Power Apps Portals Extend Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM

A great tool available to Microsoft Dynamics 365/CRM users is the Power Apps Portals. Power Apps Portals can extend and customize the range of your Dynamics 365 solution.

PowerApps Portals allow organizations to create websites that can be shared with

users external to your organization either anonymously or through the login provider of their choice, such as LinkedIn, Microsoft Account, or other commercial login providers.

As long as those portals are located in the same environment as your licensed Dynamics 365 application, they are covered by your Dynamics 365 Enterprise license.

What can you do with a Power Apps Portal?

A Power Apps Portal lets external users such as vendors or customers interact with selective Dynamics 365 data and capabilities through responsive websites. For instance, you might create a self-service portal that enables customers to ask for help, check on their request status, or gain access to appropriate information.

What are some Portals offered by Microsoft?

There are five templates from which to choose when enabling a Power Apps Portal inside your Dynamics 365 environment:

1. The Customer Self-Service Portal lets customers help themselves to information, support tools, case status progress, etc. It also allows customers to leave valuable feedback.
2. The Partner Portal: gives resellers, distributors, suppliers, and partners up-to-date access to all allowable shared activities.
3. The Employee Self-Service Portal gives employees an easy way to perform self-service tasks and obtain information from a common data source.
4. The Community Portal: Allows interaction between customers and your industry’s experts. Customers can interact with one another to increase knowledge, build forums, and provide ratings and feedback.
5. The Portal from blank lets you build a website for sharing information with internal and external participants. There are samples and instructions to help you get started.

Can Portals be modified?

Yes! Each portal template consists of several configurable settings to change the style and modify the site’s visual elements.  Define your theme with background, text color, and various layouts.

Where will my data be kept?

Your portal will be safely kept and maintained within the Common Data Service (CDS), and integrated with your Dynamics 365 environment, benefiting from Dynamics 365’s security.

What is the cost involved in provisioning a Power Apps Portal?

The cost depends on the amount of CDS (Common Data Storage) available. Portals connected to a Dynamics 365 Enterprise app (e.g., Sales or Customer Service) incur no licensing cost are if at least 1 GB of CDS Database capacity is available.

What is the cost if a Dynamics 365 Enterprise customer has less than 1 GB of available CDS

 Database capacity?

If the customer exceeds the free storage of 10 GB database, 20 GB File, or 2 GB Log capacity, additional storage can be purchased as follows:

• CDS Database Capacity (1GB) $40/month
• CDS File Capacity (1GB) $2/month
• CDS Log Capacity (1GB) $10/month

Need to verify your storage capacity?

1. Sign in to the Power Platform admin center and select an environment.
2. Select Resources > Capacity.
3. View the data on the Summary page.

There is no cost for internal users with a full Dynamics 365 Enterprise license to access a Power Apps Portal. There are costs associated with external users accessing a Power Apps Portal. Portals are licensed at a monthly rate based on the user’s anticipated login volume. Logins do not accumulate as individual assets that carry forward to the next month. Multiple logins during a 24-hour period will be counted as a single login.

Need assistance extending your Dynamics 365 application?

Our CRM team is here to support you! Contact our experts at BroadPoint for a free consultation.

By BroadPoint, www.broadpoint.net