Search icon CANCEL
Subscription
0
Cart icon
Your Cart (0 item)
Close icon
You have no products in your basket yet
Save more on your purchases! discount-offer-chevron-icon
Savings automatically calculated. No voucher code required.
Arrow left icon
All Products
Best Sellers
New Releases
Books
Videos
Audiobooks
Learning Hub
Newsletter Hub
Free Learning
Arrow right icon
timer SALE ENDS IN
0 Days
:
00 Hours
:
00 Minutes
:
00 Seconds
Microsoft Power Platform Enterprise Architecture
Microsoft Power Platform Enterprise Architecture

Microsoft Power Platform Enterprise Architecture: A guide for architects and decision makers to craft complex solutions tailored to meet business needs

eBook
$31.99
Paperback
$39.99
Paperback
$39.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at $12.99p/m

What do you get with eBook?

Product feature icon Instant access to your Digital eBook purchase
Product feature icon Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
Product feature icon AI Assistant (beta) to help accelerate your learning
OR
Modal Close icon
Payment Processing...
tick Completed

Billing Address

Table of content icon View table of contents Preview book icon Preview Book

Microsoft Power Platform Enterprise Architecture

Chapter 1: Microsoft Power Platform and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Overview

Microsoft Power Platform is a quickly growing collection of technologies, frameworks, solutions, and products. In this chapter, you will learn the structure and modules of the Microsoft Power Platform to make qualified decisions about the components necessary for your business solution. This will give you a full understanding of all components of the Power Platform and will enable you to draw a high-level overview of all the components you will need to fulfill your business requirements.

In this chapter, we're going to cover the following main topics:

  • Introducing Contoso Inc.
  • Microsoft Power Platform
  • Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM applications
  • Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP applications
  • Microsoft Dynamics 365 AI, AR, and other modules
  • Microsoft Power Platform licensing overview
  • Practical example

Introducing Contoso Inc.

Contoso Inc. is a fictitious large global manufacturing and retail company with headquarters in Seattle, Washington, and a number of regional subsidiaries on all continents. Contoso Inc. works in the areas of manufacturing and implementing large machines and factories as well as producing consumer electronic goods. Furthermore, Contoso Inc. operates a chain of retail stores around the globe together with an e-commerce sales channel.

This fictitious company will serve as an example Power Platform customer to present the practical implementation of the concepts presented in this book. In this chapter, Contoso Inc. will familiarize themselves with the Power Platform and Dynamics 365 to decide what components will suit their business requirements.

Introducing Microsoft Power Platform

In this section, you will learn the structure of the Microsoft Power Platform to understand the background technology on which Power Apps as well as all Microsoft Dynamics 365 applications run.

Microsoft made a big mind shift when it introduced the Power Platform. For seasoned Microsoft Dynamics CRM and, later, Dynamics 365 CE experts, the Dynamics product is no longer the centerpiece of this product line but rather a first-party app running on the Power Platform. The change can be illustrated in the following diagrams. The first diagram shows the Microsoft Dynamics 365 high-level architecture before the Power Platform was introduced (not all applications are included for brevity):

Figure 1.1 - Microsoft Dynamics 365 before the Power Platform

The second diagram presents the dramatic increase in complexity and the number of various new products and technologies that are part of the Power Platform today, as documented in...

Introducing Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM applications

The Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM technology is historically the foundation for the CDS, but in the current concept, the CDS is the foundation and the Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM applications are called CDS first-party apps. Each of the applications, when provisioned, extends the CDS database with the workload-specific data model and provides one or more model-driven apps for managing the respective workload. The applications cover the typical CRM workloads of sales, marketing, and customer-, field-, and project-services. The Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM applications are available also as an on-premise deployment, except for Marketing and Project Operations. In this section, you will learn the capabilities of all five main Dynamics 365 CRM applications.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales

The Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales app (also called Sales Hub) has the following capabilities:

  • Customer management
  • Lead and opportunity management...

Introducing Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP applications

Although the Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP applications are not in the scope of this book, it is important to have a basic understanding of the capabilities of these modules to make informed decisions when designing a future business solution. The Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP applications, except for Dynamics 365 Human Resources, are not based on the CDS platform and are not considered model-driven applications. Some of the applications are available also as an on-premise deployment. In this section, you will learn the capabilities of all five main Dynamics 365 ERP applications.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance

The Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance app is dedicated to midsize to large multinational customers and has the following capabilities:

  • General ledger
  • Accounts receivable
  • Accounts payable
  • Budget and forecasting
  • Project accounting
  • Invoicing and billing
  • Fixed assets
  • Cash and bank management
  • ...

Introducing Microsoft Dynamics 365 AI, MR, and other modules

For a long time, Microsoft has been heavily investing in bringing advanced capabilities into the business solutions product line by leveraging most modern technologies such as artificial intelligence and mixed reality. The result is a large and always growing number of Dynamics 365 add-ons and separate applications extending the business solution modules with analytical and insight capabilities as well as unique capabilities provided by the HoloLens hardware.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights is a Customer Data Platform (CDP) solution intended to bring a comprehensive 360° view of the customer by combining master data with transactional, observational, and behavioral data from various data sources using connectors. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights has the following capabilities:

  • Data source configuration
  • Data unification (mapping, matching, and...

Microsoft Power Platform licensing overview

The purpose of this section is to provide a brief overview of the licensing possibilities of the Microsoft Power Platform components including high-level price tags. Licensing details, which are very complex and change frequently, can be found in the various licensing guides Microsoft regularly publishes:

Figure 1.4 - Microsoft Power Platform licensing overview

The preceding overview can serve as a first orientation when deciding on the products to purchase.

For example, when you need a simple relationship management solution with some basic sales management capabilities, is it better to purchase Dynamics 365 Sales, which starts at about $65 per user, or is it sufficient to choose a Power Apps single-app license for $10 per user for creating simple model-driven apps with certain simple extensions?

Alternatively, when you need complex marketing management, does it make sense to choose a Power...

Contoso Inc. Power Platform commitment

After this theoretical introduction and overview, it might be interesting to examine an example solution for our fictitious company Contoso Inc. wanting to leverage all capabilities and maximize the benefits of using the Microsoft Power Platform components.

Contoso Inc. has analyzed all high-level requirements for a new business solution and decided to leverage the Power Platform components to the greatest possible extent.

The various workloads Contoso Inc. is planning for implementation using Power Platform and Dynamics 365 applications are described in the following table:

Figure 1.7 - Overview of the Contoso's Power Platform commitment

The presented solution overview demonstrates that Contoso Inc. can cover many of its key business capabilities using Power Platform and Dynamics 365. In the subsequent chapters, Contoso Inc. will dive deeper into the requirements and refine the solution with...

Summary

In this chapter, you learned the basics of the Power Platform and its components and capabilities, as well as the capabilities of the broad and ever-growing family of Dynamics 365 applications. With this knowledge, you will be able to decide on the most suitable Power Platform components for your needs (after analyzing a requirements catalog).

In the next chapter, we will present an overview of the two other Microsoft clouds, Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Azure, in the context of Power Platform solutions.

Left arrow icon Right arrow icon
Download code icon Download Code

Key benefits

  • Explore various Microsoft cloud components and find out how they can enhance your Power Platform solutions
  • Get to grips with Microsoft Power Platform's security and extensibility, integration, and data migration models
  • Discover architectural best practices for designing complex enterprise solutions

Description

For forward-looking architects and decision makers who want to craft complex solutions to serve growing business needs, Microsoft Power Platform Enterprise Architecture offers an array of architectural best practices and techniques. With this book, you’ll learn how to design robust software using the tools available in the Power Platform suite and be able to integrate them seamlessly with various Microsoft 365 and Azure components. Unlike most other resources that are overwhelmingly long and unstructured, this book covers essential concepts using concise yet practical examples to help you save time. You’ll develop the skills you need to architect, design, and manage a complex solution as you follow the journey of a fictitious enterprise customer as they enter the world of Power Platform. Throughout the book, you’ll discover how to combine the functionality of Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI, and Power Virtual Agents with various methodologies to effectively address application lifecycle management, security, and extensibility. Finally, you'll learn how to overcome common challenges in migrating data to and from Microsoft Power Platform using proven techniques. By the end of this book, you’ll have the strategic perspective of an enterprise architect to make accurate architectural decisions for your complex Power Platform projects.

Who is this book for?

This book is for enterprise architects and technical decision makers who want to craft complex solutions using Microsoft Power Platform to serve growing business needs and to stay competitive in the modern IT world. A basic understanding of Microsoft Power Platform will help you to get started with this book.

What you will learn

  • Understand various Dynamics 365 CRM, ERP, and AI modules for creating Power Platform solutions
  • Enhance Power Platform with Microsoft 365 and Azure
  • Find out which regions, staging environments, and user licensing groups need to be employed when creating enterprise solutions
  • Implement sophisticated security by using various authentication and authorization techniques
  • Extend Power Apps, Power BI, and Power Automate to create custom applications
  • Integrate your solution with various in-house Microsoft components or third-party systems using integration patterns

Product Details

Country selected
Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Sep 25, 2020
Length: 452 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781800206854
Vendor :
Microsoft

What do you get with eBook?

Product feature icon Instant access to your Digital eBook purchase
Product feature icon Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
Product feature icon AI Assistant (beta) to help accelerate your learning
OR
Modal Close icon
Payment Processing...
tick Completed

Billing Address

Product Details

Publication date : Sep 25, 2020
Length: 452 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781800206854
Vendor :
Microsoft

Packt Subscriptions

See our plans and pricing
Modal Close icon
$12.99 billed monthly
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 6,500+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Simple pricing, no contract
$129.99 billed annually
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 6,500+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just $5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts
$179.99 billed in 18 months
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 6,500+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just $5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts

Frequently bought together


Stars icon
Total $ 152.97
Microsoft Power Platform Enterprise Architecture
$39.99
Workflow Automation with Microsoft Power Automate
$54.99
Microsoft Power Platform Functional Consultant: PL-200 Exam Guide
$57.99
Total $ 152.97 Stars icon
Visually different images

Table of Contents

14 Chapters
Section 1: The Basics Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 1: Microsoft Power Platform and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Overview Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 2: Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Azure Overview Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Section 2: The Architecture Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 3: Understanding Microsoft's Power Platform Architecture Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 4: Tools and Techniques Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 5: Application Lifecycle Management Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Section 3: Implementation Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 6: Implementation Approach and Methodologies Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 7: Microsoft Power Platform Security Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 8: Microsoft Power Platform Extensibility Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 9: Microsoft Power Platform Integration Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 10: Microsoft Power Platform Data Migration Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Other Books You May Enjoy Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Top Reviews
Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon Empty star icon 3.8
(6 Ratings)
5 star 33.3%
4 star 50%
3 star 0%
2 star 0%
1 star 16.7%
Filter icon Filter
Top Reviews

Filter reviews by




Alejandro Moreno Jan 14, 2022
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Este libro en verdad te da un panorama completo de la plataforma, muy recomendable!
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Sinassamy Thierry Jan 22, 2021
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Excellent!
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Sujanesh Jasti Jan 15, 2021
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
This is a very extensive book that I personally feel is not made for the average user. Like this books title, its for enterprises and decision makers who have specific needs and this book can help dive into those solutions.This book is very in-depth and it might seem overwhelming but at the end of each chapter they have a summary which states exactly what was discussed in the chapter. While I don't have my own enterprise that this book would be needed for I thought it would be a great way to understand what kind of solutions are available to these companies.This book would be great for those who are looking into those other solutions, there is so much content and they go over it very well but it can be overwhelming for some people. I am actually looking into Power BI for a project and this book has helped me understand it a bit. I'm grateful for the help but it is very extensive.A great book for those looking for enterprise solutions. Not for the average user.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Mark D. Slosberg Dec 13, 2020
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
I will start this review with a caveat. Woe is to the writer who sets out to write an up-to-date technical book about Microsoft’s cloud products. I didn’t have the book more than 3 days when we got news of their re-branding of the Common Data Services (CDS) product, an essential pillar of the Power Platform , to now be named Dataverse rendering much of the nomenclature used in the book obsolete although the essential topics and information presented is still correct. The authors now need to do a revision lest the readers are confused by the product naming and branding conventions.This is a comprehensive and well structured book covering the breadth of the Power Platform product set from Microsoft. It addresses complex topics not often covered including Microsoft’s approach to licensing and pricing, project planning and data integration.It is a long, involved book covering these topics from the perspective of an IT manager interested in maintaining a coherent approach to the Power Platform Enterprise architecture with lots of conceptual diagrams and short narratives about how one set of tools and technologies interacts or intersect with others. It does have some lab exercises but I didn’t have the time or inclination to run these as I am deep into running a large enterprise Power Platform development project myself. As such I have a very different, more nuts and bolts, view of Microsoft’s rapidly evolving Power Platform.This book is not targeted at the business user, decision-maker or “citizen developer” where the key value proposition of the Power Platform lies. While it has some interesting design patterns, they tend to be high level and architectural rather than specific to the kinds of unique business problems that the PowerPlatform is designed to solve. As with most of these types of books, it doesn’t address “why” you should use the technology but more, if you (or your business users) decide to use it, the breadth of issues you are likely to encounter during the implementation.While it is quite comprehensive, based on my real life, very current experience, it fails to give you, as a technical or a business user, the kind of practical guidance I have had to obtain via the school of hard-knocks using the oftentimes sketchy on-line documentation and the Community Blog and User Groups that serves as the primary method of learning for those of us building real-life applications for real users.The section on Implementation Approach and Methodologies is very interesting and unique but is strangely theoretical and disconnected from what really happens on-the-ground with the adoption of a newly and rapidly evolving technology like the Power Platform.Also, what is presented as “fact” should have been couched in the reality of a Microsoft product where there is often a huge disconnect between what is advertised and what is real.If you are using Microsoft’s Power Platform, this book is a valuable, core addition to an IT library but will need to be supplemented by other sources and experience.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Tc Jan 16, 2021
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
The book is a great introduction to the vast Power Platform landscape. Covers a tremendous amount of subject matter.I think this book would be a great resource for IT leaders or decision makers that are trying to get an understanding of what the Power Platform is and how it can work for their organization.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Get free access to Packt library with over 7500+ books and video courses for 7 days!
Start Free Trial

FAQs

How do I buy and download an eBook? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Where there is an eBook version of a title available, you can buy it from the book details for that title. Add either the standalone eBook or the eBook and print book bundle to your shopping cart. Your eBook will show in your cart as a product on its own. After completing checkout and payment in the normal way, you will receive your receipt on the screen containing a link to a personalised PDF download file. This link will remain active for 30 days. You can download backup copies of the file by logging in to your account at any time.

If you already have Adobe reader installed, then clicking on the link will download and open the PDF file directly. If you don't, then save the PDF file on your machine and download the Reader to view it.

Please Note: Packt eBooks are non-returnable and non-refundable.

Packt eBook and Licensing When you buy an eBook from Packt Publishing, completing your purchase means you accept the terms of our licence agreement. Please read the full text of the agreement. In it we have tried to balance the need for the ebook to be usable for you the reader with our needs to protect the rights of us as Publishers and of our authors. In summary, the agreement says:

  • You may make copies of your eBook for your own use onto any machine
  • You may not pass copies of the eBook on to anyone else
How can I make a purchase on your website? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

If you want to purchase a video course, eBook or Bundle (Print+eBook) please follow below steps:

  1. Register on our website using your email address and the password.
  2. Search for the title by name or ISBN using the search option.
  3. Select the title you want to purchase.
  4. Choose the format you wish to purchase the title in; if you order the Print Book, you get a free eBook copy of the same title. 
  5. Proceed with the checkout process (payment to be made using Credit Card, Debit Cart, or PayPal)
Where can I access support around an eBook? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
  • If you experience a problem with using or installing Adobe Reader, the contact Adobe directly.
  • To view the errata for the book, see www.packtpub.com/support and view the pages for the title you have.
  • To view your account details or to download a new copy of the book go to www.packtpub.com/account
  • To contact us directly if a problem is not resolved, use www.packtpub.com/contact-us
What eBook formats do Packt support? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Our eBooks are currently available in a variety of formats such as PDF and ePubs. In the future, this may well change with trends and development in technology, but please note that our PDFs are not Adobe eBook Reader format, which has greater restrictions on security.

You will need to use Adobe Reader v9 or later in order to read Packt's PDF eBooks.

What are the benefits of eBooks? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
  • You can get the information you need immediately
  • You can easily take them with you on a laptop
  • You can download them an unlimited number of times
  • You can print them out
  • They are copy-paste enabled
  • They are searchable
  • There is no password protection
  • They are lower price than print
  • They save resources and space
What is an eBook? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Packt eBooks are a complete electronic version of the print edition, available in PDF and ePub formats. Every piece of content down to the page numbering is the same. Because we save the costs of printing and shipping the book to you, we are able to offer eBooks at a lower cost than print editions.

When you have purchased an eBook, simply login to your account and click on the link in Your Download Area. We recommend you saving the file to your hard drive before opening it.

For optimal viewing of our eBooks, we recommend you download and install the free Adobe Reader version 9.