Exercise - Power Apps Architecture

In this exercise, you will work in small groups to analyze a business scenario for Fabrikam Robotics and design an appropriate Power Apps architecture. You will identify user groups, recommend suitable application types, determine integration approaches, and evaluate how Power Platform components can be used to meet business requirements effectively.

Learning Objectives

After completing this exercise, you will be able to:

• Identify different categories of application users and their requirements.
• Select appropriate Power Apps application types based on business scenarios.
• Design a scalable Power Platform architecture.
• Recommend integration strategies using custom connectors and Power Automate.
• Evaluate opportunities to use Power Apps Component Framework (PCF) controls.
• Plan collaboration strategies for multiple app makers.

Exercise 1

You are designing a visitor management and sales engagement solution for Fabrikam Robotics. The company operates a manufacturing facility and showroom where visitors can observe robotic systems in action. Some visitors are potential customers, while others are general visitors interested in technology and robotics.

Review the business requirements below and determine the most suitable Power Platform architecture.

Business Scenario

• Fabrikam heavily uses Microsoft 365 for email and collaboration.
• Microsoft Teams adoption is growing rapidly across the organization.
• Sales representatives manage leads and opportunities independently.
• Small-deal sales teams share commissions across the department.
• Large-deal sales representatives generally work individually, except for enterprise-level opportunities that require team collaboration.
• Sales personnel frequently travel to customer sites and attend industry conferences where internet connectivity may be limited or unavailable.
• Tour tracking data is stored in an external cloud service that exposes APIs. A custom connector will be created to access this information.
• Reception staff are responsible for visitor check-in and visitor photo capture but must not have access to sales information.
• Sales discounts require approval from sales managers. Sales representatives must not be allowed to approve their own discounts.
• Customers should be able to schedule showroom visits from Fabrikam's website.
• Customers who provide a phone number should automatically receive an SMS reminder 24 hours before their scheduled visit.

Tasks

As a solution architect team, discuss and document how you would address the following requirements.

1. Application Strategy

Identify and justify the following:

1. Different application user groups.
2. Applications required for each user group.
3. Recommended application type for each solution:
   1. Model-Driven App
   2. Canvas App
   3. Power Pages
   4. Custom Application Development

2. Offline and Mobile Requirements

Sales representatives frequently work in customer offices, conference centers, and locations with limited internet connectivity.

• How will your architecture support offline access?
• Which Power Platform capabilities will you use to support mobile users?
• What data should be available offline?

3. Custom Connector Integration

The tour tracking devices store visitor movement data in an external cloud platform.

• How will the custom connector be designed?
• Which applications will consume the connector?
• Should the data be viewed in real-time or synchronized into Dataverse?
• What security considerations should be implemented?

4. Power Apps Component Framework (PCF)

Identify areas where a custom PCF control could improve user experience or provide functionality not available through standard controls.

Examples may include:

• Visitor photo capture controls.
• Interactive visitor location maps.
• Digital signature controls.
• Tour tracking visualizations.
• Advanced discount approval interfaces.

5. Application Development Collaboration

If your solution includes Canvas Apps, explain how multiple developers can work on the application simultaneously.

• Source control strategy.
• Solution management approach.
• Environment strategy (Development, Test, Production).
• ALM and deployment process.

6. Power Automate Usage

Identify processes that should be automated using Power Automate rather than being implemented directly within applications.

Examples include:

• Showroom visit request processing.
• SMS reminder notifications.
• Discount approval workflows.
• Email notifications.
• Visitor check-in confirmations.
• Data synchronization from external systems.
• Management reporting and alerts.

Discussion Points

• How would you secure sensitive sales information from reception staff?
• How would you prevent self-approval of discounts?
• How would you leverage Microsoft Teams throughout the solution?
• Would you store visitor photos directly in Dataverse, SharePoint, or another repository?
• How would you design the solution to support future business growth?

Expected Deliverables

• High-level Power Platform architecture diagram.
• User persona and application mapping.
• Application type recommendations.
• Integration architecture for external tracking services.
• PCF component recommendations.
• Power Automate workflow design.
• Security and governance recommendations.

At the end of the exercise, each group should present its proposed architecture and explain the reasoning behind its design decisions.