According to a recent survey, more than 50% of professionals say they spend more time searching for files than using them. Part of this has to do with the information explosion that has happened over the last few years—there is truly more data, especially in an enterprise setting, than ever before.
By the end of 2025, Internet traffic alone is anticipated to generate between 150 and 200 zettabytes of information. Your employees need to be able to easily create and work with that data, share it, and use it as the basis of collaboration. But there’s so much of it that simply keeping up becomes a challenge—to say nothing of how difficult it can be to keep it as secure as possible.
That, in part, is what Microsoft Dataverse for Teams is designed to accomplish.
Dataverse for Teams is a low-code data platform that helps enterprise users build custom apps, workflows, dashboards, and more – all within the powerful Microsoft Teams interface. Teams itself is a workspace designed to make communication and collaboration easier than ever before. Dataverse takes that one step further by truly allowing people to work their way, any way, with absolutely no exceptions.
In this article, you’ll better understand what Microsoft Dataverse is and, more importantly, what it can do. You’ll learn how to set up Dataverse and can get started leveraging Power Apps to your advantage. You’ll even learn more about where Dataverse might be headed. Anyone who already leverages Microsoft Teams and wants to get more from their investment is encouraged to read on further.
At its core, Microsoft Dataverse for Teams is a solution designed to let users securely store and manage the information used by the various business applications they’ve come to rely on. Standard and custom tables are available, both of which offer a secure and cloud-based way to finally control the challenges associated with big data.
Think of it as the data-driven foundation upon which Microsoft’s Power Platform, Office 365, and Dynamics 365 are built. Rather than trapping data (and the valuable insight contained within it) in its silo based on whatever app created it, it acts as a “single source of truth” for your organization.
If everything exists in the same location, it can be shared instantly and securely. The data is “decoupled” from any one particular application, allowing it to flow freely across your enterprise – likely for the first time.
Within the context of Teams, Dataverse allows you to find, filter, and sort through the massive volumes of data being created. It features mobile offline capabilities, advanced Dataverse search functions, file and image support, and more.
Thankfully, getting Microsoft Dataverse for Teams set up is (relatively) straightforward.
Creating relationships in Dataverse for Teams is fundamental for ensuring successful collaboration. As you create tables to store data, open the table and select the “Relationships” tab.
You can choose “one-to-many” relationships, “many-to-one” relationships, or “many-to-many” relationships. Each has its own distinct purpose. In a “many-to-one” relationship, for example, a single team leader may be responsible for multiple teams. Which you select will vary depending on your unique needs and the project you’re currently working on.
Once Dataverse for Teams has been appropriately configured, you should familiarize yourself with importing and exporting data.
To load data into Dataverse for Teams tables, open the “Power Apps” section and select the “Data” tab. Choose the option labeled “Get Data,” and finally, “Get Data” again.
Here, you can browse a list of data sources and select the one you want to import data from. You can also import data directly from an Excel or CSV file that may already exist.
Exporting data follows a similar process. Once you select the table with the data you want to export, you can select “Export” and then “Export Data.” Once the export finishes, you’ll see an option labeled “Download Exported Data,” and you can download the CSV file.
As you continue to work through this process, it’s important to understand how data management and security roles work within Dataverse for Teams. Dataverse for Teams uses “role-based security” to bundle a collection of privileges based on whatever configuration makes the most sense for your organization.
You can associate security roles with individual users, specific Dataverse teams, or business units. If you associate specific security permissions with a business unit, every user within that unit will have the same permissions.
In other words, be careful about who has access to what data in Dataverse for Teams. Yes, you want to make critical information available anywhere, at any time, but you want to maintain security to do it. Only the people who expressly need certain data to do their jobs should have access to it—end of story.
Within the Dataverse for Teams environment, Power Apps can create and manage apps for associated teams. There are a few main types of apps available:
If you want to build an app, select the “Create an App” option to go to the Power Apps studio. App templates are available by default, so you can use them as a starting point and customize them depending on your app’s needs.
From the “Home” screen, you’ll see additional sample app templates and recent apps edited inside the Power App Studio. You can also select the “Build” hub for more information about environments, apps built by a particular team in the past, and currently installed apps.
The Power Automate feature within Dataverse for Teams is billed as “automation made simple.” Its purpose is to let users easily add automation to the apps built within Dataverse for Teams, saving them a significant amount of time that can be better used elsewhere.
Thanks to the easy-to-use graphical user interface, Power Automate makes creating custom automation straightforward.
From the “Build” tab in Power Apps, select the option labeled “Flow.” Here, you can select the type of flow you want to create. You can pick from instant, scheduled, and automated.
You’ll then be able to specify everything about your automation, including the schedule, the name, the trigger, and more. For example, the trigger can occur when an item is created in a specific app like SharePoint or when a file is added to OneDrive for Business.
Customizing and managing your flows is equally straightforward. At any point, you can return to the “Build” tab and see a list of the automations that have already been created. Select the one you want to manage or change and choose “Edit.” You’ll be able to change the trigger and other conditions for the automation as needed.
Another important topic to touch on within Dataverse for Teams is Power Virtual Agents. These are GUI solutions that require absolutely no coding knowledge. In essence, they’re a way for anyone on your team to A) create a rich, conversational chatbot that B) can then be integrated within the remainder of the Teams platform.
To start building bots using data from Dataverse, select the option labeled “Create a New PVA” from the Dataverse section of your account. Choose “Create a New Bot” and then follow the screens to define your topics and dialogues as necessary. You can also configure triggers and actions, test your bot, and more.
Once you create your bot, navigate to the Power Virtual Agents portal and select the “Publish” option. This will allow other users in Teams to interact with it (if you choose).
These types of chatbots can be used for a wide range of different purposes. They can help streamline everyday tasks for IT administrators, business analysts, and everyone in between. They can also assist with skills related to app development itself.
Regarding data governance, it’s important to note that Dataverse for Teams honors all existing data governance paradigms as dictated by the Microsoft Power Platform. You can enable access controls or make any other changes that you deem necessary through the Microsoft Teams admin center. Still, the Power Platform admin center will allow you to dive even deeper.
For example, you’ll be able to monitor dedicated capacity usage through the Power Platform admin center. Maintaining this level of visibility is essential, as transparency is a critical component of any data governance program.
Microsoft recommends using a reactive approach to governance workflows and monitoring abilities in Dataverse for Teams. This would mean that when a team owner wants to make a change, they have to provide a business justification. Administrators can then review that justification before making a decision.
Microsoft Teams admin center controls give you the ability to handle things like:
These all align with the widely accepted best practices of data governance within this context. You should always know who can create and access Teams, specifically, who has access to Dataverse for Teams environments. You should be able to manage third-party app availability. If you delete or archive content, you need to know exactly what happens.
Wherever possible, leverage automation to make data governance as easy as possible. That way, you can spend less time worrying about whether the rules are set up correctly and more time enjoying the peace of mind that your needs are being met.
Since Dataverse for Teams is poised to become an integral part of your daily business operations, it’s essential to be aware of upcoming features and development enhancements.
At the end of 2023, Microsoft made its short-term roadmap public:
As mentioned, while all the features above are currently in public preview, some have yet to announce dates for general availability.
Ready to enhance your data management strategy? Contact IT Solutions today to discover how we can help you implement and manage Microsoft Dataverse for Teams to drive your business forward. If you’re a client and would like to discuss this further, please reach out to your Strategic Advisor.
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