Installing a software application doesn't instantly confer all of the benefits of increased efficiency and process streamlining as outlined in the marketing material. The larger and more complex the system, the more that is required from an organization implementing it to realize the benefits and return on investment. The Microsoft 365 platform is a vast ecosystem encompassing multiple products, and fully utilizing its features goes way beyond just knowing how to operate the software. The Microsoft 365 Maturity Model is a framework used to assess an organization's business processes and cultural readiness to embrace the 365 platform. This course outlines that framework and how it is applied to gauge an organization's level of preparedness to achieve maximal benefit from the Microsoft 365 range of applications and services.
Learning Objectives
- Learn what the Microsoft 365 Maturity Model is
- Learn how the Microsoft 365 Maturity Model works
- Learn how the Microsoft 365 Maturity Model is applied
Intended Audience
This course is intended for students who want to know about the Microsoft 365 Maturity Model and its use. Students who plan to take the MS-600 exam: Building Applications and Solutions with Microsoft 365 Core Services need to know about the 365 Maturity Model and its relevance to an organization's business processes and culture.
Prerequisites
Students must be acquainted with the Microsoft 365 suite of products and services. You don't need to know about every aspect of the 365 platform in-depth, but you should know the intended use of each product and service.
I've mentioned no-code and low-code quite a bit, with some references to Power Apps. Dataverse for Teams is a relatively recent addition to Microsoft's low-code stable targeting MS Teams and leveraging the Dataverse backend technology. When you think about it, it's all in the name, although the Teams version of Dataverse is significantly pared back compared to the main Dataverse offering. You can build low and no-code apps, chatbots, and flows within the Teams environment with integrated data storage.
While Dataverse for Teams supports all the usual data types, including files and images, storage is limited to 2GB, which Microsoft equates to around one million rows. Obviously, this is dependent on the type of data you're saving. Solutions created in Dataverse for Teams are easily deployed with one click. Security is role-based, with user roles of owner, member, and guest, and admin roles of system administrator and customizer.
Dataverse for Teams operates in the context of an environment that is linked to a team. The environment is spun-up automatically within a team when you first create an app or a bot or install a Power App. There can only be one environment per team, but you can have five teams straight out of the box and an additional team for every 20 licensed users. Most 365 subscriptions have access to Dataverse for Teams if they also have access to the Power Platform and Teams.
Dataverse for Teams is designed to operate within a Teams' context, as the name suggests, but you can use it independently of Teams within a browser if you have a Power Apps license. But be aware that apps created in Microsoft Teams will not appear in the Make.Poweraspps.com app's list, and the same goes for Power Apps mobile app. With a standard license, you can Integrate with Dataverse for Teams in a Teams environment using the Dataverse connector and Power Automate. Premium license subscribers can access hundreds of standard and premium connectors.
However, you won't be able to access Dataverse via its API from Power Apps or Power Automate within Dataverse for Teams without upgrading to full Dataverse. In a similar vein, only apps, bots, and flows operating in the context of Microsoft Teams can access the Dataverse for Teams runtime. In other words, there is no provision for accessing the Dataverse for Team's API directly. Invited guests with access to Dataverse for Teams will only have discover and run permissions on apps, bots, and flows.
Hallam is a software architect with over 20 years experience across a wide range of industries. He began his software career as a Delphi/Interbase disciple but changed his allegiance to Microsoft with its deep and broad ecosystem. While Hallam has designed and crafted custom software utilizing web, mobile and desktop technologies, good quality reliable data is the key to a successful solution. The challenge of quickly turning data into useful information for digestion by humans and machines has led Hallam to specialize in database design and process automation. Showing customers how leverage new technology to change and improve their business processes is one of the key drivers keeping Hallam coming back to the keyboard.