How EUM and Power Pages Work Together

Microsoft Power Pages is a low-code web development platform designed to empower businesses with the ability to quickly create, customize, and manage web applications. Recognizing the growing demand for efficient, user-friendly web solutions that integrate seamlessly with their existing suite of products, Microsoft developed Power Pages to address the need for robust web capabilities without extensive coding requirements. This platform enables organizations to build professional websites that handle complex data needs while maintaining the simplicity and integration benefits of the Power Platform ecosystem.

What is Microsoft Power Pages?

Power Pages promises to integrate seamlessly with other Microsoft products, allowing users to leverage the full power of the Microsoft ecosystem, including Dynamics 365 and Dataverse, to build comprehensive digital experiences. It provides a rich set of templates, design tools, and security features, ensuring that users can create sophisticated, responsive websites efficiently and effectively.

Microsoft introduced Power Pages to address the growing demand for agile, scalable web development solutions that can keep pace with the rapid evolution of digital business needs. By lowering the technical barriers to website development, Microsoft aims to empower organizations to quickly create and deploy web applications that support business processes, customer engagement, and data integration. The primary use cases highlighted by Microsoft include customer portals, partner and employee engagement platforms, and community forums. These applications can significantly enhance the user experience and streamline operations, offering benefits such as improved customer service, increased productivity, and better data management. With Power Pages, Microsoft claims that organizations can achieve faster time-to-market, reduced development costs, and greater flexibility in responding to business challenges.

Is Power Pages Right For Me?

While Microsoft Power Pages offers a robust platform for web development and data integration, it may not be the ideal solution for every business. The decision to implement Power Pages should be based on specific business requirements, technical needs, and the overall goals of your organization. Understanding the unique advantages and limitations of Power Pages can help you determine if it's the right fit for your web development and user management needs. Consider the following criteria to assess whether Power Pages aligns with your business objectives.

Yes, If…

• Your organization heavily utilizes Microsoft products like Dynamics 365 and Power Platform
• Your organization has stringent security and compliance standards
• Your organization needs advanced reporting on user behaviour and application performance
• Your web applications require integrations with Microsoft Dataverse for complex data handling
• Your web pages are only accessible to authenticated users

No, If…

• Your organization requires basic website functionalities without integrations into your Dynamics 365 or Dataverse applications
• Your integrations are to Microsoft 365, not Dynamics 365 or Dataverse
• Your web pages are all publicly accessible and don’t require user authentication
• Your organization has a tight budget and needs a more cost-effective solution that meets basic requirements

Power Pages User Oboarding and Authentication

Power Pages is a super-extensible portal platform that is very well suited to providing secure access for external users to forms, workflows, data, and business processes. What it doesn’t do is deal with the authentication of those users. In this session we’ll cover the different options you have as a developer, and how you can use this platform in a variety of scenarios. Not a developer? Don’t worry, this isn’t a coding session, it is mainly an architecture session to guide you down the right path for your business case.

There are a number of different options for authentication in Power Pages:

• Microsoft Entra ID B2C (formerly Azure AD B2C)
• Microsoft Entra External ID (Preview)
• Microsoft Entra ID B2B (formerly Azure AD B2B)
• Third party products
• Roll your own identity provider

While B2C is the most common method, and it works well if all the Power Pages integrations are to Dynamics 365 or Dataverse, if richer integrations into Microsoft 365 are desired, then B2B is the better choice. While there is some SharePoint Online integration natively in Power Pages, to light up the full power of SharePoint, Teams, Viva Engage, and other Microsoft 365 apps, the portal users need to be authenticated through B2B.

Three Ways EUM Works with Power Pages

Extranet User Manager (EUM) and Microsoft Power Pages can combine to create a powerful solution for managing content and data within the Dynamics 365 and Power Platform ecosystems. By leveraging Power Pages' low-code platform and EUM's expertise in secure, seamless user management, clients can maximize their Microsoft investment through simplified website creation, enhanced security, and seamless integration.

If you checked a combination of No's and Yes' above, don't worry, there is a solution for you. EUM complements Power Pages by accommodating a wider range of use cases and providing enhanced functionality. Our products integrate seamlessly with Power Pages, ensuring that your specific needs are met, whether they involve managing external users, adding advanced features, or finding a cost-effective alternative. Here are three key ways in which EUM works with Power Pages to maximize efficiency, security, and user management.

1. Manage Portal Users

If you're planning on rich Microsoft 365 integrations as well as your Dynamics 365 and Dataverse integrations, you'll want your users to be managed through Entra ID B2B. You could build a full user management solution in your Power Pages portal, but it is much easier to use EUM to do this.

Key benefits of managing your portal users through EUM are:

• Delegated user management allows staff or external user administrators to invite, update, and remove users
• One at a time or bulk Excel import and update
• Easily configurable rules around the email domain allow list and block list and approval workflows
• Power Automate workflow integration
• Full API and webhooks for customizations

A typical scenario would be to have staff or external admins invite users through EUM, which creates their guest accounts in Entra ID B2B. Users could then directly log into the Power Pages portal, which would automatically create a Contact record in Dataverse, or with a simple Power Automate workflow, the full profile data could be written to Dataverse when the user is invited.

Once the users are created in EUM, they not only have access to the Power Pages portal, but they can also be granted access to SharePoint Online sites, Microsoft Teams, and Viva Engage communities.

From a security perspective, the full power of Entra ID is available to administrators. Conditional Access Policies can be configured to require Multi-Factor Authentication, Terms of Use can be enforced on sign-in, and Information Protection can be applied through sensitivity labels, rights management, and document encryption.

2. Power Pages EUM Add-Ons

EUM enhances Power Pages through additional functionalities such as registration, document sharing, and meeting management. The Data Room add-on provides seamless document sharing capabilities, including:

• Sharing documents from SharePoint Online
• Requesting and collecting specific documents from external site members
• Collaborating and co-authoring documents within the Power Pages portal

Additionally, EUM Self-Service Registration can be embedded into Power Pages, allowing for customized user registration processes. This feature supports logic for approved and blocked email domains and approval rules, catering to various business needs.

3. EUM Only Solution

In some scenarios, EUM can be used as an alternative to Power Pages. This is particularly beneficial when:

• The external sharing scenario is mainly for the broader Microsoft 365 suite, including Teams and SharePoint Online, with little or no Dynamics 365 or Dataverse integration requirements
• There is a need for a consistent licensing model for a large, active user group
  • Power Pages licensing is based on Monthly Active Users and can become expensive as the number of users grows into many thousands
• Integrations into other line-of-business systems are necessary; EUM's rich API supports integrations not just with Dynamics CRM and Dataverse, but HubSpot, Salesforce, SAP, and any other system that supports API integrations
• A decentralized user management structure is required, where multiple admins represent different external user groups, ensuring streamlined and frictionless management

Why would I use EUM with Power Pages?

The combination of EUM and Power Pages offers numerous advantages. EUM simplifies user management by making onboarding, managing, and offboarding external users easy, reducing administrative burdens and ensuring a streamlined process. It enhances security through integration with Entra ID B2B, ensuring that user authentication and access management adhere to Microsoft's high security standards. Additionally, EUM's self-service registration and customizable user management features provide a smooth user experience, making it easier for external users to access the portal.

 The ability to embed EUM's platform products within Power Pages portals ensures that all functionalities work together seamlessly, providing a cohesive and efficient web experience. By integrating EUM with Power Pages, organizations can achieve a seamless, secure, and efficient web experience that maximizes the potential of their Microsoft 365 investment.