Challenge Project: Creating Microsoft Power Platform Solutions

The Microsoft Power Platform has revolutionized how organizations build business applications, automate workflows, analyze data, and engage with customers. For business analysts and functional consultants, mastering the Power Platform is not just about technical skills—it’s about solving real-world problems for customers.

This challenge project focuses on creating Microsoft Power Platform solutions by analyzing customer needs, evaluating current technology, and architecting solutions using a structured planning workbook. It’s designed for intermediate-level professionals who want to demonstrate their ability to deliver value through discovery, planning, and solution design.

In this article, we’ll explore the learning objectives, methodology, and best practices for completing this challenge project. By the end, you’ll have a clear roadmap for building Power Platform solutions that align with customer needs and industry standards.

Learning Objectives

In this challenge project, you will demonstrate your ability to:

• Choose a customer based on a provided industry
• Get to know the customer and understand their business processes
• Evaluate the current state of technology within the organization
• Compare current capabilities to stated needs
• Perform discovery and planning exercises using structured worksheets
• Complete the project workbook with detailed solution architecture

These objectives ensure that you not only design solutions but also align them with business goals and industry requirements.

Step 1: Choose a Customer Based on Industry

The first step in the challenge project is to select a customer from a provided industry. This choice sets the context for your solution design.

Example Industries:

• Manufacturing: Focus on production efficiency, asset management, and predictive maintenance.
• Retail: Emphasize customer engagement, inventory management, and personalized marketing.
• Healthcare: Prioritize patient data management, compliance, and workflow automation.
• Finance: Address regulatory compliance, reporting, and customer service automation.

Best Practice:

Choose an industry you are familiar with or one that aligns with your career goals. This will make it easier to understand customer challenges and propose relevant solutions.

Step 2: Get to Know the Customer

Once you’ve chosen an industry, the next step is to understand the customer’s business model, processes, and pain points.

Key Activities:

• Conduct stakeholder interviews.
• Review existing documentation and workflows.
• Identify critical business processes.
• Understand customer goals and KPIs.

Tools:

• Microsoft Teams for collaboration.
• Power BI for analyzing existing data.
• Excel planning sheets for documenting findings.

Example:

For a manufacturing customer, you might discover that their biggest challenge is unplanned downtime due to equipment failures. This insight will guide your solution design.

Step 3: Evaluate the Current State of Technology

Before proposing new solutions, you must evaluate the customer’s existing technology landscape.

Areas to Assess:

• Applications: What ERP, CRM, or custom apps are currently in use?
• Data Sources: Where is data stored (SQL, SharePoint, Excel, cloud services)?
• Automation: Are workflows manual or automated?
• Analytics: How does the customer measure performance?

Example:

A retail customer may rely heavily on Excel spreadsheets for inventory management, leading to inefficiencies and errors.

Step 4: Compare Current Capabilities to Stated Needs

After evaluating the current state, compare it to the customer’s stated needs. This gap analysis helps identify opportunities for Power Platform solutions.

Example Gaps:

• Manual Processes → Power Automate workflows
• Disconnected Data → Dataverse integration
• Limited Reporting → Power BI dashboards
• Customer Engagement → Power Apps portals

Deliverable:

Document the gaps in the planning workbook, highlighting areas where Power Platform can add value.

Step 5: Perform Discovery and Planning Exercises

Discovery and planning are critical to designing effective solutions.

Discovery Activities:

• Map business processes.
• Identify pain points and inefficiencies.
• Gather requirements from stakeholders.

Planning Activities:

• Define solution scope.
• Prioritize features based on business impact.
• Create a roadmap for implementation.

Tools:

• Visio or PowerPoint for process mapping.
• Excel workbook for documenting requirements.
• Power Platform Solution Architect templates for planning.

Step 6: Complete the Project Workbook

The final step is to complete the project workbook, which serves as the blueprint for your solution.

Workbook Sections:

1. Customer Profile: Industry, size, key challenges.
2. Current State Analysis: Applications, data sources, workflows.
3. Gap Analysis: Comparison of current vs. desired state.
4. Solution Design: Proposed Power Platform components.
5. Implementation Plan: Timeline, resources, milestones.
6. KPIs and Success Metrics: How success will be measured.

Example Solution Architecture

Let’s consider a manufacturing customer struggling with equipment downtime.

Proposed Solution:

• Power Apps: Mobile app for technicians to log maintenance requests.
• Power Automate: Automated workflows to generate work orders.
• Dataverse: Centralized data storage for assets and maintenance history.
• Power BI: Dashboard to monitor equipment performance and downtime trends.
• AI Builder: Predictive maintenance using machine learning models.

Benefits:

• Reduced downtime.
• Improved technician productivity.
• Data-driven decision-making.
• Enhanced customer satisfaction.

Best Practices for Power Platform Solutions

1. Start Small: Begin with a pilot project before scaling.
2. Engage Stakeholders: Involve business users in discovery and design.
3. Leverage Templates: Use Microsoft-provided templates to accelerate development.
4. Ensure Governance: Establish guardrails to prevent shadow IT.
5. Focus on Value: Align solutions with business outcomes, not just technical features.

Advanced Tips

• Integrate with Dynamics 365: Extend ERP and CRM capabilities.
• Use AI Builder: Add intelligence to apps and workflows.
• Enable Citizen Development: Empower employees to build apps with guardrails.
• Monitor with Power BI: Track KPIs and performance in real time.
• Automate Compliance: Use Power Automate to enforce policies.

Challenges and Solutions

Challenge 1: User Adoption

Solution: Provide training, support, and intuitive user interfaces.

Challenge 2: Data Integration

Solution: Use Dataverse and connectors to unify data sources.

Challenge 3: Governance

Solution: Establish a Center of Excellence for Power Platform.