# The Common Data Model

## Common Data Model vs. Common Data Service

The **Common Data Model** is essentially the **template in which entities are created using** in the Common Data Services instances (or a CDS database). Basically whenever you create a standard entity, it follows the guidelines that the Common Data Model has laid out. The Common Data Model therefore is a logical design that includes open-source, standard and extendable entities and relationships that have been **developed by Microsoft and shared under the Open Data Initiative**.

## The Open Data Initiative

Basically, this is an industry-wide movement that has helped Microsoft to standard how entities are created in the Common Data Service. It is **because of the Open Data Initiative, that the Open Data Model template was designed and published**. The purpose of the initiative is to enrich your data and bring together it in such a way that it is simple to manage and you can easily build on top of your data and infuse intelligence into your applications. For the Open Data Initiative, Microsoft partnered up with SAP and Adobe.

{% embed url="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/open-data-initiative" %}

## The Common Data Service structure + benefits of this

As mentioned previously, the **structure of the Common Data Service is based on the Common Data Model** - where each instance has pre-defined entities built using the Common Data Model (following the schema of the CDM). What this means is that it is now **much simpler to integrate solutions that follow the Common Data Model schema** because there is a standard that has brought consistency through all the datasets.&#x20;

