What you should know when recruiting for a Power Platform (Power Apps/Power Automate) specialist
I am a Microsoft Power Platform Specialist (mainly working with Power Apps and Power Automate). The purpose of this article is to help guide anyone who is recruiting a Power Platform specialist.
Firstly, let me provide a brief explanation of Power Platform. Microsoft Power Platform is an integrated suite of tools designed to empower users to automate workflows, analyze data, create applications, and virtual agents without needing deep technical expertise. Its components include:
Power Apps: Enables users to build custom apps with little to no code. These apps can run on web browsers, tablets, and smartphones and can connect to various data sources, simplifying the process of app development for business needs.
Power Automate: A tool for automating workflows and business processes across multiple applications and services. It allows users to create automated workflows between apps and services to synchronize files, get notifications, collect data, and more, without the need for traditional coding.
Power BI: A powerful analytics and visualization tool that allows users to create dashboards and reports from various data sources.
Notice some keywords from the description above:
Little to no code
Without the need for traditional coding
In other words, the intention for professionals who build Power Apps or Power Automate flows is not a requirement to have deep traditional technical skills. When advertising for a Power Platform specialist I have seen that some employers are looking for someone with skills in C#, Next.js and other development languages. Sure, there maybe a need for some technical resources if there is integration with other Web Development. If that’s the case I would suggest you need both a Power Platform Specialist and a Web Developer. Together they can work on the best solution for a range of technologies.
If you come across someone who says they have a deep understanding of multiple and various technologies, then you maybe getting a person who is a “jack of all trades” and too much of a generalist to provide a good quality of work in any specific solution.
If you have a requirement for Power Apps\Power Automate and Fabric\Power BI skills then I would look at employing 2 different people. Yes, a person could have overlapping experiences however they require very different skills. A Power Apps and Power Automate specialist would be focussed on App building and Automation. Whilst a Fabric and Power BI specialist is focussed on Data design, mapping and visualisation.
As mentioned, Power Platform solutions are designed to be built with little code. Therefore, people with few technical skills who work in both business and I.T. areas of the organisation could create Power Apps or Power Automation flows. My view is if you can create an Excel sheet with formulas then you could build a Power Platform solution. There are number of roles for Power Platform people in an organisation. The main ones I think of are:
Maker: Someone who designs, builds and tests Apps, Automation flows or reports.
Administrator: Someone who governs the Power Platform. They would use tools like the CoE Toolkit or Managed Environments.
Trainer/Support: someone who trains the business users how to build their own solutions in Power Platform and provides support.
I believe a person who would provide an organisation with implementing a high-quality Power Platform solution would have the following skills and experience.
Obviously, someone who has experience in Power Platform. Note, that Power Platform started about 2018. So it’s a new technology and Microsoft has consistently grown and changed it over those years. In short there is not a lot of experience in the market for these skills.
I believe you need to be able to gather user requirements and when thinking of design identify how best the requirements will best fit Power Platform. Also, you would need to be aware any risks of using Power Platform for your solution e.g. potential performance issues.
They would need experience and understanding of the data sources and data design being used. The usual ones are Dynamics 365, SQL Server, Dataverse or SharePoint. Of course there are many other types. The employer should already have an expert for that solution. For example, a Salesforce specialist.
As the Power Apps is a front-end application then the person should have experience and knowledge in building Apps with a high quality UX/UI interface.
Some other Power Platform skills that are useful:
o Solution Design
o Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) using Pipelines and Solutions.
o Licensing requirements.
o Security and Governance
Actually, you can nearly forget everything I have said the section above. Sure, you do need someone with most of those skills. But more importantly like most roles you need someone who has the correct soft skills. Like, Initiative, wanting to learn, knows how to ask questions, fits in well with your organisation culture.
There are many other considerations when recruiting and I could probably write many more pages about my experience in what to look for in high quality candidate. However hopefully this article clarifies some misconceptions and helps guide you to your recruitment journey for a Power Platform Specialists.