Power Platform

If you have Business Premium you can start using the Power Platform tools today. Depending on your use case, additional licensing might be required. Here is a link to help understand the options available: Licensing overview for Microsoft Power Platform – Power Platform | Microsoft Learn it is best to address the licensing needs per scenario.

Yes, the Power Platform is designed with robust security features to ensure the protection of your data and applications.  Here are some key security aspects: 

1. Authentication and Authorization: Power Platform uses Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) for authentication and authorization, ensuring secure access to applications and data¹.
2. Data Encryption: All data in transit and at rest is encrypted using industry-standard protocols like TLS for network traffic and strong encryption algorithms for data storage¹.
3. Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Power Platform provides granular access control at the environment, role, record, and field levels, allowing you to define who can access and modify data¹.
4. Compliance and Governance: The platform adheres to strict compliance standards and follows the Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) to ensure security assurance and compliance².
5. Threat Protection: Power Platform integrates with Microsoft 365’s advanced information protection and compliance tools to detect and respond to threats quickly².

Using a low-code platform offers numerous benefits, making it a valuable choice for many organizations. Here are some key advantages:

1. Accelerated Development: Low-code platforms enable rapid prototyping and iteration, allowing ideas to be turned into functioning applications quickly. This speed-to-market fosters innovation and gives organizations a competitive edge¹.
2. Ease of Use: These platforms provide visual editors and reusable components that users can drag and drop, making it easier for both technical and non-technical users to build applications².
3. Cost Reduction: Low-code development reduces the need for extensive coding, which in turn lowers development costs. It also decreases the need for hiring additional developers¹.
4. Flexibility and Scalability: Low-code platforms are highly customizable and versatile, allowing organizations to scale applications as needed¹.
5. Boosted Developer Productivity: By automating repetitive tasks and providing pre-built components, low-code platforms enhance developer productivity and allow them to focus on more complex tasks¹.
6. Improved Agility: Low-code platforms enable organizations to quickly adapt to changing business requirements and conditions, ensuring they remain competitive in a fast-paced environment³.
7. Security and Trust: Many low-code platforms come with built-in security features and compliance with industry standards, ensuring that applications are secure and trustworthy¹.

Yes, Power Platform can access data outside of the Microsoft environment. Here are some things to note:

Connectors: Power Platform provides a wide range of connectors that allow you to connect to various external data sources, including third-party services like Salesforce, Google services, and many others¹.

Custom Connectors: If a pre-built connector is not available, you can create custom connectors to connect to any RESTful API, enabling access to external data sources¹.

Virtual Tables: Power Platform supports virtual tables, which allow you to integrate data from external sources into Microsoft Dataverse without physically storing the data in Dataverse².

APIs: You can use Web APIs to retrieve and interact with data from external sources. This allows for seamless integration with external systems and applications³.

Cross-Tenant Access: Power Platform supports cross-tenant access, allowing you to connect to data in different Microsoft Entra ID tenants. However, this requires proper configuration and security measures⁴.