and export of Excel and CSV files can be performed for a one-time (or infrequent) import of data into Dataverse.
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