As organizations embrace low-code development with Microsoft
Power Platform, it becomes essential to manage and govern apps, flows, and
data components in a structured way. This is especially critical when scaling
solutions across multiple environments like Development, Test,
and Production.
That’s where Power Platform Solutions come
in—offering a standardized, scalable way to package, configure, and deploy all
your platform components. Whether you're working on Power Apps, Power Automate,
or Dataverse, understanding how solutions work is fundamental to
enterprise-level development and lifecycle management.
What Is a Solution in Power Platform?
A Solution in Power Platform is a logical container
used to bundle, organize, and manage related components such as:
- Power
Apps (Canvas & Model-Driven)
- Power
Automate Flows
- Dataverse
Tables, Views, Forms, Business Rules
- Power
Pages and Portals
- Power
Virtual Agents
- Web
Resources, Custom Connectors, Environment Variables
Solutions enable:
- Seamless
transport of assets across environments
- Version
control and rollback
- Lifecycle
governance with managed vs unmanaged strategies
- Automated
deployment in CI/CD pipelines
In essence, solutions are the ALM backbone of Power
Platform.
Purpose of Using Solutions
Why not just build apps and flows directly? Here’s why
solutions matter:
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🧱 Types of Solutions
Power Platform supports two types of solutions—each
with a specific use case.
1. Unmanaged Solutions
- Editable
and flexible
- Ideal
for development
- Can be
modified anytime
- Should
never be deployed directly to production
2. Managed Solutions
- Locked
and packaged
- Ideal
for production or distribution
- Cannot
be edited (except for variables, some connectors)
- Supports
upgrades and patches
💡 Best practice:
Develop in an unmanaged solution, export as managed for production.
🧩 What Components Can Be
Added to a Solution?
Solutions can include a wide variety of components across
Power Platform tools:
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All of these components are treated as a unit for
deployment, rollback, and upgrades.
🔄 Are Solutions Shared
Across Power Platform Tools?
Yes—Solutions act as a unified deployment container
across the Power Platform suite. When a Solution is created in Power
Apps, it becomes a shared resource within the selected Dataverse
environment. This means that the same Solution — along with all its
components — is also visible and accessible from Power Automate, as long
as you are working within the same environment.
Solutions serve as containers to group related
components such as canvas apps, model-driven apps, Power Automate flows, custom
connectors, tables (Dataverse entities), environment variables, and more. They
provide a structured way to manage, deploy, and maintain applications and
automation across the Microsoft Power Platform.
If a flow (automation) is created within a Solution in Power
Apps, it will automatically appear in the Solutions area of Power
Automate. Likewise, any flow created or edited inside a Solution in Power
Automate will also be visible in Power Apps.
This shared access model is especially useful for
organizations using Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) practices, as
it ensures consistent and centralized visibility of all related assets across
tools.
🔄 Note: Only flows
that are part of a Solution are shared this way. Flows created outside of
Solutions (called "cloud flows") will not appear in Power Apps and
are not solution-aware.
🛠️ Environment Variables
and Relationship Between Environment Variables and Solutions in the Power
Platform ?
In the Microsoft Power Platform, Environment Variables
are configurable parameters used to store values that can change between
environments — such as development, testing, and production — without modifying
the core logic of apps or flows. These variables enable greater flexibility,
portability, and maintainability of your applications and automations.
Environment Variables are designed to work within
Solutions. They are considered solution components and are managed as part
of the ALM (Application Lifecycle Management) process.
🔗 How Environment
Variables and Solutions Work Together:
- Defined
Within a Solution Environment variables must be created within
a Solution. This ensures they are packaged along with related apps, flows,
and other components.
- Support
for ALM (Application Lifecycle Management) When you export a Solution
(e.g., from development to testing), the environment variables are
included. This allows you to configure different values for each
environment without editing the apps or flows that reference them.
- Referencing
in Apps and Flows Once defined, environment variables can be used in: Canvas
apps (with formula references) Power Automate flows (e.g., for
API endpoints, email addresses, keys) Custom connectors or Power Pages
This eliminates hardcoding and supports cleaner, reusable logic.
- Default
and Current Values Default Value: The value used when the
solution is first imported. Current Value: The value specific to
the environment where the solution is deployed. This can be changed
post-deployment without impacting the original solution.
An Environment Variable is a parameterized
configuration setting used within your app or flow logic. It allows separation
of code and configuration, enabling flexibility across environments.
Use Cases:
- API
endpoints (e.g., Base URL for Dev/Test/Prod)
- External
service keys
- Email
addresses or system accounts
- Feature
flags or toggles
Key Benefits:
- Promote
code reusability
- Eliminate
hard-coded values
- Support
CI/CD automation
- Allow
configuration without editing the solution
Variable Types:
- Text
- JSON
- Boolean
- Data
Source Reference (e.g., SharePoint list, Dataverse table)
- Secret
(secured storage for credentials)
🔐 Secure variables are
stored encrypted and should be used for API keys, passwords, etc.
When a solution is deployed to a new environment, these
variables can be easily updated via the maker portal, admin center, or
through automation scripts.
🧭 Best Practices for
Using Solutions
- Use
separate environments for development, testing, and production.
- Always
build in unmanaged solutions, and promote to managed.
- Group
logically by functionality or business module.
- Use
environment variables and connection references to avoid rework.
- Automate
deployments using ALM tools (covered in Part 2).
- Never
modify managed solutions directly.
- Use
versioning, and maintain proper documentation on changes and
dependencies.
🔚 Conclusion: Why It
Matters
Solutions in Power Platform aren’t just a technical
feature—they’re a strategic enabler for scalable, maintainable, and
enterprise-ready low-code development. Whether you’re building a simple
approval flow or a cross-department enterprise app, solutions help you manage,
transport, and govern your work reliably.
🔜 Coming Up in Part 2:
We’ll dive into Power Platform ALM (Application Lifecycle Management),
including:
- CI/CD
implementation with Azure DevOps & GitHub Actions
- Deploying
solutions with pipelines
- Version
control, branching strategies, and rollback techniques
Stay tuned for actionable insights on enterprise-grade
automation of your Power Platform assets.
