Power Platform Project Phases

General Overview

A Power Platform implementation project follows a structured life cycle designed to ensure quality, governance, and alignment with business objectives. The main phases include preparation, execution, final testing, release, and operations. Each phase involves specific roles, deliverables, and Microsoft tools such as Azure DevOps and Microsoft Project.

Understanding the lifecycle phases is critical to risk management and governance. Each stage produces defined outputs—technical configurations, documentation, and validation steps—that enable smooth progression to the next phase while improving overall solution quality.

Preparation Phase

The preparation phase focuses on defining demand, feasibility analysis, and planning. This stage identifies business processes to digitalize and opportunities for improvement using the Power Platform. It is also where the budget, methodology, and partner selection are finalized.

• Identify demand and business objectives.
• Conduct technical and financial feasibility studies.
• Prepare initial documentation (project charter, preliminary requirements).
• Define project plan, roles, and responsibilities.
• Select the implementation partner and sign the contract.

During this phase, tools like Microsoft Project and Azure DevOps are configured to manage tasks, backlogs, and milestones. Governance and environment security policies are also established for the Power Platform environments.

Execution Phase

The execution phase represents the core of the project. Here, Dataverse configurations, apps, flows, and custom developments (such as plug-ins, PCF controls, or Azure integrations) are implemented. The most common methodology is the iterative model, which cycles through analysis, design, development, and testing.

Continuous collaboration between analysts, developers, and testers ensures incremental value delivery. Each iteration produces validated deliverables and user feedback, reducing risks and improving adoption rates.

Final Testing and User Acceptance Testing (UAT)

The final testing phase follows the last iteration and aims to ensure that the solution fully meets business and technical requirements. User Acceptance Testing (UAT) takes place in a dedicated environment, replicating production conditions.

• Prepare test scripts and test data.
• Execute UAT with key users.
• Collect feedback and fix defects.
• Train users and finalize documentation.

Tools such as Azure DevOps Test Plans are used to manage test cases and record results. Upon successful validation, the solution is approved for production release.

Release and Go-live

The release phase marks the transition to production. It includes deploying the managed solution, performing final configurations, and running smoke tests to validate stability before go-live.

Main activities include:

• Backup and prepare the production environment.
• Import managed solutions through DevOps pipelines.
• Execute post-deployment smoke tests.
• Confirm go-live and communicate launch status.

During go-live, the project team supports end users and monitors system behavior. This is also the stage where transition to the customer’s support team begins.

Operations and Support Phase

The operations phase begins right after deployment and represents the transition from project mode to steady-state operations. The goal is to ensure solution stability, maintenance, and continuous improvement.

• Transition support from partner to customer’s internal team.
• Monitor performance and apply regular updates.
• Manage corrective and enhancement requests.
• Plan for future improvements and upgrades.

In this phase, the customer assumes full operational responsibility, while the partner may provide temporary or evolutionary support. The Support Transition process includes training internal staff to maintain service continuity.

Project Lifecycle Diagram

The following diagram illustrates the standard Power Platform project lifecycle, showing sequential and iterative relationships between key phases: