Introduction to Application Lifecycle Management (ALM)
Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) in Power Platform represents a set of practices, tools, and processes to consistently manage the development, release, and maintenance of business solutions. In enterprise contexts, Azure DevOps has become the standard to orchestrate every stage of development—from requirement analysis to automated deployment of Power Platform solutions.
According to Microsoft guidelines, Azure DevOps with Power Platform Build Tools allows you to manage CI/CD pipelines, versioning, development environments, and automated distribution of Dataverse solutions. This approach reduces manual errors, ensures traceability, and enables collaboration across multidisciplinary teams.
Azure DevOps: main components
Azure DevOps is a complete collaborative development platform that integrates several modules:
- Boards: Agile planning tools for managing backlogs, sprints, and tasks.
- Repos: Git repositories for source control of code and unpacked Power Platform solutions.
- Pipelines: CI/CD automation for build, test, and deployment processes.
- Test Plans: Manual and automated test management to ensure release quality.
- Artifacts: Centralized storage for packages, tools, and dependencies used in build and deployment.
Power Platform Build Tools
Power Platform Build Tools is an extension for Azure DevOps that introduces specific tasks for managing Power Platform environments, solutions, and packages. These tasks are divided into four main categories:
- Helper tasks: include the Power Platform Tool Installer, required as the first step in every pipeline to install dependencies.
- Quality check tasks: include the Power Platform Checker, which analyzes code and solution quality before release.
- Solution tasks: allow exporting, importing, packing, and publishing Dataverse solutions.
- Environment tasks: enable creation, copying, backup, and deletion of Power Platform environments.
Main automation tasks
| Category | Task | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Helper | Power Platform Tool Installer | Installs necessary tools on each DevOps agent before pipeline execution. |
| Quality Check | Power Platform Checker | Performs quality and compliance checks on the solution. |
| Solution | Export / Import / Pack / Unpack Solution | Manages export, import, and packaging of Dataverse solutions. |
| Environment | Create / Copy / Backup Environment | Automates operations on Power Platform environments. |
Pipelines and Releases: CI/CD in Power Platform
Azure DevOps pipelines support Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Deployment (CD). In the Power Platform context, CI pipelines are used for exporting and validating solutions, while CD pipelines handle automatic deployment to testing and production environments.
Releases offer additional capabilities like manual approval gates or configuration variable management for multiple environments. Using pipelines and releases together increases reliability and traceability across the entire deployment process.
Source Control Management
Version control is a core ALM pillar. For Power Platform solutions, the recommended approach is to unpack solutions into readable file and folder formats, then store them in the internal Git repository of Azure DevOps. This ensures traceability and structured collaboration among development teams.
The typical process includes:
- Create a Dataverse solution in a development environment.
- Export the solution as unmanaged.
- Unpack the solution using the dedicated task.
- Commit the unpacked files into the Git repository.
This approach facilitates version comparisons and ensures full lifecycle traceability.
Operational Best Practices
- Use managed solutions only in downstream environments (test, UAT, production).
- Create a unified publisher to maintain consistent prefixes across entities.
- Always perform an environment backup before every import operation.
- Automate export/import steps with dedicated pipelines.
- Monitor pipeline logs and outcomes to ensure release quality.
Contoso Inc. Case Study
In the Contoso Inc. case study, the company selected Azure DevOps as its main ALM tool for all Power Platform project activities. They created a dedicated project, configured service connections to all environments, and implemented automated pipelines for deployment. They also established strict policies: unmanaged solutions are used only in development, while managed solutions are enforced in all other environments.
Integration with Other Technologies
Azure DevOps integrates with GitHub, Power BI, and Microsoft PowerShell to extend automation capabilities. For example, you can:
- Use GitHub Actions for alternative ALM scenarios.
- Automate Power BI deployments through dedicated pipelines.
- Manage Power Platform environments and solutions using PowerShell scripts and the Dataverse API.
Conclusion
Adopting Azure DevOps with Power Platform Build Tools is essential to achieve governance, traceability, and quality in Power Platform solutions. This strategy enables a secure, scalable, and automated ALM aligned with modern DevOps practices and Microsoft recommendations.