Microsoft Dataverse is the data platform that powers Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform. It provides a governed, cloud-based database with 400+ standard tables, enterprise security, and native integration with Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI, and Copilot Studio. EPC Group has architected Dataverse solutions for Fortune 500 and regulated-industry clients for 29 years.
Key Facts
- 400+ standard tables following the Common Data Model (Account, Contact, Opportunity, Case, and more).
- File and image storage up to 128 MB per file directly in Dataverse.
- Elastic tables backed by Azure Cosmos DB handle IoT and telemetry data at sub-millisecond latency.
- Compliance certifications: HIPAA BAA, SOC 2 Type II, FedRAMP High, ISO 27001/27017/27018.
- Licensed independently via Power Apps plans — no Dynamics 365 license required.
- 10 GB base capacity per tenant; expandable with add-on licenses.
Dynamics 365 Dataverse: Store, Secure, and Build Apps from Core Business Data
Looking for Common Data Model examples? This guide focuses on Dataverse storage architecture, security roles, and app development. For the full CDM schema specification, standard entities (Account, Contact, Lead), and CDM examples, see our Dynamics 365 Common Data Model guide.
Microsoft Dataverse is a smart data platform that supports the entire Dynamics 365 and Power Platform ecosystem. It provides a secure and scalable base for storing essential business data.
Additionally, it enables the creation of enterprise applications with governance. Key features include:
- Secure data storage
- Scalability for growing businesses
- Governance for data management
With 29 years of Microsoft consulting experience, our team at EPC Group has designed Dataverse solutions for:
- Mid-market companies
- Fortune 500 enterprises
- Industries such as healthcare, finance, and government
What Is Microsoft Dataverse?
Dataverse, previously known as the Common Data Service, is a cloud-based, low-code data platform. It enables organizations to securely store and manage business data.
This data is utilized by:
- Dynamics 365 applications
- Power Apps
- Power Automate
- Power BI
Dataverse offers a standardized schema that includes:
- Tables (formerly entities)
- Columns
- Relationships
- Business logic
This standardization removes the need to create custom databases for each business application.
Dataverse is based on Azure SQL Database and Azure Cosmos DB. This foundation provides enterprise-grade performance, automatic scaling, and geographic redundancy.
Every Dynamics 365 application, including:
- Finance
- Sales
- Customer Service
- Field Service
stores its data in Dataverse. This setup creates a single source of truth for your entire business operation.
Core Capabilities of Dataverse
- Standard and Custom Tables: Dataverse includes over 400 standard tables (Account, Contact, Opportunity, Case, etc.) that follow the Common Data Model specification. You can extend these or create entirely custom tables to model your unique business data without writing a single line of SQL.
- Rich Data Types: Support for text, number, currency, date/time, lookup, choice, image, file attachment, and calculated columns. Formula columns (powered by Power Fx) allow Excel-like expressions that compute automatically.
- Relationships: One-to-many, many-to-one, and many-to-many relationships between tables with referential integrity enforcement, cascade rules, and automatic lookup resolution.
- Business Rules and Logic: Define server-side business rules that validate data, set default values, show/hide fields, and enforce business logic without code. These rules execute consistently whether data is entered through a model-driven app, canvas app, API, or data import.
- Calculated and Rollup Columns: Automatically compute values based on formulas or aggregate child records. For example, roll up all invoice line items to a total on the invoice header.
- File and Image Storage: Store documents, images, and attachments directly in Dataverse with configurable size limits up to 128 MB per file.
- Elastic Tables: For high-volume, low-latency scenarios (IoT data, telemetry, logs), elastic tables backed by Azure Cosmos DB handle millions of rows with sub-millisecond reads.
Enterprise Security in Dataverse
Dataverse provides the most granular security model of any low-code data platform, making it ideal for compliance-heavy industries:
| Security Layer | Description | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Security Roles | Assign CRUD permissions per table with organization, business unit, parent-child, or user-level scope | Role-based access (Sales Manager, Finance Analyst) |
| Business Units | Hierarchical organizational units that partition data visibility | Multi-division, multi-country organizations |
| Teams | Owner teams and access teams for group-based record sharing | Project teams, regional teams |
| Field-Level Security | Restrict read/write access to specific columns | SSN, salary, PHI data in HIPAA environments |
| Column Encryption | Encrypt sensitive columns at rest with customer-managed keys | PII, financial data, health records |
| Audit Logging | Complete audit trail of all data changes with user, timestamp, old/new values | SOC 2, HIPAA, regulatory compliance |
Building Applications on Dataverse
Dataverse serves as the foundation for three types of applications within the Microsoft ecosystem:
- Model-Driven Apps: Automatically generate full-featured business applications from your Dataverse data model. The UI is driven by the table structure, forms, views, and dashboards you configure -- no front-end coding required. These apps include navigation, search, filtering, record creation, and inline editing out of the box.
- Canvas Apps: Build pixel-perfect custom UIs using a drag-and-drop designer with Power Fx formulas. Canvas apps connect to Dataverse as a data source and support offline mode, barcode scanning, GPS, camera, and other mobile capabilities.
- Custom Pages: A hybrid approach that embeds canvas app components within model-driven apps for scenarios requiring both data-driven layouts and custom UI elements.
All three app types share the same Dataverse security model, ensuring consistent data governance regardless of how users access the data.
Integration and API Access
Dataverse exposes a comprehensive set of APIs for integration with external systems:
- Web API (OData v4): RESTful endpoints for CRUD operations, queries, and batch operations from any HTTP client.
- Organization Service (.NET SDK): Strongly typed .NET client for high-performance server-side integrations.
- Power Automate Connectors: Over 1,000 pre-built connectors enable no-code integration with Salesforce, SAP, Oracle, ServiceNow, and hundreds of other platforms.
- Azure Synapse Link: Continuously replicate Dataverse data to Azure Synapse Analytics for large-scale reporting, data warehousing, and machine learning without impacting the operational database.
- Virtual Tables: Present external data (SQL Server, SharePoint, Azure SQL) as native Dataverse tables without data movement, enabling real-time access within apps and workflows.
- Dataverse Webhooks and Service Bus: Event-driven integration for real-time notifications when data changes.
Why Choose EPC Group for Dataverse Implementation
Our 29 years of Microsoft consulting experience includes hundreds of Dataverse implementations across every major industry. We bring enterprise-grade expertise to every project:
- Data model design: We architect Dataverse schemas that are performant, extensible, and aligned with the Common Data Model to ensure long-term maintainability.
- Security architecture: Our consultants design security role hierarchies that enforce least-privilege access while maintaining usability for HIPAA, SOC 2, and FedRAMP compliance.
- Migration expertise: We migrate data from legacy databases, spreadsheets, SAP, Oracle, and custom applications into Dataverse with full data validation and reconciliation.
- Power Platform integration: We build end-to-end solutions that combine Dataverse with Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI, and Copilot Studio.
- Performance optimization: We tune Dataverse environments for high-volume transactional workloads, ensuring sub-second response times at scale.
Start Building on Dataverse Today
If you are starting a new Dynamics 365 deployment or expanding your current setup with custom applications, our Dataverse architects can help. They will design a solution that grows with your business.
Contact us for a complimentary architecture review.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Dataverse and a traditional SQL database?
Dataverse is a managed platform that operates on Azure SQL. It enhances the raw database engine by adding:
- Security roles
- Business logic
- Audit logging
- API endpoints
- A standardized data model
Unlike a traditional SQL database, Dataverse automates management tasks such as:
- Schema management
- Backups
- Scaling
- Security
You can define tables, columns, and relationships using a visual designer or solution files. The platform also manages indexing, replication, and compliance for you.
How much data can Dataverse handle?
Dataverse offers a base capacity of 10 GB for each tenant. You can purchase additional capacity through add-on licenses.
Standard tables can manage tens of millions of rows when indexed correctly.
For high-volume scenarios, such as IoT, telemetry, and event logs, elastic tables backed by Azure Cosmos DB provide:
- Virtually unlimited horizontal scaling
- Sub-millisecond latency
Is Dataverse compliant with HIPAA and SOC 2?
Yes. Dataverse has several important compliance certifications. These include:
- HIPAA BAA coverage
- SOC 1 and SOC 2 Type II attestations
- FedRAMP High authorization
- ISO 27001/27017/27018 certification
- Over 90 other compliance certifications
With features like field-level security, column encryption using customer-managed keys, and comprehensive audit logging, Dataverse is suitable for storing PHI, PII, and financial data in regulated industries.
Can we use Dataverse without Dynamics 365?
Yes, you can license Dataverse separately through Power Apps. You can choose from the following plans:
- Per-app plans
- Per-user plans
No Dynamics 365 licenses are required for this.
This flexibility makes Dataverse ideal for building standalone business applications using:
- Power Apps
- Power Automate
Additionally, there is a limited version called Dataverse for Teams. This version is included with Microsoft 365 licenses, but it has reduced capacity and fewer features.
How do we migrate data from our existing systems into Dataverse?
EPC Group uses different migration methods depending on the source system and the amount of data. For smaller datasets, we suggest:
- The built-in Excel import
- The Dataverse connector in Power Automate
For larger migrations from systems like SAP, Oracle, or legacy SQL databases, we utilize Azure Data Factory pipelines with custom transformation logic. Our process includes:
- Conducting a pilot migration
- Performing data validation
- Carrying out reconciliation before the final cutover
This ensures accuracy throughout the migration process.
Dynamics 365 Implementation: 2026 Considerations for Dynamics 365 Dataverse Store Secure And Build Apps From Core Business Data
In 2026, Dynamics 365 is organized into three main app families:
- Customer Engagement (Sales, Customer Service, Field Service, Marketing) at $65-$210/user/month
- Finance & Operations (Finance, Supply Chain Management, Commerce, HR) at $180-$210/user/month
- Business Central (small/midsize ERP) at $70-$100/user/month
When selecting a solution, consider your organization's size, specific functionality needs, and how well it fits within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.
Power Platform integration is the key differentiator for Dynamics 365 in 2026. It includes:
- Power Automate workflows
- Power Apps custom screens
- Copilot Studio agents
- Dataverse as the unified data layer
Dynamics 365 deployments offer greater flexibility compared to Salesforce options at the same price. An EPC Group typical Dynamics 365 implementation includes:
- 8-15 Power Platform extensions
This inclusion is part of the base scope for our implementations.
Decision factors EPC Group evaluates
- Customer Engagement vs Finance & Operations vs Business Central app-family selection
- Migration from Salesforce/SAP/Oracle with phased coexistence
- Power Platform extensibility scope (Power Automate, Power Apps, Copilot Studio)
- Microsoft Cloud for Industry verticalization (Healthcare, Financial Services, Retail, Manufacturing)
- Dataverse data model design for cross-app reporting
EPC Group covers this topic across the relevant engagement portfolio. Reach the firm at contact@epcgroup.net for a 30-minute architect conversation.