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Summary
This article outlines governance and usage expectations for the Microsoft Power Platform suite at USNH. It includes guidance on responsible development, support, ownership, and administrative policies for Power Automate, Power Apps, Power BI (Fabric), and Dataverse. These guidelines ensure that Power Platform is used to deliver secure, sustainable, and value-driven automation and app solutions across the university system.
See also:
USNH SharePoint Usage Guidelines and Governance
USNH Information Classification Policy
Content
Platform Overview
Support and Consultation
Environment and Licensing Management
Ownership, Persistence, and Service Accounts
Development Best Practices for Power Platform Users
Responsible Use and Oversight
Security, Data Classification and Risk
Governance
End of Role or USNH Association
Platform Overview
Microsoft Power Platform includes:
- Power Automate (workflow automation)
- Power Apps (custom business applications)
- Power BI / Microsoft Fabric (data visualization and reporting)
- Dataverse (fee-based secure relational data storage)
The platform is available to faculty, staff, and students through their Microsoft 365 accounts. Use of Power Platform must comply with USNH data governance, security, and acceptable use policies.
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About Power BI / Microsoft Fabric
The M365 Power Platform administration team serves as the tenant administrator for Power BI and Microsoft Fabric, ensuring platform availability, licensing, and workspace governance.
However, user support, report development assistance, and consultation services are provided by the USNH Center for Data.
Users seeking help with building reports, designing dashboards, or connecting to institutional data sources should contact the Center for Data directly.
Support and Consultation Model (Power Automate, Power Apps)
The M365 SharePoint, Teams, and Power Platform Administration & Development team provides:
- Consultation, development, and design support for departments and users seeking to build automation or app-based solutions to improve business processes and internal workflows.
- Weekly drop-in office hours and best-effort support for general user-developed flows and apps. Sign up for Technical Office Hours
- Environment management, governance, and reporting via the Power Platform Center of Excellence (CoE).
While the team cannot not provide full lifecycle support for all user-created apps, they assist in troubleshooting, performance improvements, and aligning those apps with institutional standards and best practices. Request a consultation
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Environment & Licensing Management
Creating Environments
By default, users do not have the ability to create new environments - if your department has a project that needs its own Power Platform environment, you can request one be created for you via TeamDynamix.
Environment Management
All environments are created and managed by the USNH Power Platform admin team to ensure consistency, security, and proper data management.
Where to build apps or flows:
- For most department projects, use your department’s environment.
- If one hasn’t been set up yet, you can work in the default USNH environment.
Use of Premium features (like Dataverse or premium connectors)
These require a Premium license (Power Apps, or Power Automate), which your department must request and fund. Use of Dataverse may also come with additional charges managed by the M365 Tenant team.
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Ownership, Persistence & Service Accounts
Flows or apps that must persist beyond the departure of the original creator should be owned by a USNH-provided service account, stored in a Solution, and built within a managed environment.
Premium licensing must be purchased and funded by the requesting department. Use of Dataverse may also incur additional data storage or capacity charges, managed and billed by the tenant team. Projects requiring premium connectors or Dataverse should use a department owned service account licensed with Power Automate Premium or Power Apps Premium, as appropriate.
Projects not built with continuity in mind may become inaccessible and are subject to removal.
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Development Best Practices for Power Platform Users
To help ensure your Power Apps and Flows are easy to manage, understand, and maintain, we recommend the following:
- Group related work together using “Solutions”:
Think of a Solution like a project folder - it keeps all your related Flows and Apps in one place, making it easier to manage and share with others. More information from Microsoft can be found here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-apps/maker/data-platform/solutions-overview
- Use clear, consistent names:
When naming your apps or flows, include your campus and department so it’s easy for others to identify. Use this format: Campus-Department-Project-Process
- Naming Example for a Flow or App:
Recommended: UNH-FinAid-Billing-FormIntake
Not recommended: Invoice processing flow
- Include design notes and documentation:
Add helpful comments inside your Flow or App so others can understand what it does. If you have supporting documents (like requirements or forms), store them in your department SharePoint site.
- Keep things simple:
Avoid complex branching logic or unnecessary field restrictions. Simpler flows are easier to troubleshoot and more likely to work reliably with other Microsoft 365 tools.
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Responsible Use & Oversight
Power Platform users are expected to actively manage the apps and flows they create. Good stewardship ensures that tools remain functional, secure, and aligned with university goals.
Users should:
- Monitor their flows regularly to catch errors or failed runs and address issues promptly.
- Review app and flow performance to ensure tools continue to meet their intended purpose and don’t introduce unnecessary complexity or system strain.
- Remove or archive deprecated solutions that are no longer in use to reduce clutter and avoid confusion.
In addition:
- Admins may audit ownership or usage of apps and flows to ensure compliance with USNH data, security, and retention policies.
- Flows without an active owner (e.g., when a creator leaves the institution) may be removed if ownership is not transferred or reassigned.
- Misuse of Power Platform tools including inappropriate data handling or security risks may result in access being revoked.
If you’re unsure how to maintain or offboard a Power Platform solution, contact the Power Platform admin team for guidance.
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Security, Data Classification, and Risk
All users are responsible for ensuring that any data stored, processed, or transmitted via Power Platform tools (including Power Apps and Power Automate) complies with the USNH Information Classification Policy.
Key expectations include:
- Know your data. Before building a Power App or Flow, understand the classification level of the data you’ll be handling (Public, Protected, or Restricted). This determines what safeguards are required.
- Restricted and Protected data (e.g., FERPA-regulated student information, HIPAA-related content, or sensitive HR records) must not be used in Power Platform projects unless:
- You have received prior approval from the Power Platform admin team and/or Cybersecurity.
- Appropriate technical controls are in place, such as Sensitivity Labels, restricted environment access, and proper data loss prevention (DLP) configurations.
Data security is a shared responsibility. Users must avoid including sensitive or confidential data in apps or flows without validating the environment’s suitability. If in doubt, reach out to the USNH Power Platform administration team.
Note: AI Builder is not available for general use at USNH. Due to its advanced processing capabilities and associated costs, access is restricted. Departments must submit a formal request and undergo a review process before any use of AI Builder functionality is permitted.
Violations of these requirements may result in revoked access, data exposure risks, and institutional policy violations.
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Governance
USNH uses the Power Platform Center of Excellence (CoE) toolkit to help govern and support responsible use of Power Apps, Power Automate, and related tools. The CoE enables centralized visibility into activity across environments and ensures that Power Platform projects meet standards for usability, security, and lifecycle management.
What Users Should Expect:
- Notifications and Clean-Up Requests: Owners of flows or apps that appear unused, inactive, or abandoned may receive automated messages requesting they confirm continued use or retire the resource.
- Pre-Production Review Required for High-Impact Projects:
- Projects that are:
- Visible to large user groups,
- Affect business-critical operations, or
- Built to handle institutional sensitive data
must undergo a review by the Power Platform Admin team before being promoted to production. This helps ensure the solution meets technical, compliance, and supportability requirements.
What Admins Monitor:
Power Platform admins regularly audit the platform for:
- Inactive or unmonitored flows (e.g., no recent runs or error-prone runs with no remediation).
- Orphaned apps or flows—projects without an assigned owner, especially when the creator has left USNH.
- Unused or misconfigured environments—including those without current activity or those using unsupported features or connectors.
- Unsupported connectors or risky usage patterns that conflict with institutional data protection policies.
If an app or flow is found to be noncompliant, unused, or misconfigured:
- The owner will be notified and given a timeframe to remediate or respond.
- If no response is received, the app or flow may be disabled or removed to reduce risk and system clutter.
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End of Role or USNH Association
- Flows and apps tied to individual user accounts will be disabled when that user’s account licensing is deactivated.
- Departments should proactively transfer ownership to a service account or prepare for data loss if ownership remains with a single individual.
- Admins can assist in reviewing and transferring assets if notified in advance.
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Policy Updates
These guidelines may be updated as the platform evolves. Major updates will be published through official channels and incorporated into governance documentation.
Further Readings
Solutions in Power Apps overview
Microsoft Power Platform: Documentation
Need additional help?
For assistance concerning site creation, content sharing, file synchronization, or other common SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, or Office app activities, we recommend our Microsoft 365 Learning sites:
Learn more about the great tools our Microsoft 365 Learning sites offer!
Visit the Technology Help Desk Support page to locate your local campus contact information or to submit an online technology support request. For password issues you must call or visit the Help Desk in person.