PowerApps Governance White Paper

The Best Microsoft PowerApps Governance White Paper

Considering PowerApps governance before starting your digital transformation journey is vital because there is a lot to consider.

PowerApps is a technology that is provided within Microsoft 365. It will deliver cost effective digital transformation solutions for your organisation that you can see on our top 10 examples of PowerApps article.

Don’t jump straight into using PowerApps. You will quickly find it becomes a runaway train of issues that could have been mitigated with a PowerApps strategy.

Our white paper aims to impart some key knowledge, best practices, and general guidance. This is delivered from our Lead Power Platform specialist to help you build your own PowerApps strategy.

Valto are experts in the Modern Workplace and help companies create their own strategy with a limitless offering of PowerApps Services. We then assist with the full roll out including Power App custom development, automation, training, adoption and PowerApps specialist support.

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What is Power Platform Governance?

Power Platform governance is the framework that businesses use to manage how PowerApps, Power Automate, and other Microsoft Power Platform tools are used across the organisation. 

The platform is designed to give teams ways of building cost-effective, low-code solutions without burdening themselves with unnecessary security or compliance risks.

The appeal of Power Platform is that it allows teams to solve problems quickly with easy-to-create solutions. The challenge, however, is that without a clear governance model in place, this flexibility can lead to issues such as duplicated apps or inconsistent standards from one solution to another.

When all the problems compound, it’s easy to see how this platform can become harder to manage and reduce confidence in the solutions being built.

A strong Power Platform governance framework helps organisations set clear rules around:

• Who can create apps
• Where they should be built
• How can data from them be used
• The standards that must be followed

Over time, these rules support better Power Platform administration by giving those in charge greater visibility.

Managed vs Unmanaged Environments in Power Platform

A key decision when building Power Platform Governance models is to decide how environments are structured and managed. Microsoft now provides managed environments as a way of introducing greater visibility across the platform. 

Managed environments in Power Platforms not only give administrators greater oversight but also allow for greater control over how apps and flows are created amongst teams. This feature makes it particularly useful for organisations looking to scale Power Platform adoption while still maintaining control.

Unmanaged environments, however, offer greater flexibility for users and are often enjoyed in experimentation or early-stage development. But without the guardrails found in managed environments, they can create significant headaches for administrators.

Ultimately, it’s not really about picking one environment over the other. In reality, most organisations benefit from a combination of both and defining how each should be used is a key part of any Power Platform environment strategy.

Building a Power Platform Environment Strategy

A well-defined Power Platform environment strategy is vital for maintaining control as adoption grows. Organisations soon find themselves managing a large number of vague, purposeless environments without one.

An effective environment strategy usually includes a clear separation between development, testing, and production environments. Separating in this way ensures business-critical applications remain stable.

It should also define how environments are created and who has access to them post-launch. Power Platform tenant settings play a vital role here, giving organisations the ability to apply consistent rules around data usage and app creation across an entire platform.

Another consideration is environment routing, which determines where new apps and solutions should be built so as to avoid issues around duplication or solutions being made in the wrong environment. By guiding users towards the right structure, organisations can enjoy a degree of control without hindering innovation among teams.

Microsoft Power Platform Security Best Practices

Security is a critical component of any Power Platform governance model. As more business processes and data are handled through Power Apps and Power Automate, it becomes increasingly important to ensure the right controls are in place.

A very effective way to manage this is through data loss prevention (DLP) policies, which allow organisations to control how data can be shared between connectors. This level of control reduces the risk of sensitive information being exposed.

Role-based access is another key consideration for organisations that can use it to clearly define who can create, edit, and share apps. This helps to reduce the risk of unauthorised changes and maintain greater oversight of their solutions. 

Monitoring and auditing also form part of the approach. Having visibility over how the platform is being used makes it easier to identify potential risks and ensure individuals are following governance policies.

PowerApps Services from Valto

Building a PowerApps strategy is not always easy because there can be some common pitfalls. Valto supports organisations with the design and implementation of a tailored Power Platform governance framework, which includes clear models and structured managed environments.

We also assist with configuring tenant settings and implementing security best practices that keep your platform scalable and aligned with your wider digital transformation goals.

If you have any questions, get in touch as we offer a free consultation to discuss your requirements.

You can learn more about the services and products we offer with our Expert PowerApps & Flow Developers. We offer a range of services, including support, training, and consultancy for PowerApps and Power Automate.

If you’re looking for more information on new PowerApps features, you should check out our 10 Takeaways from Microsoft Business Applications Summit.

Microsoft licenses are subject to change. You can view the latest Power Apps license cost here.