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Power Pages in Microsoft Dataverse

Flying Start

Power Pages, a web-based platform for website development, had been around for years before it started to become popular. Originally only available in Dynamics 365 CRM, Power Pages now has the status of a standalone product on the Power Platform. The purpose has remained the same, though: transferring content from Microsoft Dataverse to the Internet and making it available there, either anonymously or with authentication. The appeal lies in the fact that the data you need is often already available in Dataverse or can be easily imported into Dataverse by virtual tables.

Access-Based Licensing

Power Pages has its own licensing system that distinguishes between internal and external visitors. External access by way of the Internet is by people who do not belong to the portal creator's organization. Different license packages are available for these users, depending on whether access to the portal is anonymous. The portal operator can deny anonymous access and only allow authenticated access, which is quite common in practice because it saves money.

A separate license is required to authenticate access from the portal operator's tenants, which is often necessary to manage data in a separate model-driven app. A Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement license is sufficient in this case, although a Microsoft 365 Power App license is not.

Azure-Based Security

Power Pages is based on the Power Platform and therefore on Microsoft Azure, which means Azure modules such as a web application firewall (WAF), DDoS protection, and other network functions can be used in Power Pages. These services are managed by Microsoft, meaning admins do not have to worry about managing them. A Power Pages portal can have a Development or Production status. Many functions do not become available until the portal transitions to Production. Also