ENGINEERED CODE BLOG

Power Pages: A Platform for ISVs?

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Nicholas Hayduk

Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) have been an important part of the Microsoft Business Applications space for a long time. ISVs create solutions that build on top of the platforms and products that Microsoft provides off-the-shelf. As the Power Platform has continued to grow and evolve, more opportunities have presented themselves for ISVs. In this post, I’ll look at what ISVs might want to consider when looking at incorporating Power Pages as part of their offering.

Power Pages: Dataverse at its Core

Posted on July 4, 2023 by Nicholas Hayduk

Microsoft’s Power Platform is constantly growing and evolving. As much as everyone (especially Microsoft) wishes that all parts of the Power Platform worked seamlessly together, the reality is that many parts of the Power Platform existed long before Microsoft started using the word Power to group these technologies together. However, I believe that advancements in virtual tables, specifically for Power Pages, emphasizes the fact that Dataverse should be at the core of any Power Platform implementation.

Power Pages: Are They Really Worth $2 per User per Month?

Posted on June 8, 2023 by Nicholas Hayduk

The price point for Power Pages has long been a tricky discussion point. The pricing model has changed a few times of the years, and organizations can feel frustrated if they are on the wrong end of who ends up paying less and more when the model changes. In this blog post, I’ll review the history of the pricing for the product, and provide my opinion on whether I think the cost is justified by the value.

Power Pages: When to Use (and When Not To)

Posted on March 6, 2023 by Nicholas Hayduk

The growth of Power Pages has been an amazing story. Since being acquired by Microsoft in 2015, the product has gone from a niche add-on for Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement to a full-fledged product in the Power Platform. The visibility that comes with getting equal billing to other Power Platform products like Power BI, Power Apps, and Power Automate means that new people are discovering Power Pages all of the time. However, as with any software product, Power Pages isn’t always a fit, even if your project fall under the category of low code web application development platforms. In this post, I will share what I look for when trying to determine if Power Pages is a fit for a given project.

A Brief History of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Portal: Where We’ve Been, and Where We’re Going

Posted on March 13, 2019 by Nicholas Hayduk

My latest article for MSDynamicsWorld.com was published today. Coming up on the three year anniversary of the first release of Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 Portal, I thought it was an appropriate time to review the history, from its inception as Adxstudio Portals, to the acquisition, to where the platform has come, and is going, under the direction of Microsoft.

Portal Options for Dynamics 365 On-Premise Customers

Posted on February 7, 2019 by Nicholas Hayduk

I’ve been asked a few times recently about my recommendations for customers who aren’t using Dynamics 365 Online but still want portal functionality. In this post I’ll present some options and provide my two cents.

New XrmToolBox Plugin to Cleanup After Portals v7 to v8 Upgrade

Posted on July 19, 2018 by Nicholas Hayduk

When using the Microsoft-provided PowerShell scrips to assist with an upgrade from Portals v7 to v8, there are a few known issues that could still leave your data in an undesirable state. We’ve released an XrmToolBox plugin to help address a couple of those items.

Using Microsoft Flow and Uptime Robot to Keep Adxstudio Portals Site Alive

Posted on July 6, 2018 by Nicholas Hayduk

We have an Adxstduio Portals v7 site that’s been causing us grief recently by getting stuck in an error state. The error state is easily resolved by clearing the cache, but this solution required manual intervention. Since the site is currently being upgraded to v8, we didn’t want to invest too much into finding the root cause – it was easier to just kill the cache when the site went down. But what was even easier was using Microsoft Flow and Uptime Robot to do the job for us.

Automatic Cache Invalidation for xRM Portals Community Edition

Posted on May 9, 2018 by Nicholas Hayduk

In a January blog post on upgrading to the xRM Portals Community Edition, I promised to look into automatic cache invalidation. It only took a few months, but I’m finally delivering on that promise.

Upgrading to xRM Portals Community Edition: Lessons Learned

Posted on January 24, 2018 by Nicholas Hayduk

Having gone through the entire process of upgrading a customer from Adxstudio v7 to xRM Portals Community Edition, I’d like to share what I’ve learned so that it might make your upgrade process a smoother experience.