How Is Business Connectivity Services Different From the Business Data Catalog?

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Applies to: SharePoint Server 2010

Business Data Catalog (BDC) entities, Web Parts, and Business Data list columns in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 were designed to provide a read-only window into external systems. Microsoft Business Connectivity Services (BCS) provides much deeper integration of external data directly into the SharePoint and Office user interface with full read/write capability. External content types provide a superset of entity capabilities by enabling solution designers to describe both the structure of the external system and how that data should behave within SharePoint applications and Office applications. When using Business Connectivity Services, users do not have to understand where data comes from. They can view and interact with it in a simple and consistent way across client and server applications.

To learn about what Business Connectivity Services offers, see Business Connectivity Services Benefits.