Governance and Environment Optimization at Scale
Cleaning up a messy tenant and handing the internal team an operating model they could run themselves
The Challenge
An automotive manufacturer had Power Platform in use across the organization. People were building apps and flows. The problem was there was no playbook for managing it. Environments were messy. There was no shared view of what existed or how to add new solutions safely. A small team had to administer a very large tenant and they were flying blind.
They needed a roadmap. They needed to migrate existing apps into standardized environments. They needed governance so they could say yes to innovation without saying yes to risk. And they needed their internal team to own it going forward, not depend on consultants forever.
The Approach
We started with an assessment. Using the Center of Excellence (CoE) Starter Kit, we mapped what was out there: apps, flows, connections, environments. From there we built a prioritized roadmap with the business. What mattered most? What could wait?
Next we migrated applications into standardized, dedicated environments. We configured default and dedicated environments with appropriate controls so makers knew where to build and how. We implemented governance policies for Teams environments using Dataverse and Copilot Studio where it made sense.
The last piece was handoff. We defined an operating model covering data protection, security, governance, support, data integration, monitoring, and licensing. We put in place an application lifecycle management (ALM) strategy so they had a repeatable way to ship. Then we ran knowledge transfer sessions so the internal team could run it themselves.
- Assessment and roadmap. Current state analysis with CoE Starter Kit, stakeholder alignment
- Environment optimization. Standardized dedicated and default environments, migration support
- Governance framework. Policies for environments, security, Dataverse, Copilot Studio
- Operating model and knowledge transfer. Defined processes, ALM strategy, KT sessions
The Results
Outcome: Clean, secure Power Platform ecosystem; internal team owns governance; repeatable ALM process for new solutions.
What They Got
- A clean, secure, standardized Power Platform ecosystem
- Clear strategies for environment management, security, and application lifecycle
- An internal team equipped to run the platform long term instead of depending on consultants
- A repeatable way to add new solutions without recreating process each time
Technologies Used
Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI, Copilot Studio (formerly Power Virtual Agents), Dataverse. Center of Excellence (CoE) Toolkit for assessment and ongoing governance. Dedicated and default environment strategy. ALM processes.