The Common Data Model, Common Data Service & Microsoft Dynamics 365

Discover how the Common Data Model, Common Data Service, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 work together to unlock the full potential of your business.

At the core of every technology implementation is a question about to use data to support more informed decision making. This naturally leads to the issue of data management and questions like how different tools can communicate with each other to unlock trends that exist outside of single systems. To answer these questions, integration is (almost) always the answer.

However, up until recently, integrations between Microsoft systems were custom built, making them expensive, risky and difficult to maintain. Enter: The Common Data Model. The Common Data Model (or CDM) simplifies integration between two Microsoft systems by providing template integrations. For example, this means easier integration of the financial side of Dynamics 365 and Operations. The templates help guide system admins through integration without coding, which means integration is now accessible to a larger community of users. According to Microsoft, the benefit of the Common Data Model is that “applications can work against data without needing to explicitly know where that data is coming from.”

Understanding the Common Data Model

The Common Data Model (CDM) is a standardized and extensible collection of data schemas that enables organizations to define and share their data across applications and services. It provides a consistent and unified view of data, making it easier to integrate and analyze information from various sources. With the CDM, businesses can eliminate data silos and achieve a holistic understanding of their data.

By using the CDM, organizations can create a common language for data, ensuring that data is structured and organized in a consistent manner. This enables better collaboration and data sharing across departments and systems. The CDM also includes a wide range of pre-built entities and attributes that can be used to model different types of data, such as customers, products, orders, and more. This makes it easier to get started and accelerate development.

In addition to its standard entities, the CDM allows organizations to define custom entities and attributes to meet their specific business needs. This flexibility ensures that the CDM can adapt to the unique requirements of different industries and organizations. By leveraging the power of the CDM, businesses can unlock the full potential of their data and drive innovation.

Exploring the Common Data Service

The Common Data Service (CDS) is a cloud-based data storage and management service that is built on top of the CDM. It provides a secure and scalable platform for storing and accessing data from various sources, such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 applications, third-party applications, and custom solutions. The CDS acts as a central repository for data, making it easier to manage and analyze information across different systems.

With the CDS, organizations can create and manage data entities, define relationships between entities, and enforce data validation and business rules. This ensures data integrity and consistency throughout the organization. The CDS also provides a set of powerful tools and services for data integration, data transformation, and data visualization, enabling businesses to extract insights and make informed decisions.

One of the key benefits of the CDS is its tight integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365 applications. By using the CDS as a data source, businesses can leverage the rich functionality and capabilities of Dynamics 365 to automate processes, streamline operations, and deliver personalized experiences to customers. The CDS also enables seamless integration with other Microsoft products and services, such as Power BI, Power Apps, and Azure, allowing organizations to build end-to-end solutions that span across different platforms.

Leveraging the Integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a suite of intelligent business applications that help organizations drive digital transformation and achieve their business goals. It includes a wide range of modular applications, such as Dynamics 365 Sales, Dynamics 365 Marketing, Dynamics 365 Customer Service, and more, that can be tailored to meet the specific needs of different industries and business functions.

With the integration between the CDM, CDS, and Dynamics 365, businesses can leverage the power of data to deliver personalized experiences, improve customer engagement, and drive business growth. The CDM provides a common data model that is shared across Dynamics 365 applications, ensuring data consistency and accuracy. The CDS acts as a unified data platform, enabling seamless data integration and synchronization between Dynamics 365 and other systems. This allows businesses to have a 360-degree view of their customers, streamline sales and marketing processes, and provide exceptional customer service.

By integrating Dynamics 365 with the CDM and CDS, organizations can also take advantage of advanced analytics and AI capabilities to gain actionable insights from their data. They can use Power BI to create interactive dashboards and reports, Power Apps to build custom applications and workflows, and Azure AI services to automate tasks and enhance decision-making. The integration between Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform empowers businesses to innovate and adapt to changing market dynamics.

Driving Business Growth with Dynamic 365 Applications

Dynamic 365 applications are designed to help businesses drive business growth and achieve operational excellence. Whether it's sales, marketing, customer service, or field service, Dynamic 365 applications provide a comprehensive set of tools and features to streamline processes, improve productivity, and deliver exceptional customer experiences.

For sales teams, Dynamic 365 Sales enables them to manage leads, opportunities, and customer relationships effectively. It provides a centralized view of customer data, real-time insights, and AI-driven recommendations to help salespeople prioritize tasks, close deals faster, and exceed revenue targets. Dynamic 365 Marketing, on the other hand, allows marketing teams to create and execute targeted campaigns, nurture leads, and track campaign performance. It provides a complete set of marketing automation capabilities, including email marketing, lead scoring, and event management.

Dynamic 365 Customer Service empowers organizations to deliver outstanding customer service and support. It enables support teams to manage cases, track service requests, and provide personalized support across multiple channels, such as phone, email, chat, and social media. With AI-driven insights and self-service capabilities, organizations can resolve issues faster, reduce support costs, and improve customer satisfaction. Dynamic 365 Field Service, on the other hand, helps organizations optimize field operations, schedule resources, and deliver proactive maintenance and repairs. It provides real-time visibility into field activities, enables remote collaboration, and ensures timely and efficient service delivery.

By leveraging Dynamic 365 applications, businesses can streamline their operations, improve sales and marketing effectiveness, and deliver exceptional customer experiences. The integration with the CDM and CDS further enhances the value of Dynamic 365 applications by providing a unified data platform, enabling seamless data integration and synchronization, and unlocking the full potential of data-driven insights and automation.

Maximizing Efficiency with Dynamic 365's Power Platform

Dynamic 365's Power Platform is a set of low-code and no-code tools and services that enable organizations to build custom applications, automate workflows, and extend the functionality of Dynamic 365 applications. It includes Power BI for data visualization and analytics, Power Apps for building custom applications, Power Automate for workflow automation, and Power Virtual Agents for creating chatbots.

With the Power Platform, organizations can maximize efficiency, productivity, and innovation. Power BI allows businesses to create interactive dashboards and reports, enabling users to visualize and explore data in a meaningful way. Power Apps empowers users to build custom applications and automate business processes without writing code, enabling rapid application development and deployment. Power Automate enables users to create workflows and automate repetitive tasks, improving efficiency and reducing manual effort. Power Virtual Agents allows organizations to create chatbots and virtual assistants that can handle customer inquiries, provide support, and automate conversations.

By leveraging the capabilities of the Power Platform, businesses can accelerate digital transformation, drive innovation, and adapt to changing business needs. The integration with Dynamic 365 applications and the underlying CDM and CDS provides a seamless and unified experience, enabling organizations to harness the power of data to make informed decisions, automate processes, and deliver exceptional customer experiences.