Power Apps
The spreadsheet that controls a critical process has a name: an application that was never written.There’s always one process that falls through the cracks: a three-way validation, a check done on Fridays, a calculation that no one else does the way you do. We turn it into a reliable tool —the same data, but with roles, a history, validation, and mobile access.
You have at least three of them
They aren't in the IT budget, no one asked for them, and yet the company depends on them. These are the tools that the business units have built themselves, for lack of anything better.
The file named after its author
Suivi_demandes_v7_JM.xlsx.
Two people open it, only one version survives, and no one knows who changed
line 214.
The day Jean-Marc leaves, the slide rule goes with him.
Friday's Test
Someone pulls up two lists, compares them by hand, and corrects any discrepancies. Every week, for the past six years.
Two hours a week: thirteen workdays a year, for a check that a machine could do better.
The two systems that don't communicate with each other
The order is entered here, copied there. In between, a file exchanged via email, and someone for whom this has become a career.
Every retake is an opportunity to make a mistake, and that opportunity is seized.
The same data. What changes is what surrounds it.
This isn't an IT project; it's a reorganization. The columns don't change, nor do the calculation rules: what becomes apparent is everything that a file can't do.
Request_Tracking_v7_JM.xlsx
- —The author's name is in the file name
- —Two people open it; only one version survives
- —No history: Who changed this line, and when?
- —No permissions: whoever opens it sees everything, including what they shouldn't
- —Inspections are conducted manually every Friday
- —Illegible on a phone, so it’s never filled out in the field
- —The calculation rule is embedded in a formula that no one ever reviews
If the author leaves, no one will know how he does the math.
The same thing, but dressed up
- +The same columns, the same rules—copied exactly as they are
- +Multiple people at the same time, without any versions getting lost
- +A complete, dated, and attributed history
- +Roles: who enters data, who approves it, and who has no access
- +The Friday test takes care of itself on Friday
- +Opens in Teams and on the field phone
- +The calculation rule stands on its own: testable, versionable
Even if the creator leaves, the tool keeps running.
Four types of tools—not just screens
“Power Apps ” refers to the interface. What we build around it matters just as much—the foundation, the connections, the processing, and the business rules kept separate.
The Application That Business Units Are Launching
One screen per task, filterable lists, and data entry that prevents inconsistencies. In the browser, at Teams, or on the phone of someone who’s on the go.
Data That Finally Takes Shape
On Dataverse : tables, relationships, permissions, and a history. That’s what sets an enterprise application apart from a pretty form.
Giving a voice to what had not been spoken
ERP, CRM, accounting, business software, an external partner. Via a connector when one exists, via a web service and programmable interface when one does not exist.
Things That Are Still Done by Hand
Friday's reconciliation, the D+30 follow-up, the monthly export, the validation that is waiting in a queue: processes that run automatically and notify you when they fail.
The calculations that no one else does quite like you do
A scale, pricing, eligibility criteria, and allocation. Built separately, tested against your real-world cases, versioned—and called upon by everything that needs it.
What already exists is not lost
The data from the file is imported, cleaned, and verified. On the first day, the app must include the history—otherwise, no one will use it.
What we do, and in what order
The first point is the one that’s almost always overlooked, and it’s the one that causes business applications to fail.
The actual process—observed, not described
We watch someone do it. In the course of a single morning, we discover the three exceptions that no one mentions in meetings: the case of the long-time customer, the exception granted verbally, and the workaround devised on a busy day that has since become the rule.
An app built using the process described here doesn't survive past its second week.
The Data Model
The tables, their relationships, the permissions, and the history. This is the invisible part, and it’s what will determine what the application will become in three years.
The Application and Its Roles
One screen per task, not one screen per table. Anything that isn't used every day is stored elsewhere: the number of visible fields determines whether users adopt the system.
Connections and Automation
Other systems, in both directions, and treatments that run on their own. Along with the monitoring that goes with it: a treatment that fails silently is worse than no treatment at all.
Maintenance and Getting Back on Track
A business application is a living thing: processes change, new exceptions arise, and a connected system is replaced. We help it evolve—and if you want to take it over in-house, we’ll train your teams rather than keep you locked in.
How long, honestly?
A range of options for a first business application of reasonable size.
The scenario: one process, about 20 users, data imported from a spreadsheet, one or two systems to integrate, and a business manager available for half a day per week. A process with multiple variations depending on the country or entity significantly extends the initial timeframe.
Observation
The actual process, its exceptions, and the scope of the first version.
Model and Revision
Tables, relationships, permissions, and existing data have been imported and verified.
Application
Screens, roles, user testing, revisions.
Connections and Toggle Switch
Other systems, processes, and commissioning.
Eight to fourteen weeks for the first implementation in production. A second implementation using the same data model goes much faster: the foundation is in place, the permissions are set up, and the connections are already established.
What is unique stands apart.
Outside the app that uses it
A calculation rule embedded in a screen cannot be tested or reviewed, and it is duplicated as soon as a second tool needs it. Once it leaves the application, it can be used anywhere and needs to be corrected only once.
Outside the system that uses its results
Your own logic should not reside in theERP or in your neighbor’s software package: when one of them is replaced—and that day will come—it will remain.
So it's testable, version-controlled, and monitorable
We can feed it a hundred known cases and verify all hundred responses. We know which version produced which result, and when. And we can see whether it works or fails.
A business application created by a user becomes a risk after two years. It works, everyone uses it, and no one knows how it performs its calculations anymore: its creator has left, nothing is documented, nothing has been tested, and no one dares to touch it anymore.
What You Need to Know Before Signing
Five points, two of which account for most of the unexpected budget shortfalls in this area.
Two categories of applications, and the choice is made early on
The first part of the screen: we design the interface and connect it to data. Fast, flexible, and perfect for a form or a simple mobile application.
The second part of the data: we describe the tables, relationships, and permissions, and the screens are derived from them. It takes longer to set up, but is incomparably more robust once roles, validations, and history are in place.
We make our decision based on the scope. Choosing the wrong category is the number one reason for having to start from scratch on this type of project.
The Connector Trap
Connecting to certain systems requires an advanced license for each user of the application. This is perfectly legitimate, but it significantly impacts the budget when the number of users increases from twenty to two hundred.
We verify this before the proposal, not at the time of commissioning.
Your existing apps aren't lost
If your teams have already built applications, the right approach is rarely to start from scratch. We take them as they are, document them, bring them up to company standards—and we only rebuild what needs to be rebuilt.
What Constitutes an Application, and What Does Not
Answering questions about documents is a job for an agent—not an app. Managing clients and cases is a business- CRM —not a development task.
We'll tell you, even when the answer means we get a smaller share.
The code and documentation belong to you
The data model, screens, business processes, business rules, and documentation are delivered and remain with you. If you want to take over internally, we'll train your teams.
A service provider you can't do without isn't a good service provider.
What plugs into it
A business application is almost never on its own. Here are the three "neighbors" it encounters.
Dynamics 365
Your custom applications and off-the-shelf applications all write to the same location: a single customer record, a single set of permissions, a single history.
The product line Dynamics 365 The BorderCopilot Studio
Responding to documents is what an agent does. Orchestrating a seven-step process with validations is what an application does. The next page explains where the line is drawn.
The page Copilot Studio The rest of the professionOur Services
System integration, web services, and programmable interfaces; modernization of legacy applications: development doesn’t stop at Power Apps.
See our servicesShow us the file
The one everyone depends on but no one takes responsibility for. Tell us what it contains, who uses it, and what would happen if it disappeared tonight. We’ll come back with a scope, a workload, a timeline, and specific deliverables.
Preparing a proposal is free of charge. Design studies and audits are included in the scope of work. We have been licensed to provide staffing services since 2018: an Power Platform developer can also join your team for a fixed term.
What happens if this file disappears tonight?
If the answer is "nothing serious," leave it as is: not all spreadsheet programs deserve their own app, and we'll be the first to tell you so.
If the answer is “we’ll stop billing” or “we no longer know who should be paid,” then it’s no longer a file. It’s an application that has never been written—and it deserves to be.