Microsoft Power Platform
Administration Foundation
CREATE AND MANAGE ENVIRONMENTS
Vishwas Lele
CTO & AZURE MVP
www.appliedis.com
Microsoft Power Platform
The low-code platform that spans Office 365, Azure, Dynamics 365, and standalone
applications
Power BI Power Apps Power Automate Power Virtual Agents
Business analytics Application development Process automation Intelligent virtual agents
Data Common
connectors AI Builder Data Service
Overall Microsoft Platform
Every
Power Developer
Platform (Low Code)
Power BI Power Apps Power Automate Power Virtual Agents
Azure
DevOps
Azure Pro
services Developer
Analysis API Azure AKS Logic Cognitive Bot
Services Management Functions Apps Services Services (Code First)
Azure / Office
Data Services Microsoft SQL Azure SQL Data Cosmos DB
Graph Warehouse
Microsoft Power Platform momentum
>3M >700% >300%
Monthly active Power Apps Power Apps
developers on the growth in growth in monthly
Power Platform production apps in active users in the
the last year last year
>25M 97% >25B
Data models of Fortune 500 Power Automate
hosted in the companies using steps run each day
Power BI service Power BI
Importance of Power Platform Administration
Related Pluralsight Courses
Environments
Environments are containers that administrators can use to manage apps, power
automate, connections, and other assets; along with permissions to allow organization
users to use the resources
Azure AD Tenant Contoso Corp.
Dev Dev Dev
Test Test Test
Contoso USA Contoso EMEA (default) Contoso ASIA
PowerApps Automate CDS PowerApps Automate CDS PowerApps Automate CDS
Environments
Environment Key Facts
Environments are tied to a geographic location that
is configured at the time the environment is created
Environments can be used to target different
audiences and/or for different purposes such as dev,
test and production
Common Data Service (CDS) databases are created
in the context of environments; one per
environment
Environment Key Facts
Every tenant has a Default environment where all
licensed Power Apps and Power Automate users can
create apps & Power Automate
Non-default environments offer more control around
permissions
Non-default environment creation can be restricted
to only global and service admins from the Power
Platform admin center: https://aka.ms/ppac
Looking Inside Environments
Azure AD Power Apps
Tenant Default
Environment
SharePoint
Power
Apps
Teams
Power
Automate
Exchange
Excel
Azure AD Data Logic Apps Functions
Gateway(s) Management API Storage
Microsoft Azure
On Premise Databases Web API
Gateway(s) SharePoint Data File Storage
On Premises Systems
Looking Inside Environments
Azure AD Power Apps Power Apps
Tenant Default Environment
Environment
SharePoint
Power Power
Power
Apps Apps
Apps
Teams
Power Power
Power
Automate Automate
Automate
Exchange
Excel
Azure AD Data Logic Apps Functions
Gateway(s) Management API Storage
Microsoft Azure
On Premise Databases Web API
Gateway(s) SharePoint Data File Storage
On Premise Systems
Looking Inside Environments
Model Driven Power
Azure AD Power Apps Power Apps Apps
Tenant Default Environment
Environment
Entities
SharePoint
Power Power
Apps Apps Process Flows
Teams
Power Power
Exchange
Automate Automate
CDS Business Rules
Excel
Security Model
Azure AD Data Logic Apps Functions
Gateway(s) Management API Storage
Microsoft Azure
On Premise Databases Web API
Gateway(s) SharePoint Data File Storage
On Premise Systems
Types of environments
Type Description
Trial Expire after 30 days, limit 1 per user
Developer One per user - community program – single user
http://aka.ms/powerappcommunityplan
Default Every tenant has one default environment – useful for
personal productivity assets
Sandbox Non-production environment enables some additional
options like copy and reset
Production Non-expiring full environment
Demo
Create, Delete, & Control Environments
Automatic Backup
All environments are backed up
Azure SQL Database backups Back up Environments
are happening continuously
Backup retention period
(depends on whether you are using
Dynamics Applications)
Manual Backup
A backup is created for you
when we update your
environment
You can back up production and
sandbox environments
Sandbox backups are retained
for up to 7 days
Restore Environments
Power Platform Admin Center or
PowerShell
Only Sandbox environments can be
restored
Demo
Backup & Restore Environments
Copy an Environment
Everything or customization and schemas
only
Everything includes: Application data,
users, customization, & schemas
Overwrite a sandbox environment
Copying across tenants can be done by opening a support ticket
Demo
Copy & Change environment type
Demo
View environment settings
Analytics is based on data stored in environment
region
Usage
- Total app launches and daily active users across
all apps in the environment
- Location
Environment
Errors
Analytics - Insights into the toast error trends/types, &
counts per app
Service performance
- Details of all standard and custom connectors to
understand performance bottlenecks and client
versus service API issues
Demo
View Environment Analytics
Why use multiple environments?
Master data management
“Master” data resides inside a single environment and synchronized
to other environments for change control purposes.
Security and Privacy
Keeping the data within the borders of a country or a region
Scalability
Extreme volumes and/or extensive use of Service Scheduling, scaling
up SQL Server may require splitting the functional capability
ALM Environments
Dev, Test and Prod environments
Restrict the creation of net-new trial and production
environments to admins
Treat the default environment as a “Personal
productivity” environments to admins
Establish a process for requesting access or creation
of environments
Establish an - Manage the correct number of environments to
avoid sprawl and conserve capacity
Environment - Support Operations (& Helpdesk) in identifying
apps that are in production by having them in
Strategy dedicated environments
Facilitate proper Application Lifecycle Management
Ensure data is being stored and transmitted in
acceptable geographic regions (for performance
and compliance reasons)
Demo
Multiple Environments
