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Power Platform can be a beast. New features are constantly added, and some may even affect compliance.
The weekly Center of Excellence (CoE) review is a weekly session with the explicit goal of measuring if the organization’s goals and strategies are being followed and taking action if deviations occur.
I don’t like having meetings for the sake of having a meeting. I prefer meetings or sessions to be short and concise, with a clear agenda and set goals. This is how I run my CoE review sessions.
Why Should I Conduct Weekly CoE Reviews?
Demonstrating the ongoing value of a given piece of software or app can be challenging before it has been implemented.
However, if you have a structured approach to working with the platform, it becomes easier to report actual facts to relevant stakeholders and garner more support from the organization to adopt the platform.
These are the actual outcomes I have observed from conducting these meetings:
- Identification of potential new projects and shadow IT: Spot opportunities for innovation and address unauthorized IT activities.
- Improved ownership of the platform: Encourage responsible usage and management of the Power Platform.
- Making it more attractive to be a Power Admin: Foster a supportive environment and recognize the efforts of Power Admins.
- Spreading knowledge about the platform: Share insights and best practices across the organization.
- Understanding why governance is in place: Educate stakeholders on the importance of governance and its role in ensuring compliance and security.
- Showing the organization what we are doing: Transparently communicate the CoE’s activities and achievements to the broader organization.
Start By Taking A Step Back
Before diving into the review session strategy, let’s take a few steps back. It can be tempting to shortcut and just focus on tooling, such as the Power Platform CoE Starter Kit, Application Insights, and Purview.
While good tooling is essential, the tool should support the process, not vice versa. If you install the CoE toolkit without clear goals, it will do more harm than good as it’s just additional infrastructure that needs maintenance. So, before selling the CoE, sell the process first. What good is the CoE toolkit if the organization lacks the CoE?
Establish the Center of Excellence
First, establish the Center of Excellence. Will the CoE consist of vendors, internals, citizen developers, etc.? What good are CoE reviews without a CoE?
I don’t want my CoEs to be too big. The purpose is not to create a town hall; that should be covered by an office hour.
In my CoEs, I like to have representatives from the following areas:
- Platform Solution Architect: The person who sets the strategies for how the platform should be used and sold.
- Product Owner: Someone with a finger on the pulse uses the platform on a day-to-day basis and hears direct feedback from the end-users.
- Lead Frontend Developer: A developer who can provide feedback on things that can be optimized, such as ALM processes.
- Lead Backend Developer: An integration developer or consultant who feels the impact of the data consumed by the platform and also sends back.
Set clear goals and expectations
A CoE is worthless without clear goals and expectations.
Metrics could include a 20% greater utilization of Power Platform for end-user apps or 10% less Dataverse storage consumption.
Platform task tracking
A repository of activities must be established, such as tenant hygiene activities (removal of hackathon environments, etc.), ALM, or new solutions (like a dedicated solution for custom connectors).
There is no set format; it depends on how the organization works with DevOps. At a minimum, a planner in Teams should be used.
Also, I like to create a dedicated team group in Microsoft Teams for “Power Admins” to facilitate communication and document sharing for technical topics. In connection to this, adequate ITSM procedures should be followed.
Implement tooling to enable the CoE review
Before a successful CoE review can be conducted, one or more tools need to be implemented in the organization’s tenant.
The CoE Starter Kit is an obvious choice, but the organization should also implement tools like Application Insights.
Additionally, keeping one-dynamics-on-platform in mind, it’s worth implementing ISV solutions for improved security and traceability for applications based on D365 F&O.
An example could be the D365 Admin Toolkit, which contains functionalities that improve role synchronization based on Entra ID groups.
Setting Up the Meeting
All meetings, including the weekly CoE review, should result in tangible outcomes.
The CoE reviews drive the organization’s Power Platform strategy forward. Ideally, the meetings should be structured using the What-Why-How method to ensure clarity and focus.
A well-structured CoE review meeting ensures that all critical aspects are covered efficiently.
Remember: Consistency is key! Set a fixed day and time for the review, and stick to it!
Here is an agenda I like to use:
Hi Center of Excellence,
To maintain proper tenant hygiene, enforce governance strategies, and enable makers, I will be hosting a weekly Power Platform Center of Excellence (CoE) review.
Agenda:
* Platform backlog review
* Information sharing between teams
* CoE Toolkit review:
* New environments
* New makers
* High-priority maintenance activities (e.g., security issues)
* Topic of the week
* Q&A
Topics: A new topic will be introduced each week, based on patterns identified in our platforms.
Examples include:
* Identical custom connectors in separate application environments. Consider creating a central repository of connectors.
* Ownership issues. Vendors creating flows with themselves as owners – why this is an issue and how it should be corrected.
* Application health check automation. Automatically checking if apps hosted in Power Platform are in a healthy state.I have scheduled a 30-minute slot for us, but I doubt we will need the entire time. Please note that this meeting should not take precedence over other meetings or important work commitments.
Conclusion
Conducting regular CoE reviews can be an important part to help alignment with organizational goals and ensuring the effective utilization of the Power Platform. These sessions are not just about compliance and governance but also about fostering innovation, improving platform ownership, and spreading knowledge throughout the organization.
By adopting a structured approach and focusing on tangible outcomes, the CoE review meetings can drive significant value. Setting clear goals, establishing robust processes, and leveraging the right tools are essential steps to ensure the success of these reviews.
Remember, the key to an effective CoE review is consistency, clarity, and a focus on continuous improvement.