Power Platform is still the big ticket item for the modern workplace

“Elegantly functional …some of the team hate that expression!  But to me, it sums up what we try to achieve for our customers.” 

 We sat down with Andrew Pacey, Deptive’s Modern Workplace Practice Manager, to talk all things Modern workplace. Andrew shares his thoughts on the Power Platform, why AI and Copilot might be on everyone’s lips but Power Apps is the big ticket item for enhancing business performance, and his recommendations to leaders who want to foster innovation. 

Can you describe your role as the Practice Manager of the Modern Workplace Practice and what your typical day involves?

I oversee a team of functional consultants who design, deliver and provide support for Microsoft solutions for customers.  Almost exclusively these days the solutions are within the M365 space.
I am typically involved in: 

• Pre-sales – looking to win work for the team. 
• Overseeing engagements the team is working on – liaising with our Project Manager. 
• Offerings – what we can deliver and market to clients 
• Managed Services – helping to support our clients 
• Internal initiatives – service improvements/delivery excellence 
• Strategic activities within our Leadership Team 
• Relationship management with clients – understanding them, supporting them, and hopefully growing our relationship with them  
• People Management/team development

The Cloud Computing landscape is vast, why has your Modern Workplace practice decided to specialise in Microsoft M365 with a key focus on Power Platform, SharePoint and Device Management? 

It’s not been a conscious decision, so much as a natural evolution – aligning with the Microsoft technology roadmap.  The offerings and the rate of change are so rapid these days that if you don’t keep up, you may really struggle to keep up. 

But, looking at the ‘big’ services within M365 such as the Power Platform, SharePoint (with Teams) and Device Management – they’re all key capabilities to business, which continue to offer increasing and meaningful value to individuals, teams, and businesses.  

It’s a great blend of information, communication, collaboration, automation, and productivity services, underpinned with world class security and compliance capabilities. All the capabilities in a single environment with a consistent and familiar UX and UI. 

What are the core principles that drive your team’s approach to work and collaboration? 

Out of the box by default – aligned with the Microsoft technology roadmap. 

We want to understand the problem the customer is trying to solve.  We want to design something that is functional and logical; something that is intuitive and consistent; something that is robust and most importantly something that is secure. 

I call it elegantly functional …some of the team hate that expression!  But to me, it sums up what we try to achieve for our customers. 

We think a good approach is starting with a solution that is simple and scalable. Like the builder’s approach of “measure twice, cut once”, we believe the parts that come before “the build” are the key to success – discovery, envision and ideation, design and importantly peer review.  All that – then build a quality solution. 

Ultimately most solutions are handed over to the customer to use, administer and in some cases support; so we think it’s important to bring them along on the journey, from discovery and shaping to design and testing and on to build and production. 

If we deliver a good solution and a good experience I think it’s more likely that our customer will want to work with us again and, maybe tell their friends about us.

Looking ahead, where do you see the Modern Workplace team heading in the next few years? 

Over the next few years we’re looking at AI, obviously that’s on everyone’s tongues. Everyone wants AI but they’re not quite sure how they want it. But it’s coming and we all know that. So that’s one of the biggest growth areas.  

The big ticket item for me though is the Power Platform, Power Apps is huge. It starts low, it gets big, it’s complex, it can be fast, it can be cheap, it can be expensive, it can deliver solutions to so many things. Customers can start creating and we can support that creation process. Automation, visibility, consistency, the Power Platform delivers all of that and businesses need that right now.  

The big piece that underpins all of this is security. I think security might have been a standalone practice or a niche capability. It’s now underpinning everything. Security for your identity, data, device applications, everything has got to be secure because the risks of not being are huge.  

And we’re seeing a lot of traction with advisory or assessments. It might be an environment, a solution or an application; customers are looking for expert guidance to review their set up or to help solve a known problem. 

How should companies prepare for the integration of tools like Microsoft Copilot and other AI technologies into their operations? 

AI is like water finding the weakest crack. What we’re telling companies is the basics. You’ve got to make sure that the right information is in the right place and can only be accessed by the right people, at the right time, for the right reasons. Information architecture, information security, information management. You’ve got to make sure your environment is clean and ready for AI because once you start using Copilot, for example, it will find everything you’ve got and it will bring it to you in a meaningful way. Make sure your house is in order before you jump on that boat. 

What do you appreciate most about the modern workplace team you lead?  What makes them unique?

They’re clever! We have different and complementary skills and experience and they’re technically strong. The team are good at listening and envisioning …and are all a bit creative. 

 They love what they do, and they love a challenge! 

What advice would you give to other leaders trying to foster innovation and adapt to rapidly changing tech landscapes? 

• Don’t customise if you don’t need to. 

• Create an environment that is consistent and familiar.  Make your environment and applications secure! 

• Listen to your end users, involve them, let them help shape your ideas, give feedback, provide testing etc. 

• Ask questions all the time.  Don’t be afraid to not know all the answers. Know who to ask to get what you don’t know. 

If your business is slowed by manual processes, get in touch. Our expert Modern Workplace team can deliver an elegantly functional solution.