u/messiteamo2

Coming from an Industrial Management background, I’m fed up with the "Excel-as-a-database" nightmare. I just discovered Dataverse and it feels like the "missing link" for data integrity.

In 2026, with Copilots and AI Agents everywhere, can we even trust AI to reason over business data without the structure Dataverse provides? Is it worth the jump for mid-sized industrial/admin workflows, or is SharePoint still "good enough"?

Would love to hear from those who made the pivot. Is it a career-defining move or overkill?

Hi guys!

I’m currently consulting for a Calibration Laboratory that has hit a massive operational ceiling. I’d love to get some "sanity check" feedback from the experts here on the architecture I’m proposing.

Current Situation:

• Workflow: High reliance on Excel files with heavy macros. These often break or sync poorly in the cloud (OneDrive/O365).
• Data Silos: No integration between their ERP (Flexus) and the manual processing sheets. This leads to data duplication and typing errors.
• The Pain Point: A 30-day lead time for issuing certificates due to manual review bottlenecks.
• CRITICAL CONSTRAINT: To maintain ISO/IEC 17025 audit compliance, they MUST keep their validated Excel sheets for the actual calculation/processing phase.

The Goal: Automate certificate issuance, create real-time internal KPIs (backlog, lead time, re-work rates), and eventually build a client-facing portal.

Proposed 3-Layer Architecture:

1. Ingestion: Keep the audited Excel sheets but use Power Automate (triggered on file update) to "push" the final results into a central database.
2. Storage (SSOT): Use Microsoft Dataverse. Since they already have M365 Business licenses, it seems like the most seamless "low-code" relational database.
3. Visualization: Power BI connected to Dataverse via DirectQuery to provide the owner with real-time dashboards.

My Questions for the Community:

1. Dataverse vs. SQL Azure: For a volume of ~500-1000 new records per month, is Dataverse the right move, or should I go straight to SQL for better long-term scalability?
2. DirectQuery Performance: How is the performance of DirectQuery with Dataverse lately? The owner wants "real-time" feel, but I’m worried about latency as the model grows.
3. The "Excel-to-Dataverse" Sync: Is Power Automate reliable enough for this volume in a lab environment, or should I look into Power Apps as a front-end for data entry while keeping the Excel logic in the background?
4. Client Portal: Any recommendations for a secure, low-cost way to show Dataverse data to external clients? (Thinking Power Pages, but I'm open to alternatives).

Looking forward to your critical thoughts. Thanks!