Microsoft Power Platform · Data platform
As a Microsoft Dataverse partner, we build the foundation beneath Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI, and Power Pages — the database Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE modules sit on, with built-in security, audit trails, and a proper API. Most architectural decisions that have consequences later are made right here.
Functional scope
Dataverse is more than a SQL table in the cloud. It's a platform with business logic, security, and extensibility built in. The five core components.
Tables (formerly "entities"), columns (formerly "attributes"), relationships (1:N, N:1, N:N) with configurable cascading behavior. Lookup columns as type-safe foreign keys. Calculated columns and rollup columns for aggregated values. Choice fields (option sets) as controlled dropdowns. Everything versionable via a designer surface or Solution XML.
Security roles (what someone is generally allowed to do), business units (organizational separation), teams (access bundling), hierarchical security (manager access), field-level security (which fields are visible to whom). Plus sharing of individual records and access teams. Not trivial — but powerful when set up cleanly.
Lookup columns to one table, polymorphic lookups to multiple tables (e.g. "related to contact or account"), customer-type lookups as Microsoft specials. Access via expand queries in the API. Caution: with large data volumes, deep joins are a performance topic.
Server-side business logic in C#, triggered on pre/post operation, synchronous or asynchronous. Pre-validation (before the database operation), pre-operation (in the transaction), post-operation (after commit). With input parameters, output parameters, shared variables. With this, business logic can be built that is enforced — whether triggered by the UI, a flow, or the API.
Complete Web API via OData v4. Authentication via Azure AD (service principal or delegated user). CRUD plus custom actions, batch requests, change tracking, FetchXML as legacy alternative. With this, Dataverse can be fully driven from the outside — very useful for custom integrations.
Built-in audit logging at table and field level, change history per record, GDPR-request workflow, EU data residency configurable, customer-managed keys possible. Relevant for NIS2-affected industries — see Compliance & NIS2.
Use cases
Three classic deployment areas — from the Common Data Model to integration between multiple business applications.
A central data foundation all business applications sit on: customers, contracts, tickets, orders, employees, products. Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE modules use this model out of the box. Anyone who builds their own Power Apps, Power Automate flows, and Power Pages on top avoids data silos and duplicate maintenance.
The Power Apps for field employees, the self-service portal for customers, the reporting in Power BI — all three access the same Dataverse tables that D365 Sales and Customer Service already use. That's the architectural strength of the platform: one data model, four tools.
If you build a custom web app or a mobile app, Dataverse can provide the backend — via the OData API, with security and audit trails built in, without your own database management. We regularly combine this with our Independent Engineering — custom frontend, Dataverse backend.
When multiple source systems hold the same master data (customers in CRM, ERP, and marketing tool), Dataverse can be set up as the master — with bidirectional synchronization via Power Automate, with conflict logic, with clear data lineage. Clean architecture — provided the security model is thought through from the start.
What we deliver
Tables, columns, relationships, cascading behavior, indexing. We design with an eye on performance as volume grows — standard tables vs. custom tables, single-page forms vs. tabbed forms, lookup depth vs. denormalization. Delivered as a Solution package, versionable in Git.
Security roles, business-unit hierarchy, teams, field-level security. A concrete use-case matrix: which role sees which fields of which table in which visibility. With test accounts per role, played through before go-live. Clean security is what no audit later has to unravel.
Business logic in C#, in pre/post phase, synchronous or asynchronous. With unit tests against FakeXrmEasy, with logging to Application Insights, with Solution versioning. We comment such that your next developer in 3 years still understands why this logic sits exactly here.
Interfaces to SAP, Oxaion, NAV, Salesforce, in-house ERPs. Via Power Automate for the standard cases, via custom code (C#, Node, Python) for high-frequency or compute-intensive integrations. With retry logic, idempotency, monitoring. Cross-link: Intercompany Integration.
The specifics — limitations
Dataverse is powerful, but not generic SQL. Anyone who deploys the platform in production needs to know a series of limits — and we walk through them every single time in the architecture conversation:
These limitations are no showstoppers — but they're the points where poorly designed applications hit the wall 18 months after go-live. We design so these limits become visible early and are managed.
FAQ
Dataverse is Microsoft's managed data platform for business applications — not a classic data warehouse, not a generic SQL database. Instead: relational tables with built-in security, logic (plug-ins, workflows), audit logging, REST/OData API. The database Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE modules sit on — and the backend for Power Apps, Power Automate, Power Pages.
Power Apps can sit on SharePoint lists — and for 100 records and one user, that's fine. But once relational relationships, row-level security, larger volumes, or plug-in logic come into play, SharePoint quickly becomes unwieldy. Dataverse is the professional choice as soon as the app should be productive and maintainable.
Several practical limits: image columns 4 MB per file, bulk operations with throttling limits, API calls per 24h per license limited, plug-in execution time max. 2 minutes (synchronous), database size in the included license capped at a few GB, more storage costs per GB. We walk through the limits in the architecture conversation — they're manageable, but you need to know them.
Dataverse has a mature security model: security roles, business units, teams, field-level security, hierarchical security. Data encryption at rest and in transit, customer-managed keys possible. For DACH compliance: EU data residency can be guaranteed, GDPR audit trails built in. NIS2-relevant requirements can be mapped — see also Compliance & NIS2.
Yes, via the Dataverse Web API (REST/OData v4). Authentication via Azure AD with service principal or delegated user. We frequently build custom connectors from this API for Power Automate, or direct integrations from our own custom applications. The API has throttling — accordingly we build with retry logic and bulk operations where possible.
For Microsoft Dynamics 365 users, Dataverse is included with the D365 license. For standalone Power Platform scenarios, the per-user plan (~€20/month) or per-app plan (~€5/app/month) applies — both include Dataverse use. Storage beyond the included 10 GB plus 250 MB/user is billed per GB monthly. More in the License Cost Calculator.
Pricing notice: Microsoft adjusts list prices regularly (currency adjustments, NCE updates, plan restructurings). Figures here are indicative values from May 2026. For current prices including arades CSP conditions, see the License Cost Calculator (licenses.arades.de) ↗ daily.
45-min architecture conversation
Bring your requirements, and we'll walk through table design, security, and API architecture with you — before anyone creates the first field.
Accompanying services
Engineering projects rarely stand alone — license logic, architecture clarification, quality gates, knowledge transfer, and follow-on operations usually run in parallel. Below are the most common accompanying services we add via discovery spikes, fixed-price sprints, or application-care contracts.
Before · Architecture
Before implementation: tenant structure, data model, security concept, integration mapping. The result is an architecture document any engineering team can continue working with — even one other than us.
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Before · CSP
Which license bundles for which users, which add-on SKUs are necessary, where you're over- or under-licensed. Sourced as a Microsoft Licensing Partner — with the option to use CSP purely for control without margin maximization.
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During · Quality gate
Independent second opinion during an active implementation project — whether we run it or another partner does. CMMI-based quality gates, risk reviews, fixed price per gate.
During · Adoption
Not the classic 2-day workshop forgotten after a week — but a dynamic learning program over 4–6 weeks with initial training, application phases, and follow-up sessions. Training matrix for roles and topics.
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After · Operations
After go-live: a plannable application-care contract with a monthly flat rate, SLA-based. Includes releases, hotfixes, extensions, tenant hardening — and continuous accompaniment instead of mere ticket response.
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After · Knowledge
When the original developers are gone, the previous partner is no longer reachable, or the documentation is stale — reverse engineering of the existing solution with a documented result: code map, data model, customization inventory.
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Strategy background · arades topic page
Why we consistently build all our apps and recommendations on a single data foundation — and when the island solution is still the better answer. 2,500 words on architecture, migration paths, and honest boundaries.
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