Power Platform CoE Starter Kit

Success creates a new challenge. Hundreds of makers build thousands of apps and flows, and administrators lose track of them. The Center of Excellence Starter Kit gives organizations a ready-made toolbox to see, guide, and support that growth.

What a Center of Excellence Means

A Center of Excellence, often shortened to CoE, is a small team and a set of practices that help an organization use Power Platform well. The team sets standards, trains makers, reviews risky solutions, and celebrates good work.

What the Starter Kit Is

The CoE Starter Kit is a collection of templates and tools built by Microsoft. It is published as open-source material on GitHub, and it is not a standard product with a support contract. Report problems through the GitHub issue tracker. Organizations adapt the kit to their own needs.

+------------------- CoE STARTER KIT -------------------+
|                                                       |
|  CORE         inventory flows + admin apps + report   |
|  GOVERNANCE   compliance requests + app audits        |
|  NURTURE      training, onboarding, maker community   |
|                                                       |
+-------------------------------------------------------+
        reads from
+-------------------------------------------------------+
|  Admin APIs  -->  every environment in the tenant     |
+-------------------------------------------------------+

The Three Solution Groups

Core Components

Core flows collect an inventory of apps, flows, makers, connectors, and environments into Dataverse tables. Power BI dashboards and admin apps display the data. Install this group first.

Governance Components

Governance flows ask makers to confirm the purpose and ownership of apps. The kit flags apps that are shared widely, unused, or tied to departed employees, and routes follow-up tasks to the right person.

Nurture Components

Nurture tools build a community. They include a training catalog, a maker onboarding app, a template library, and an app catalog that helps employees find existing solutions.

Typical Questions the Kit Answers

Question	Where to look
How many apps exist in each environment?	Power BI dashboard
Who builds the most solutions?	Maker inventory
Which apps lost their owner?	Orphaned apps view
Which connectors are used most?	Connector inventory
Which apps nobody opens?	Usage and archive reports

Setup Outline

1. Create a dedicated environment for the kit, separate from user work.
2. Prepare accounts with the needed admin roles and licenses.
3. Download the latest release from the official GitHub repository.
4. Import the Core solution and complete the setup wizard.
5. Let the inventory flows run, which can take several hours for large tenants.
6. Open the Power BI template and connect it to the inventory data.
7. Add Governance and Nurture components when the team is ready.

Follow the current Microsoft documentation during setup, since steps and requirements change with each release.

The Governance Loop

  OBSERVE  -->  ENGAGE  -->  GUIDE  -->  IMPROVE
  (inventory)   (ask makers)  (training)  (update policies)
      ^                                        |
      +----------------------------------------+

The kit supports a friendly approach. Administrators observe activity, ask makers about their apps, offer training, and refine policies based on what they learn.

Layman Example: A City Library Census

A city library counts its books, notes which ones are borrowed, and contacts readers about overdue items. Librarians run reading clubs to bring in new readers. The Starter Kit performs the same census for apps and flows, and the nurture tools play the role of reading clubs.

Customization and Care

• Test updates in a separate environment before upgrading production.
• Remove features you do not need to reduce noise.
• Protect inventory data, since it lists employees and business systems.
• Assign a named owner who reviews dashboards every week.
• Combine the kit with DLP policies and Managed Environments.

Training Makers With the Kit

Use the nurture components to publish short training videos and a catalog of approved templates. New makers copy a template rather than starting from a blank page, and they inherit good habits from the first minute. Hold a monthly meetup where makers demonstrate their apps and ask questions.

Key Takeaways

The CoE Starter Kit turns scattered activity into clear data and supportive processes. Install the core inventory first, review the numbers regularly, and grow into governance and community features.