Skill 2.1: Describe Common Data Service
Common Data Service is a cloud-based data storage solution that all the Power Platform applications can use to maintain their data in a secure, manageable environment. The Common Data Service was originally designed for use with Dynamics 365 applications, such as Sales and Customer Service. Therefore, Power Platform developers can use their existing Dynamics 365 business data, logic, and rules when creating new content in Power BI, Power Apps, and Power Automate.
This skill covers how to:
■ Describe the Power Apps user experience
■ Describe entities, fields, and relationships
■ Describe use cases for solutions
■ Describe use cases and limitations of business rules
■ Describe the Common Data Model (CDM)
■ Describe how to use common standard entities to describe people, places, and things
Describe the Power Apps user experience
Power Apps and the other Power Platform tools require data for developers to work with, and they are all able to connect directly to many different data sources, including local files, network resources, and cloud-based services.
Storing app data in Common Data Service
Depending on the nature of the app they are building, it is common for developers to have to connect to multiple data sources to gather the information they need. This can mean accessing multiple sites, authenticating with multiple accounts, and updating multiple data points at frequent intervals. Common Data Service can simplify this data gathering model by allowing developers to store the data from the different sources in a single protected place, in an integrated form. The data stored in Common Data Service is then available to any of the Power Platform tools, along with any Dynamics 365 data that is also stored there.
For example, when an organization relies heavily on data stored in many Excel workbooks, importing them one time into Common Data Service can be more convenient than connecting to each one repeatedly every time an app is revised or updated. When importing data into Common Data Service, developers can model and transform the data using Power Query, just as they can when importing data using Power BI.
Need More Review? Data Modeling and Transformation
For more information on data modeling and transformation, see “Skill 3.2: Connect to and consume data” in Chapter 3, “Describe the business value of Power BI.”
As with direct connections between apps and data sources, Common Data Service can synchronize with the data sources at regular intervals to keep the stored data updated. The apps that use the Common Data Service data can then be updated with the latest information as well.
