MS-900 Describe Microsoft 365 apps and services Practice Question
A sales team wants to build a custom inventory tracking application with minimal code. They need a cloud-based database that can securely store structured data and integrate with the low-code app builder. Which Microsoft 365 service should they use as the database backend?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse Microsoft Lists (a simple list tool) with a proper database backend, or mistakenly think Power Apps or Power Automate can serve as data storage, when in fact they are application and automation layers that require a separate data source like Dataverse.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Microsoft Dataverse
Microsoft Dataverse is the correct choice because it provides a scalable, cloud-based relational database that securely stores structured data and integrates natively with Power Apps, the low-code app builder. Unlike simpler list-based storage, Dataverse supports rich data types, relationships, business logic, and role-based security, making it ideal for custom inventory tracking applications built with minimal code.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Microsoft Lists
Why it's wrong here
Microsoft Lists is a SharePoint-based list app for lightweight tracking tasks, but it treats data as flat rows in a single table with limited lookup capabilities. It cannot enforce relationships between inventory items and related entities like suppliers or orders, lacks granular security like column-level permissions, and offers only basic validation, making it unsuited as the database layer for a custom business app.
- ✗
Power Apps
Why it's wrong here
Power Apps is the low-code platform for building the custom application's user interface, business logic, and connectivity, not a storage service. While it can connect to various data sources, it does not persist data itself; the underlying data must reside in a repository such as Dataverse, SharePoint, or SQL. Therefore, selecting Power Apps as the data backend would leave inventory records with no durable, structured storage.
- ✓
Microsoft Dataverse
Why this is correct
Microsoft Dataverse is the correct choice because it is a fully managed, low-code data platform that provides relational tables, rich metadata, role-based security, and built-in auditing for structured business data. It is tightly integrated with Power Apps and the Power Platform, enabling the sales team to model inventory items, relationships, and business rules without writing custom code, all within a scalable, secure cloud database.
- ✗
Power Automate
Why it's wrong here
Power Automate is a cloud-based workflow automation service that orchestrates actions across applications, such as sending approval requests, posting messages, or updating records when inventory thresholds are crossed. It does not provide any data persistence capabilities; it only reads from and writes to existing data sources like Dataverse. Thus, it cannot serve as the inventory tracking repository, because there would be no store for inventory records themselves.
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Related to this question
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Cloud Service Types for MS-900
Key term
Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 is a subscription-based cloud service from Microsoft that combines productivity tools like Office apps with security, device management, and online storage.
Key term
Power Apps
Power Apps is a low-code platform from Microsoft that allows users to build custom business applications without needing traditional programming skills.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This MS-900 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the MS-900 exam.