Replace shadow IT with governed, business-built apps.
TL;DR
Microsoft Power Platform is the low-code suite that sits across Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and Azure: Power Apps for custom business apps, Power Automate for workflow automation, Copilot Studio for AI agents, and Power Pages for external portals — all on the same Dataverse platform as Dynamics 365. We're a Power Platform consultancy that helps organizations move beyond Excel macros and SharePoint workarounds, govern citizen development properly, and build apps that don't become tomorrow's technical debt.
Built for organizations that...
- Mid-market and enterprise IT teams overwhelmed by app and automation backlog
- Operations leaders running critical processes in Excel, Access, or SharePoint lists
- Dynamics 365 customers extending the platform with custom apps and workflows
- Organizations needing AI agents grounded in real internal data, not generic chatbots
- Companies governing existing citizen development and ending shadow IT sprawl
What Power Platform actually does.
Power Apps (canvas & model-driven)
Canvas apps for tablet/mobile workflows (inspections, audits, dispatch). Model-driven apps for data-heavy operations on Dataverse. Power Pages for external-facing portals.
Power Automate
Cloud flows for cross-system orchestration (DocuSign, SAP, Salesforce, ServiceNow), desktop flows for legacy UI automation (RPA), and approval workflows on Teams.
Copilot Studio
Build AI agents that answer questions over your internal SharePoint, Dataverse, websites, and ERP — deployed in Teams, Microsoft 365 Copilot, web chat, or as APIs.
Dataverse data platform
Enterprise-grade data layer for low-code apps with row-level security, auditing, business rules, and 1,500+ connectors to SaaS and on-premises systems.
Power BI
Self-service analytics and enterprise BI on Power Platform data and beyond — covered in detail under our analytics service line, but native to the suite.
Center of Excellence (CoE)
Governance toolkit deployment — environment strategy, DLP policies, app and flow inventory, maker enablement, and ALM via solutions and Azure DevOps.
Pro-code extensibility
When low-code hits its ceiling, extend via Azure Functions, custom connectors, plug-ins, and PCF controls without breaking the upgrade path.
What it costs (the honest version).
Power Apps Premium is $20/user/month for unlimited apps. Power Automate Premium is $15/user/month. Per-app plans (Power Apps for $5/app/user/month) suit narrow-use rollouts. Copilot Studio is $200/tenant/month for 25K messages, scaling by usage. Dataverse storage and API calls are included in seeded amounts then metered. Many Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365 licenses include 'seeded' Power Platform rights for limited use — we'll model the cost difference between seeded vs. premium licensing for your scenario. Implementation engagements range from $15K for a single-app build to $300K+ for an enterprise CoE rollout.
Estimate your numbersPower Platform vs. the alternatives.
vs.
Power Platform vs. Salesforce Platform / Lightning
Salesforce Platform is excellent if Salesforce is the system of record. Power Platform wins on Microsoft 365 integration, Copilot Studio for AI agents, lower per-user pricing at scale, and breadth across CRM, ERP, and standalone apps. Many of our clients run both — Salesforce for CRM-adjacent custom dev, Power Platform for everything else.
vs.
Power Platform vs. ServiceNow App Engine
ServiceNow App Engine is the right call when ITSM is already core. Power Platform is broader (Microsoft 365 integration, Dynamics extensibility, AI agents) and significantly cheaper for non-ITSM workflows. Don't build customer-facing or operations apps on App Engine just because you have it — Power Platform is usually the better economic and integration choice.
vs.
Power Platform vs. Mendix / OutSystems / Appian
Mendix, OutSystems, and Appian compete in the dedicated low-code/high-code platform tier with strong pro-developer experiences. Power Platform wins on TCO, Microsoft 365 / Azure / Dynamics integration, and Copilot. The dedicated platforms can edge ahead on complex transactional apps and DevOps maturity. For Microsoft shops, Power Platform is almost always the right starting point.
Where Power Platform fits best.
Manufacturing
Production planning, quality control, shop floor automation, MES integration.
PSAProfessional Services
Project accounting, time & expense, resource scheduling.
HCRHealthcare
HIPAA-compliant operations, patient management, compliance workflows.
DSTDistribution & Wholesale
Warehouse management, 3PL integration, demand forecasting.
RTLRetail & E-Commerce
Unified POS, real-time inventory, omnichannel order management.
Discover
Inventory existing Excel files, Access databases, SharePoint lists, and shadow apps that should be modernized. Categorize by criticality, complexity, and maker capability. The output is a backlog and a build-vs-buy-vs-deprecate call on each.
Govern
Stand up the Microsoft Center of Excellence Starter Kit, define environment strategy (dev/test/prod, sandbox per maker), set DLP policies that prevent data exfiltration, and establish ALM via solutions before a single production app ships.
Build
Deliver the first three to five flagship apps in parallel — production-grade, ALM-managed, documented. These set the bar for everything makers build afterward and prove the model to skeptical IT and business stakeholders.
Enable
Train internal makers (business analysts, ops leads), establish a fusion-team model where makers build and IT governs, and run an internal app store for shared components. Power Platform fails when IT bottlenecks; it fails harder when there's no governance.
Power Platform in the wild.
SmartFlower Solar
Replaced disconnected spreadsheets and entry-level accounting with Dynamics 365 Business Central, giving SmartFlower a s...
Distribution & Field ServicesBigfoot Crane Company
Migrated Bigfoot Crane from siloed rental, service, and accounting systems onto Dynamics 365 — connecting equipment avai...
Healthcare & Life SciencesKowa Pharmaceuticals
Implemented Dynamics 365 to unify operations, finance, and reporting for Kowa Pharmaceuticals — built around the audit, ...
Power Platform questions, answered.
Should we build on Power Platform or commission custom code?
Default to Power Platform for internal business apps under 1,000 users with standard data, workflow, and integration patterns — you'll ship in weeks instead of months and skip the maintenance burden. Go custom when you need extreme performance, complex non-relational data, novel UI patterns, or a customer-facing product that's part of your core IP. The tell that you're outgrowing Power Platform: you're fighting platform constraints in three different ways and adding more pro-code extensions than low-code components.
How does Copilot Studio compare to building on OpenAI directly?
Copilot Studio gives you a managed agent runtime with built-in connectors to SharePoint, Dataverse, your website, and Microsoft 365, plus deployment to Teams and Microsoft 365 Copilot with one click. Building on OpenAI directly (or Azure OpenAI) gives you full control of the model, prompts, and orchestration but you own the infrastructure, retrieval, and governance. For the 80% of business agents — internal Q&A, support deflection, process bots — Copilot Studio is faster and cheaper. For novel AI products, build on Azure OpenAI directly.
What does proper Power Platform governance actually look like?
Five things, minimum. One: environment strategy — separate dev, test, and prod environments per business unit or solution, not a single sprawling default. Two: DLP policies preventing connectors from mixing business and personal data. Three: ALM via solutions and source control (Azure DevOps or GitHub), not point-and-click promotion. Four: an app and flow inventory you actually maintain. Five: a CoE Starter Kit deployment monitoring usage, ownership, and orphaned assets. Without these, you'll have 800 apps in 18 months and no idea which ones matter.
Is Power Platform actually cheaper than custom development?
For appropriate use cases, yes — by 50–80% on initial build and 60–90% on ongoing maintenance. The savings come from skipping infrastructure, identity, and the long tail of platform plumbing. The savings disappear when teams use Power Platform for the wrong workload (high-throughput transactional systems, complex consumer apps) or skip governance and pay it back in technical debt. Done well, Power Platform pays for itself on the second flagship app. Done badly, it costs more than custom code by year three.
Can we use Power Platform if we're not on Dynamics 365?
Absolutely. Many of our largest Power Platform engagements are at organizations not running Dynamics 365 ERP or CRM at all. Power Platform stands alone — it integrates with Salesforce, Workday, SAP, ServiceNow, Oracle, and 1,500+ other systems via standard connectors. Microsoft 365 is the only meaningful prerequisite for most use cases. The real synergy with Dynamics 365 is for customers who run both, but it's not a gating requirement.
How do we prevent shadow IT from just shifting from Excel to Power Apps?
Three controls. First, environment + DLP policy means makers can't connect production data to consumer connectors (Twitter, personal Gmail, etc.) — the most common data exfiltration risk. Second, app criticality classification: any app with more than 25 users, customer data, or financial impact is promoted to a managed environment with IT review, ALM, and ownership SLAs. Third, runtime telemetry via the CoE kit so you actually see when an app crosses the threshold from 'personal productivity' to 'business critical'. The goal isn't to block citizen development — it's to graduate the apps that matter into managed status before they break.
Ready to talk
Power Platform?
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