“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” What does this famous William Shakespeare quote have to do with Microsoft? If you have been around the Microsoft channel for even a short amount of time, you might already have a really good guess. That’s right, it’s their penchant for changing product and feature names.
You may have encountered the word Dataverse recently in dialogues pertaining to Microsoft Dynamics 365, specifically while talking about Dynamics 365 and Power Platform. This magical word is not just some space-aged colloquialism describing the celestial computing powers that reside above The Cloud. As of November 2020, Dataverse is Microsoft’s new name for what was formerly known as Common Data Service or CDS.
What is Microsoft Dataverse?
Again, formerly known as CDS, Dataverse is essentially the database that Microsoft Dynamics and Power Platform sit on top of. The tables that make up the Dataverse are the core, or common, data structures that are utilized by Dynamics 365 and offer a secure and cloud-based storage option for data.
Utilizing the Dataverse, users have access to the standard tables as well as any tables that come with one of Microsoft Dynamics’ business platforms (Sales, Customer Service, Field Service, etc.). Citizens of the Dataverse also have the option of creating custom tables that best suit their business needs as well as easily accessing Dataverse data via the Power Platform – Power BI, Power Apps, Power Automate and Power Virtual Agents.
Utilizing Microsoft Dataverse, users have the following benefits:
- Easy to manage and secure data
- Data from Dynamics 365 applications is accessible via the Dataverse
- Rich metadata, logic and validation
- Productivity tools
While we are on the subject of renaming, Microsoft also officially renamed many of the components of the Dataverse that are covered below. Though officially renamed in November of last year, you may still see the old names surfaced in various Microsoft products and documentation.
| Old CDS Terms | New Dataverse Terms |
| Entity, entities | Table, tables |
| Field, fields Attribute, attributes |
Column, columns |
| Record, records | Row, rows |
| Option set, multiple select option sets, picklist, picklists | Choice, choices |
| Two options | Yes/No |
How does this all connect to ClickDimensions?
Being natively built in Microsoft Dynamics, like ClickDimensions, certainly has its advant
How does this all connect to ClickDimensions?
Being natively built in Microsoft Dynamics, like ClickDimensions, certainly has its advantages. This blog post explains how the Dataverse, Power Platform and ClickDimensions all connect and what it means for our customers. The post references CDS, but now you know that means you are living in the Dataverse.
Related Resources
How Sales and Marketing Alignment is your Key to SMB Success
Many small to medium businesses (SMBs) often grapple with one common challenge: disjointed sales and marketing communications. This misalignment can lead to missed opportunities, frustrated customers, and ultimately hindered [...]
How to Improve your Account and Buyer Insights
Understanding your target accounts and buyers is critical in today's competitive business landscape. However, many small to medium sized businesses (SMBs)face one common hurdle: the absence of comprehensive account [...]
Navigating the Sales Pipeline: Top 5 Challenges and Solutions
A well-managed sales pipeline is the lifeblood of any successful sales operation. However, it's not without its challenges. Small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) with well-defined sales processes and [...]
