OData Roadmap 2014

Open Data Protocol (OData) is a protocol for Web services that simplifies access to databases and other data sources. Clients use it to discover the format (schema) of the data source to query or update data, allowing the underlying data to change format without a corresponding change in the application. Microsoft has adopted OData in many products, making the protocol a valuable data integration hub for organizations to expose their data for external access and business intelligence (BI) and reporting. However, the protocol is routinely updated, which may require updates to published OData services and clients for them to stay current.

OData Overview

OData is a data access protocol used to query or update data sources without requiring a predefined data schema. Unlike ADO and previous solutions, OData is not a data storage or software solution. It is a set of standards that developers agree to use to expose their data sources in a consistent manner, enabling clients (applications) to access multiple OData services (also called feeds) without modification to address the unique characteristics of the data.