Dataverse is not a database

[EricRegnier]

I’ve received many questions especially by non-Power Platform developers regarding the difference between Common Data Service (CDS) Dataverse and SQL Server and the advantages of Dataverse as opposed to SQL Server. Although Dataverse’s main database is Azure SQL and Dataverse is referred to as a “database” in many places even within Microsoft space, it is much more than a database.

Dataverse comes with a rich set of features that are usually common to any type of system/application especially in the enterprise space. If we were to compare to traditional software layer application design, you'll need to develop your database, a data access layer and its security, business logic layer and some form of presentation layer. With Dataverse all that is taken care of out-of-the-box and developers just need to focus on the data modelling, business and presentation layers. Instead of a database, I believe Dataverse should be referred to as a platform or even as SDaaS (Software Dev as a Service). Below are a few examples of these capabilities that you would have to custom build yourself (or use frameworks) which is why Dataverse is a great platform for your business apps.

• Data Management and Integration capabilities (import and export)
• Mobile offline capability
• Reporting and dashboards for end-users
• Users and Queue management
• Activities/Interactions management
• No code business logic client & server side
• Pre and post-event business logic execution (plugins)
• SDKs and APIs which automatically scaffolds on change of data model
• Auditing and Logging
• Office and Exchange integration
• Searching and querying
• SharePoint, OneDrive and OneNote integration
• Currency management
• Data Duplication Detection
• Multi-language support
• Pre-built UI template with out-of-the-box data binding (model-driven apps)
• Governance, administration, and DevOps build tools
• Core data model (Common Data Model), out-of-the-box schema, and prebuild industry accelerators (verticals).

To illustrate more the roles and capabilities of Dataverse, let’s zoom in the following Microsoft’s Power Platform diagram with a traditional software layer lens. The highlighted components come straight out-of-the-box and we can see that these are across the stack. The tight integration with the Microsoft/Azure ecosystem is another significant advantage as it’s simply all native.

Links and brief details to the highlighted Dataverse components:

Data Access

• Dataverse - the database where the tables, business and app data, metadata and components are hosted
• Dataverse APIs and SDK
• Dataflows - low code/no code ETL tool
• Connectors - connect to/from Dataverse throughout the Power Platform

Business and Process Automation

• Power Query - built-in in Dataflows and for Excel integration
• Business Rules - no code engine to apply logic on forms and data
• Workflows - no code event-driven engine to automate actions
• Business Process Flow - define processes to ensure users enter data consistently and follow the same...

Presentation

• Model-driven apps - a templated Office look and feel UI
• Dataverse for Teams - apps and lists embedded in Teams
• PCF - to build custom reusable controls for your apps
• Portals - external end-user and self-service portal on top of Dataverse
• Office, Excel, Word, Outlook integration
• Exchange integration - enable users to send/receive emails, tasks and appointments directly in Datav...
• SharePoint, OneDrive and OneNote integration

Platform

• Power Platform build tools - for all DevOps automation