This module clarifies the Solution Architect’s responsibilities and establishes an engagement model that ties business outcomes to a supportable Power Platform architecture.

Lessons:

• Solution Architect responsibilities across design, implementation, deployment, and adoption

• Engagement phases and decision checkpoints

• Stakeholder alignment and governance expectations

• Establishing architecture principles and constraints

Key Topics:

• Role clarity and decision ownership

• Architecture governance and communication

• Success criteria and long-term sustainability

Labs / Practical Exercises (if applicable):

• Create an “architecture decision log” template and a stakeholder decision map for a sample project

Learners perform structured discovery to translate business needs into a coherent solution vision, component selection, and measurable outcomes.

Lessons:

• Evaluate business requirements and define business outcomes

• Identify Power Platform solution components (apps, automations, data, analytics)

• Identify candidate components from Microsoft and third-party ecosystems

• Estimate migration and integration efforts and alternatives

• Collect current-state processes and define success criteria

Key Topics:

• Requirements framing and value alignment

• Solution components and capability mapping

• Estimation and feasibility thinking

• Risk factors and measurable success criteria

Labs / Practical Exercises (if applicable):

• Produce a solution vision brief (problem statement, users, KPIs, constraints, and candidate components)

This module focuses on assessing existing systems, data sources, and feasibility to define the right scope and a realistic path to delivery.

Lessons:

• Evaluate enterprise architecture and identify system dependencies

• Identify data sources required for the solution

• Define data quality standards and use cases for existing data

• Refine high-level requirements into functional and non-functional requirements

• Perform fit/gap analysis and define solution scope boundaries

Key Topics:

• Current-state assessment and dependency mapping

• Data quality and readiness

• Fit/gap decisioning and scope control

• Future-state process improvement alignment

Labs / Practical Exercises (if applicable):

• Build a fit/gap matrix and scope statement with “in/out” boundaries for a case scenario

Learners design the overall topology and environment strategy, including reuse opportunities, role/task-based app grouping, and experience prototyping.

Lessons:

• Design solution topology and component layout

• Validate UX prototypes with stakeholders

• Identify opportunities for component reuse and standard patterns

• Design environment strategy and lifecycle boundaries

• Design automation and analytics strategies at a solution level

Key Topics:

• Topology and environment planning

• Reuse-driven architecture

• UX validation methods and stakeholder alignment

• Automation and visualization strategy alignment

Labs / Practical Exercises (if applicable):

• Create a solution topology diagram and an environment strategy proposal (dev/test/prod + governance controls)

This module builds data architecture competence: modeling complex requirements, choosing external connections vs. import, and planning migration.

Lessons:

• Design relationships and relationship behaviors

• Model data to support complex requirements and role-based apps

• Determine when to connect to external data vs. import into Dataverse

• Design a data migration strategy and cutover approach

• Define data governance, ownership, and quality controls

Key Topics:

• Dataverse modeling principles

• External data connectivity trade-offs

• Migration planning and risk controls

• Data governance for long-term maintainability

Labs / Practical Exercises (if applicable):

• Draft a logical data model (tables + relationships) and a migration approach (phases, validation, rollback)

Learners design integrations and security holistically, including authentication, external access, DLP, and continuity considerations.

Lessons:

• Design collaboration suite integration (Teams/SharePoint scenarios)

• Design integrations with Dynamics 365 and existing enterprise systems

• Design third-party integrations and connector strategy

• Design authentication strategy and continuity/resilience strategy

• Design security roles, team structure, and row/column-level security

• Identify Entra ID groups/app registrations and define DLP policies

• Determine how external users access the solution

Key Topics:

• Integration patterns and constraints

• Authentication and identity architecture

• Security modeling in Dataverse and across the solution

• DLP, external access, and compliance boundaries

• Business continuity and resilience thinking

Labs / Practical Exercises (if applicable):

• Build an integration and security design pack (integration map + auth approach + DLP + role model)

This module focuses on ensuring the implemented solution conforms to design, performs well, respects limits, and is ready for deployment and adoption.

Lessons:

• Validate detailed designs and implementation alignment

• Review security boundaries across business rules, roles, and identity requirements

• Ensure conformance to API limits and platform constraints

• Assess performance and resource impact; identify bottlenecks

• Resolve automation and integration conflicts

• Support go-live readiness: deployment plans, migration issues, performance risks

Key Topics:

• Design validation and quality gates

• Performance and limit management

• Conflict resolution (automation/integration)

• Go-live readiness and operational risk control

Labs / Practical Exercises (if applicable):

• Create a go-live readiness checklist and a “design validation report” for a solution scenario