Admin Centers and Governance
Microsoft Power Platform includes multiple admin centers and maker portals. Learn what each one does, how governance tools keep things under control, and how the platform supports data privacy and accessibility.
Admin centers and maker portals
Think of a shopping mall.
The Power Platform admin center is the mall management office. This is where Aisha (the IT admin) controls the building — security, keys, electricity, who gets a lease.
The maker portals (Power Apps, Power Automate, Copilot Studio) are the individual shops. This is where Priya, Carlos, and Tom build their apps, flows, and chatbots.
The Microsoft 365 admin center is the city council — it manages licences and users across the whole organisation, not just the mall.
Each portal has a different purpose. The exam tests whether you know which one to use for a given task.
Where does each task happen?
| Feature | Power Platform Admin Center | Maker Portals | M365 Admin Center |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary user | IT admins (Aisha) | Business users and makers (Priya, Carlos, Tom) | Global admins, licence admins |
| Manage environments | Yes — create, delete, copy, reset | No — makers work within environments | No |
| DLP policies | Yes — create and manage | No | No |
| Capacity and storage | Yes — monitor and allocate | No | No |
| Build apps | No | Yes — Power Apps maker portal | No |
| Build flows | No | Yes — Power Automate maker portal | No |
| Build chatbots | No | Yes — Copilot Studio | No |
| Assign licences | No | No | Yes |
| Manage users and groups | Limited — security groups for environments | No | Yes — full user management |
| Analytics and reporting | Yes — environment and app analytics | Limited — personal flow analytics | Yes — M365 usage reports |
| URL | admin.powerplatform.microsoft.com | make.powerapps.com / make.powerautomate.com / copilotstudio.microsoft.com | admin.microsoft.com |
The portals at a glance
| Portal | URL | Who Uses It | Key Tasks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power Platform admin center | admin.powerplatform.microsoft.com | IT admins | Environments, DLP, capacity, analytics, tenant settings |
| Power Apps maker portal | make.powerapps.com | App makers | Build canvas and model-driven apps, manage tables |
| Power Automate maker portal | make.powerautomate.com | Flow makers | Build cloud flows, desktop flows, process mining |
| Copilot Studio | copilotstudio.microsoft.com | Bot makers | Build and publish chatbots with AI |
| Power Pages design studio | make.powerpages.microsoft.com | Web makers | Build external-facing websites |
| M365 admin center | admin.microsoft.com | Global admins | User accounts, licences, service health |
Exam tip: Admin center vs maker portal
If the exam asks “where does an admin manage DLP policies?” — the answer is always the Power Platform admin center.
If it asks “where does a maker build a canvas app?” — the answer is the Power Apps maker portal.
The key distinction: admins manage the platform (environments, policies, security). Makers build on the platform (apps, flows, bots). Licence management happens in the M365 admin center, not Power Platform.
Governance tools
Governance ensures the Power Platform stays under control as adoption grows. Aisha uses several tools:
| Tool | What It Does |
|---|---|
| DLP policies | Control which connectors can be used together (covered in Module 9) |
| Environment strategy | Separate dev, test, and production workloads with isolated environments |
| Managed solutions | Package apps, flows, and tables for controlled deployment from dev to production |
| CoE Starter Kit | Microsoft’s open-source toolkit: inventory of all apps/flows, maker activity, compliance checks, cleanup workflows |
| Tenant isolation | Prevent cross-tenant data sharing — block connections to external tenants |
| Maker welcome content | Custom onboarding message shown to new makers with governance guidelines |
The Center of Excellence (CoE) Starter Kit
The CoE Starter Kit is a collection of Power Platform components (apps, flows, dashboards) that help admins govern their environment at scale. It answers questions like:
- How many apps exist in my tenant?
- Which apps use premium connectors?
- Who are my most active makers?
- Are there apps with no owner (orphaned)?
- Which flows have been running with errors?
CoE Starter Kit is free
The CoE Starter Kit is open-source and free. It runs on the Power Platform itself — using Power Apps, Power Automate, and Dataverse to monitor the Power Platform. You deploy it into a dedicated environment and it inventories your entire tenant.
It is not built into the platform — it is an add-on you install. The exam may reference it as a governance tool.
Data privacy
Microsoft Power Platform is built on Microsoft’s cloud trust principles. For the exam, know these key areas:
| Privacy Area | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Data residency | You choose the geographic region for each environment. Data stays in that region. Coastal Logistics chooses Australia — their Dataverse data never leaves Australian data centres. |
| GDPR compliance | Power Platform supports General Data Protection Regulation requirements: data subject requests (export, delete personal data), consent management, and data processing agreements. |
| Encryption at rest | All Dataverse data is encrypted using Microsoft-managed keys. Optionally, you can bring your own encryption keys (customer-managed keys). |
| Encryption in transit | All data between the client and Power Platform services is encrypted with TLS 1.2+. |
| Audit logging | All user and admin activities are logged in the Microsoft Purview compliance portal. Who accessed what, when, and from where. |
| Compliance certifications | Power Platform holds ISO 27001, SOC 1/2/3, HIPAA, FedRAMP, and 90+ other compliance certifications. |
What is data residency?
Data residency means your data is stored in a specific geographic region and does not leave it. When Aisha creates a Production environment, she selects “Australia” as the region. All Dataverse data, backups, and metadata for that environment are stored in Australian data centres.
This is critical for organisations with regulatory requirements — healthcare, government, and financial services often require data to remain within national borders.
Accessibility
Microsoft is committed to making Power Platform accessible to all users, including those with disabilities:
| Feature | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Accessibility Checker | Built into Power Apps. Scans your app for accessibility issues — missing alt text, low contrast, keyboard navigation gaps. Provides a report with fix suggestions. |
| WCAG 2.1 compliance | Power Apps controls are designed to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Level AA. |
| Screen reader support | Power Apps canvas apps support screen readers (Narrator, JAWS, NVDA). Model-driven apps have native screen reader support. |
| Keyboard navigation | All Power Platform portals and apps support full keyboard navigation — no mouse required. |
| High contrast mode | Power Apps and Power Automate maker portals support Windows high contrast themes. |
| Tab order control | Makers can set the tab order for controls in canvas apps to ensure logical keyboard navigation. |
Priya checks her app
Before releasing her marketing campaign app, Priya runs the Accessibility Checker in Power Apps. It flags three issues:
- Two images missing alt text
- One button with low colour contrast
- A form field without a visible label
She fixes all three in ten minutes. The app is now accessible to Spark & Co’s entire team, including a colleague who uses a screen reader.
Exam tip: Accessibility Checker
The exam may ask: “What tool helps makers ensure their Power Apps canvas app meets accessibility standards?”
Answer: The Accessibility Checker, built into Power Apps Studio. It checks for issues like missing labels, low contrast, and missing alt text, and provides specific recommendations.
🎬 Video walkthrough
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Admin Centers and Governance — PL-900 Domain 2
Admin Centers and Governance — PL-900 Domain 2
~11 minFlashcards
Knowledge Check
Aisha needs to create a DLP policy that prevents connectors from being used with external services in the Production environment. Where should she go?
Which tool helps Aisha get an inventory of all Power Apps and Power Automate flows across her entire tenant?
Priya wants to ensure her Power Apps canvas app works for a colleague who uses a screen reader. What built-in tool should she use first?
Congratulations! You have completed Domain 2: Manage the Microsoft Power Platform Environment. You now understand Dataverse, tables, columns, relationships, business logic, Copilot table creation, data import/export, environments, security, admin centers, governance, data privacy, and accessibility.