Choosing real-estate software is usually framed as a features question. For the people who have to run it (IT, security, and finance control), the more important question is what platform it sits on, who holds the data, and how it fits your existing governance. REPM Pro is not a standalone SaaS silo. It is a business application built on Microsoft Dataverse and deployed into your own Microsoft tenant. This guide is written for the person who signs off on that decision.
What Dataverse is under REPM
Dataverse is Microsoft's managed data platform inside the Power Platform. It gives every REPM table (properties, projects, DIN 276 cost lines, leases, tenants, listings, leads) a governed schema, a REST API, a security layer, and audit logging out of the box. Because REPM's development cockpit, property management, and listing syndication all live on one Dataverse data model, the same identity, security, and audit rules apply everywhere. There is no separate CRM database and separate accounting database to reconcile.
The security model: roles, fields, and business units
Dataverse security is role-based, not seat-based. A security role is a bundle of privileges (create, read, write, delete, append, assign, share) granted at an access level: user, business unit, parent-child business unit, or the whole organization. You give a caretaker read access to their own buildings, a controller organization-wide read on cost data, and an external broker nothing but the leads assigned to them.
Three mechanisms matter for a real portfolio:
- Business units partition the organization. A property manager in the Munich business unit sees Munich records; a group controller in the parent unit sees everything below. This maps cleanly onto a multi-entity landlord or a developer with separate project companies.
- Field-level security (column security profiles) locks individual columns. Purchase price, investor names, or a tenant's bank details can be hidden from users who can otherwise read the record.
- Teams (owner and access teams) share specific records with a group without widening a whole role.
Auditing and retention
Dataverse auditing records who changed which field, from what value to what value, and when. For German operators this is the difference between a tidy system and an auditable one. Cost approvals, rent changes, and consent logs all carry a change history you did not have to build. Combined with retention discipline, that supports GoBD expectations that bookkeeping-relevant records stay complete, unalterable, and retrievable for their statutory period: traditionally ten years for booking documents, six for business correspondence, with recent legislation shortening some booking vouchers toward eight years. We cover the archiving detail in a separate GoBD guide.
EU data residency and the EU Data Boundary
When REPM Pro is provisioned, the Dataverse environment is created in a geography you choose. For German and EU customers that means an EU region, so property, tenant, and financial data is stored and processed in the EU. Microsoft's EU Data Boundary further commits to keeping core customer data and its processing within EU and EFTA data centres for Microsoft's volume cloud services. Because the environment is yours, residency is a property of your tenant, not a promise on a vendor's brochure.
Open by default: Power BI and the Web API
Your data is never locked inside an application UI. Dataverse exposes a full OData v4 Web API, so any system with an access token can read and write records under the same security rules. Power BI connects natively (including a read-only SQL/TDS endpoint) for portfolio dashboards over live data. That means REPM's own cash flow and financial metrics can be extended with your own Power BI models, and other line-of-business systems can integrate without a proprietary export. Compared with a closed SaaS tool, this openness is the point. See how REPM stacks up on our comparison pages.
Licensing shape
There are two layers. The first is the REPM license (Lite or Pro, priced on our pricing page). The second is the Microsoft Power Apps license each user needs to run a Dataverse app in your tenant, billed by Microsoft. That premium user license starts under twenty euros per user per month on annual terms, with volume discounts at scale. It is a real cost, but it buys you the platform (identity, security, audit, and API), not just a screen.
| IT concern | Closed SaaS tool | REPM on Dataverse in your tenant |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | Vendor login | Your Entra ID, your conditional access and MFA |
| Data location | Wherever the vendor hosts | EU region you choose, in your environment |
| Audit trail | Only if the vendor built one | Native field-level auditing |
| Data access | CSV export | OData Web API plus Power BI |
| Offboarding | Request an export | Data already lives in your tenant |
Why your own tenant matters for governance
Running REPM in your Microsoft tenant means your existing controls apply to real-estate data the same way they apply to email and files. Entra ID conditional access, multi-factor authentication, data loss prevention policies, and your own audit exports all extend over REPM with no new vendor to onboard into your security review. If you ever stop using REPM, the data does not have to be migrated out of someone else's cloud, because it is already in yours. For an IT decision-maker, that is the quiet advantage: fewer moving parts, one identity plane, and a system of record you actually control.
Want to see it against your current stack? Start a free REPM trial at app.repm.cloud, or read the portfolio management overview first.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need my own Microsoft tenant to run REPM Pro?
Yes. REPM Pro is deployed into your organization's Microsoft tenant on Dataverse, so your identity, security, and audit controls apply. REPM Lite is a hosted self-serve trial if you want to evaluate first.
Where is my data stored?
In the Dataverse environment provisioned for you, in the geography you choose. For EU customers that is an EU region, aligned with Microsoft's EU Data Boundary.
Can I connect Power BI or my own systems?
Yes. Dataverse exposes an OData v4 Web API and a read-only SQL endpoint, and Power BI connects natively, all under the same security rules.
What does licensing look like?
Two layers: the REPM license (Lite or Pro) plus a Microsoft Power Apps premium license per user, billed by Microsoft. The Power Apps premium plan starts under twenty euros per user per month on annual terms.