Fundamentals of Microsoft Dataverse For Teams (Project Oakdale) with Real Time Example

We have been hearing so many new terminologies and features from the last couple of years to build a low code no code app like Power Platform, Common Data Service, Common Data Model, and much more. 

And recently, there is one more new terminology/feature that Microsoft has introduced called Project Oakdale.

Now first let\’s understand, why Microsoft has come with this new concept/feature, what is the purpose of it, and who is the target audience who supposed to use this feature?

So basically, Project Oakdale (Introduced in Sep 2020) is a built-in, low-code data platform for Microsoft Teams that empowers users to build custom apps, bots, and flows in Teams by using Power Apps, Power Virtual Agents, and Power Automate. 

Project Oakdale built on top of Common Data Service provides relational data storage, rich data types, enterprise-grade governance, and one-click solution deployment to the Teams app store

Those who already know about the Common Data Service. Project Oakdale is nothing but a Subset of Common Data Service, which allows all Team users and business leaders to quickly build an app and chatbot within the Microsoft Teams to fulfill their business needs.

What are the components of Microsoft Dataverse For Teams?

Microsoft Project Oakdale provides the following components/features:

• PowerApps – to create an app for your team members/guest users
• Environment Variables – to hold the value or pass the value between the app screens.
• Power Automate – for task automation and writing business logic in your app
• Power Virtual Agent – to build a chatbot for your team
• Table (entity) – to store the data
• Columns (field) – to create fields (with basic data types same like CDS)
• Relationship – to manage relationships (1:N, N:1) between tables

It\’s true, earlier we also had an option to create an app and publish it to the team. However, that option was made available for App Developer and we need to use PowerApps Studio in order to design the app and then again had to configure few settings in Microsoft Teams to access the app. There was a lot of switch between the applications and teams user has to navigate away from teams in order to create a simple app. So, there was no direct connection or link between Microsoft Teams and PowerApps, Power Automate, and Power Virtual Agent.

Using Project Oakdale, Team users don\’t need to switch between applications or navigate away from the Microsoft Teams Application in order to create an app. Users can directly create an app and chatbot within Teams itself along with writing business logic using Power Automate.

So Project Oakdale is not separate from Power Platform, it\’s just an additional layer provided by Microsoft on top of Power Platform and Common Data Service with some limited capabilities, that is only required for any Team Users/Business People. For Pro developers or advanced features, it is still recommended to use Common Data Service only or upgrade Project Oakdale to Common Data Service.

Architecture of Microsoft Dataverse For Teams?

Who should use Microsoft Dataverse For Teams?

• Project Oakdale capabilities will be available as part of select Microsoft 365 subscriptions. See the Microsoft 365 licensing.

• Teams can invite guests who can access the apps, bots, flows, and data in the Teams Project Oakdale database within their team. However, they won\’t be allowed to install, make, or edit apps. They can only discover and run apps in their team.

• Apps created in Teams that use Project Oakdale will only be accessible in Teams and Teams Mobile, regardless of the user\’s license.

• For any standalone Power Apps or Power Automate usage, which includes API access as well, the Project Oakdale schema will need to be promoted to Common Data Service.

• No direct API access or pro developer experience will be provided, and only Power Apps embedded within the Teams client will be able to access the runtime.

• Tenant owners and members will be allowed to create their first app template, create a blank table app for the team, or a bot.

• Team owners will be allowed to delete a team associated with a Project Oakdale environment, which will trigger the deletion of that environment.

For users to access Project Oakdale environment apps, bots, and data, they must:

1. Be enabled in Azure Active Directory.
2. Have an active Microsoft 365 license with a plan that includes Project \”Oakdale.\”
3. Be a member of the environment\’s security group.

1. In the Power Platform admin center, select Environments on the left pane, and then select a Project Oakdale environment.
2. Select Settings.
3. Select Users + permissions, and then select Users

Teams govern who can create and join a Team.

In the public preview, the environment is created when a team is created, and when an owner or member tries to create an application in it.

It is in public preview, currently when a Project Oakdale environment is deleted when the associated Team is deleted.

Yes. Accessing premium connectors in a specific Project Oakdale environment requires users in that environment to be licensed accordingly.

Example: In a Project Oakdale environment, accessing premium connectors in the context of an app requires all users accessing the app to be licensed by either the Power Apps per app or per user plan depending on the customer scenario.

No. Project Oakdale provides support for approximately 1 million rows per team. Although existing apps and chatbots will continue to work when a Microsoft Project Oakdale environment reaches the per environment limit (2GB), users who want to create a new app, flow, or chatbot in the environment will need to :

Purchase Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power Virtual Agents subscriptions based on their needs and start building their new app, flow, or chatbot in a Common Data Service environment.

Promote the existing Project Oakdale environment to Common Data Service in the Power Platform admin center and, if needed, purchase Power Apps, Power Automate, or Power Virtual Agents subscriptions based on their needs.

To deliver a comprehensive low-code extensibility platform for Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Power Platform capabilities available as part of select Microsoft 365 subscriptions are expanding with the introduction of Project Oakdale.

Project Oakdale is a built-in flexible datastore that provides data storage and a one-click solution for (app/chatbot) deployment in Teams. With the addition of Microsoft Project Oakdale:

Power Apps capabilities seeded in Microsoft 365 licenses are expanding to enable building and deploying custom apps natively within Teams.

Additionally, Power Virtual Agents\’ capabilities are being introduced to Teams. Customers will now be able to build and deploy custom chatbots directly within Teams.

The existing Power Platform functionality available for use in Microsoft 365 more broadly outside of Teams remains otherwise unchanged.

Some of the scenarios where you might want to create an app and chatbot within Microsoft Teams are the following:

1. In an organisation, Someone in the payroll department creates an app and chatbot that helps teammates get tax filing forms and information.
2. The facilities manager creates an app and chatbot that answers the common questions they are receiving about coming back to work after a pandemic.
3. A human resources (HR) employee creates an app and chatbot that can answer questions about vacation balance, time off, and benefits.
4. A member of the finance department creates an app and chatbot that helps their teammates in the finance team to fill out expense reports
5. Create an app and chatbot to submit and track ticket status regarding all type of issue/query/feedback/complaint/escalation etc.
6. Create an Approval App to handle the approval process in your organization like Leave Approval, Quote Approval, Bid Approval, etc