Best Practices for Power Platform Development: Building Resilient and Scalable Solutions

Erik Leaver

The Microsoft Power Platform empowers organizations to automate workflows, build apps, and analyze data with minimal coding. However, as adoption grows within your organization, so does the need for governance and sustainable practices. Below are key strategies to ensure your Power Platform solutions remain secure, maintainable, and future-proof. 

1. Sharing and Role-Based Accounts  

One of the most overlooked risks in Power Platform development is orphaned Power Automate flows and Power BI failed refreshes. These connections are often tied to individual user accounts that become unmanageable when that person leaves the organization. To avoid this: 

• Add Co-Owners: Use Power Automate’s sharing feature to add multiple co-owners or utilize SharePoint lists to designate co-owners. Power BI .pbix files and data sets should be stored in shared locations such as SharePoint. Power BI Workspaces should have at least two administrators, or be tied to a security group. These strategies provide redundancy and prevents disruptions during staff turnover. 
• Create a Role-Based Account: Alternatively, assign a dedicated, licensed Power Platform account as the primary owner of critical Power Automate flows. This ensures continuity and simplifies credential management. Tools such as Microsoft Entra or BitWarden can help with MFA requests for role-based accounts.  

Without proactive ownership planning, orphaned flows can lead to broken processes and downtime. A role-based approach reduces these risks.  

2. Create a Governance Strategy 

A governance strategy ensures that policies, standards, and best practices are applied uniformly across the organization and provide the baseline for smooth transitions. Microsoft’s Automation Center of Excellence Strategy provides a comprehensive framework. Basic principles include:  

• Centralize Governance: Maintain a list of all flows, reports, and apps along with their owners in a shared repository or dashboard for visibility and compliance. 
• Document Connections: Keep track of embedded connections used in your flows to avoid surprises during transitions. 
• Schedule Audits: Schedule quarterly reviews to assess usage, confirm ownership, and update permissions as roles change. It’s also best practice to check if recent product updates have made any existing flows, reports, or apps unnecessary.   

This approach not only mitigates risk but also fosters a culture of shared responsibility and transparency within your organization.  

3. Utilize Developer Environments for Testing 

Using test environments is critical in Power Platform development as they provide a controlled space to validate changes before they impact live systems. Blackbaud offers dedicated test environments that can be populated with your own sample data for an additional fee.  

• Blackbaud SKY Developer Cohort: For organizations without a separate test environment, the SKY Developer Cohort environments provide a free and safe testing environment using shared sample data.  
• Microsoft Power Platform Developer Plan: Sign up for the free Power Apps Developer Plan to create a personal sandbox for building and testing your flows. Organizations with multiple developers should consider having their IT department create a separate developer environment to encourage collaboration and centralization. 
• Naming Conventions: Apply clear naming patterns for your flows to avoid confusion. Be sure to note in your flow which environment you are connecting to (test or production) as it is difficult to determine the environment once a connection is created. 

This strategy ensures a safe place for testing and allows developers to easily distinguish between flows connected to test environments and those in production. 

By implementing role-based accounts, sharing flows strategically, and creating dedicated environments for development and testing, organizations can build Power Platform solutions that are secure, scalable, and resilient to change. These best practices not only reduce risk but also empower teams to innovate confidently.