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Microsoft Opens First Common Data Model (CDM) Preview for PowerApps

by Jason Gumpert
Editor, MSDynamicsWorld.com

Microsoft PowerApps and Common Data Model (CDM) 

Microsoft has introduced a preview of its new Common Data Model (CDM) this week, making it available through the PowerApps preview.

The CDM is Microsoft's new "Azure-based business application model and storage mechanism," for PowerApps, Microsoft Flow, and Power BI, according to PowerApps director of program management Arif Kureshy, writing in a new blog post. The first public preview delivers the following features:

  • Preview versions of standard entity definitions
  • Rich data type support for extending standard entities and defining custom entities
  • Simple schema definition tools aimed at non-developers
  • Rich control support in Microsoft PowerApps
  • Integration with Microsoft Flow
  • Rich Microsoft Excel integration for viewing and editing data
  • Bulk data import and export capabilities

Kureshy explained how CDM has been designed to enable the building of custom apps via PowerApps that use data from across many core systems:

"[T]he CDM aims to bridge the data gap between the many business apps deployed in an enterprise. It is much more than a relational database: it has a meta-model that understands business primitives and semantics such as currency, amounts, and auto-number fields. It encapsulates core business concepts in a standard set of entities."

Over time, ...

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About Jason Gumpert

As the editor of MSDynamicsWorld.com, Jason oversees all editorial content on the site and at our events, as well as providing site management and strategy. He can be reached at jgumpert@msdynamicsworld.com.

Prior to co-founding MSDynamicsWorld.com, Jason was a Principal Software Consultant at Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC), where he implemented solutions, trained customers, managed software development, and spent some time in the pre-sales engineering organization. He has also held consulting positions at CSC Consulting and Monitor Group.

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