Are you struggling to get adoption of Power Platform in your organisation?

Embedding Microsoft Power Platform into your everyday operations, requires buy-in across the business to optimise the benefits low-code can deliver. Once there is alignment, not only is the purpose and benefits understood but also the buy-in fosters commitment in the platform. Involving all levels in the business allows for a diverse range of perspectives, leading to wider adoption and yielding the maximum value from low-code.

Here at Marra, we have supported many clients to roll out Microsoft Power Platform across a variety of organisations and industries. Here are some of our thoughts on why you may not have buy-in and how to get it.

Why you may not have buy-in

Limited flexibility – There is often a misconception that you are limited to pre-built components and templates with low-code and there can be uncertainty around whether you can really build anything of use.

Integration Concerns – Business systems rarely operate in isolation, therefore seamless integration is key to the successful running of the IT estate.

Security Concerns – Security is always a major concern, and there can often be apprehension that security may not be fully considered when developing rapidly. There may be particular concerns around who can connect and where from, how the data is stored and how can sensitive data be controlled and protected.

Governance & Innovation paradox – How do you manage the balance between adopting new technologies and embracing innovation with a governance framework to maintain order and control? There can be a worry that citizen developers could potentially cause chaos across the business without IT collaboration and support. IT departments often take the step to buy Microsoft licences but then end up in a standstill as they are afraid to let go of control.

The great news is that there are simple ways to overcome all of these challenges and realise the many benefits of low-code in your organisation – speed & agility, reduced cost, better customer experience and enhanced collaboration across departments.

Our solutions on how to get buy-In

Limited flexibility – Pre-built components and templates are a great way to build applications quickly, and they can be fully customised to meet the required business needs. Business process flows can be introduced to guide users through unique business processes and seamlessly fit your ways of working. They can be utilised to simplify intricate daily operations, increasing productivity, reducing costs and ensuring a consistent, standardised approach.  We find our clients love the way we can put a realistic prototype in front of them very quickly and get essential feedback early in the process. This mean by the time we are demoing features, our clients are familiar with the functionality, as well as the look and feel of the product.

Integration Concerns – There are often concerns that low-code may not be able to support required integrations, however as well as the 800+ pre-built connectors, custom connectors can easily be set up within Power Platform to ensure data flows to where it needs to be. If a custom connector is required, there are built in wizards to hold your hand through the process without requiring prior knowledge, taking away the overhead of manual development and documentation.

Security Concerns – Microsoft Power Platform is designed with security as a top priority with industry -leading protection, trusted by national security agencies and financial institutions. When you use Power Platform, security comes as a standard feature. Power Platform integrates with Azure Active Directory for user authentication, and you can control access via roles and permissions. Data loss policies can be configured to ensure regulatory compliance as required. There are also measures to isolate environments to isolate data and applications, as well as data encryption and monitoring and auditing logs.

Governance v Innovation concerns – The introduction of a Centre of Excellent (CoE) is a great way of controlling governance and innovation levers. There are tools which can be utilised to open up the platform within the organisation to raise awareness and adoption, with features to manage how people can use the platform. There are options to put checks and controls in place, to ensure standards are met before something is rolled out to a wider audience. CoE is an emerging space, managing the balance between creating an environment open enough for innovation and ensuring there is governance in place to maintain a level of control. We find IT departments are overwhelmed with projects and welcome the introduction of low-code, as long as they know it is being developed with controls in place. Our consultants can give that extra level of confidence and ensure they buy-in to low-code, preventing shadow IT. We find if we bring everyone on the journey this leads to not only a successful implementation but also long term success in integration low-code across the business.

A few other considerations

Training – Low-code is intuitive by design but a small amount of training can go a long way to get buy-in. A library of typical Power Platform solutions can help to bring to life the platform and demonstrate some of the possibilities. In fact, an essential part of establishing a CoE is nurturing your makers and creating an internal community, sharing best practice and onboarding new users.

Start small, get confidence and increase complexity – We are seeing our clients look to low-code to provide solutions for their interactions with customers and back office functions such as time recording and other HR process. What we tend to see is a much greater appetite for using low-code for complex operations once they have seen the benefits of low code first hand. We help our business users get started and get their ideas into value adding and often critical applications.  We use our knowledge of Power Platform and our experience to ensure their ideas have the right balance between good design and well thought out requirements, with the need for rapid development.

Round up

Low-code is a refreshing alternative to the ‘pro-code’ world or procurement of an off the shelf product. Marra can provide a third option with our unique combination of knowledge and expertise of Microsoft Power Platform amplifying the potential and applying it to real world problems.

Not only can low-code fully fit your requirements, it can be rapidly developed and has the ability to be modified just as rapidly. With the ongoing pressure to deliver more with less, due to a variety of factors (economic climate, post-pandemic recovery, and digital transformation), low-code is becoming the strategic option. According to KPMG, 53% of EMA low-code users have made good progress in reducing their development costs, and 55% said they have been able to reduce their IT backlog.

We understand the challenges facing organisation when attempting to embed low code and can provide support and guidance every step of the way. If you are ready to take the next steps, Marra consultants can enhance and accelerate up your journey to optimising Microsoft Power Platform across your organisation.

Written by Sara Nixon, Lead Business Analyst