3 Tips for Efficiently Managing Your Microsoft Power Platform

Microsoft’s Power Platform is an incredibly powerful tool.  When implemented correctly, the Power Platform can automate, or at least simplify, many of your business processes.  Below are three tips to help ensure you implement the Power Platform in an optimal way:

 #1 Develop a Strategy and Vision for your Delivery Model

By developing and identifying your delivery models (or system of delivery), ideally prior to implementation, you’ll be have the foundation laid for a sensible, clean application architecture that everyone from your developers to your end users can understand. To begin, you’ll want to analyze your teams and determine which model fits best for your organization, or if already in place, determine if your models are working well. Some things to consider when determining the right delivery model  for you are type of application delivery, lifetime of applications, build time of applications, and required IT engagement.

Here is a brief description of the four different delivery models typically utilized within the Power Platform:

1. Centralized. A Product Owner is assigned to each of the separate tools that make up the Power Platform (i.e., Power Apps, Power Automate, etc.). The Product Owners then delegate and approve tasks. This model centralizes decision making and provides clear leadership to people within the organization, but requires developers to specialize within certain tools within the Power Platform.
2. Decentralized. This model incorporates team members who deliver apps and solutions within organizational guidelines, but allows them to work on multiple different tools or projects at once. This model allows developers to gain several areas of expertise and work on various tools or projects , but may lack the clear direction or leadership the Centralized model provides.
3. Matrix. combination of Centralized and Decentralized models. With a matrix model, you have trained Power Platform leaders, and additionally have specialized leaders within each platform to train local teams within each area of the Power Platform to provide and prepare for more potential cross-over between tools in the future
4. BizDevOps. This model operates based on IT’s support and how quickly they can work with the apps created. App makers and IT work in a virtuous organized loop.

#2 Establish Data Loss Prevention Policies

Data loss prevention (DLP) policies can act as guardrails to help keep users safe from accidentally exposing data. Because data is so important to every business, it is crucial to keep the data in the right place, secure, and accessible to only the right people. The tools that fall under the Power Platform take this data and use apps and automation to provide powerful data insights for your business. To ensure the proper use of this data, you need to establish data loss prevention policies within your Power Platform.

There are three different types of DLP policies: Business, Non-Business, and Blocked. The reason for categorizing your data into these three data groups is to ensure data flows correctly within each group. You don’t want your data connectors to communicate with the wrong groups, so enabling DLP will prevent data loss.

In addition, your business should also be aware of the two different scopes these DLP policies can belong to: Environment and Tenant. Environment DLP policies only apply to that specific environment and tenant DLP policies can apply to all environments in that tenant. Both can have multiple DLP policies applied, you just want to be aware of your organization’s design and technology stack, along with the security principles outlined.

By rolling out clear DLP policies within your organization, data security will be improved and easy to understand. Data flowing across platforms will be correct and seamless, and your technical users will be able to easily access and identify data, and what  platforms it is connected to.

#3 Identify Microsoft Power Platform Environments

Environments are the container which apps and flows run in. Because flows can be created in various environments, knowing which is being used for what is crucial to the successful creation of any app or automation within Power Platform. Communicating among teams which environments are for testing or production, will clarify flows and certain data repositories. This will help reduce user error and lead to quicker app development, and higher customer success.

It is also important for organizations to choose which region they want their environment to reside in. They should choose environments closer to the majority of their users, and be careful to meet the compliance requirements for that particular country to limit future restrictions that could prevent implementations from running smoothly.

Improving Management Microsoft’s Power Platform

By starting from the inside-out, knowing how to best manage your Power Platform and its functionalities can greatly limit pitfalls across your technical team. Identifying how your teams are working, protecting data, organizing environments properly, and more, leads to getting the most out of your Power Platform.

Because JourneyTEAM has extensive training with Power Platform and its sub tools, our developers can help you identify and build out solutions to simplify and automate your business processes. Contact a solutions specialist today to learn more about the Power Platform and how it can better your business.

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