Every organisation needs technology to work smarter, cut costs, and stay competitive. Microsoft Power Platform is a powerful tool for this, but many teams struggle to adopt it successfully. Even when people are eager to use it, obstacles can often slow things down.
To build solutions that drive real business results and make a meaningful impact, we need to remove these obstacles.
The key to success is people.
Collaboration, clear communication, and the right mix of skills make all the difference.
This article looks at the biggest challenges in adopting the Power Platform and how to solve them by people working together.
Common Power Platform Adoption Challenges
Lack of Funding for Licensing and Implementation
Power Platform includes some free features with Microsoft 365, but they are limited. Many organisations need premium licenses for scalable, long-term solutions. However, teams often struggle to explain the value of premium licensing to decision-makers. Without approval, they end up creating workarounds that build up technical debt and cost more in the long run.
An example of this is where a developer used 15 SharePoint lists instead of a single Dataverse table because premium Power Apps licenses weren’t approved. The results ended up being a messy, hard-to-maintain app that required expensive consultants to fix, and overall cost a lot more.
Lack of Support from IT
Some IT teams block or slow down Power Platform adoption. They are not doing this to make things difficult but it’s their job worry about security, governance, and limited resources to support new tools. As a result, business users can struggle to innovate and move business improvements forward.
Lack of Skills and Knowledge
Adopting Power Platform isn’t just about using the technology it also requires business, technical, and collaboration skills. Without people working together and leveraging their different skills and expertise, projects can fail due to unclear goals, poor communication and poorly designed solutions that don't meet user and business needs.
How to Overcome These Challenges
Securing Funding for Power Platform
To secure funding, don’t focus on just the cost, but instead the return on investment (ROI) and how the solution aligns with business goals.
Understand leadership goals and learn what decision-makers care about.
Define success metrics that are clear measures of business impact.
Compare costs and benefits and show how the right licensing saves time and money or help get better business results.
Build a small prototype or proof of concept to bring your ideas to life and demonstrate what the results might be.
As an example, I was recently working with a company that was comparing Power Apps ($5/user/month) with Dynamics 365 ($105/user/month). At first, Power Apps seemed cheaper. But after reviewing data costs and staffing needs, they saw that Dynamics 365 would save $74,800 per year, and provided more benefits, making it the better choice.
Gaining IT Buy-in and Support
To gain IT’s support, help them see how Power Platform fits their needs.
Align with IT goals and show them how Power Platform helps manage security and reduces “shadow IT”. There’s a lot available in the Power Platform admin centre and it’s being updated all of the time.
Work with IT to start a Centre of Excellence and implement the Power Platform CoE starter kit to give IT additional tools to monitor and manage the Power Platform.
Co-create governance guidelines with IT to set security and data policies in relation to the Power Platform.
Educate IT and provide training so they understand the platform’s benefits.
When IT sees that Power Platform supports their goals instead of working against them, they are more likely to help.
Enabling Employees for Power Platform Success
For successful adoption, teams working on Power Platform projects need:
People to lead collaborative teamwork and help business users and developers work together.
People who train others and champion the Power Platform.
A space to share best practices, success stories and support users.
To be made up of people with a diverse range of skills and experiences (sponsors, business/product owners, IT, developers, and users) who will take action in support of the solution being built.
Experts in various aspects of the Power Platform who can provide guidance on best practices and prevent solutions that may lead to technical debt and fail to meet their objectives.
By building a culture of collaboration and knowledge-sharing, organisations can create long-lasting, impactful solutions.
People Are the Key to Power Platform Success
Looking at the common challenges and the ways to overcome, Power Platform adoption success boils down to two key things:
Co-design Power Platform Adoption
The key to success is having someone on your team who can engage different stakeholders (sponsors, business/product owners, IT, developers, and users) and understand their needs. This person should help align these groups and facilitate the co-creation of solutions that benefit the entire organisation.
Successful collaboration requires input from all key stakeholders: sponsors, business/product owners, IT, developers, and users. No single group can do it alone. Makers cannot build effective solutions without leadership sponsorship and IT support.
To bring these groups together and align on shared goals, a strong facilitator is essential.
Start with a small project to show each stakeholder the benefits of Power Platform with minimal risk and investment. Include all key stakeholders in this project. Done right, this approach can unlock new opportunities for innovation within the organisation.
Expert Help for the Power Platform
Most organisations lack in-house expertise in Power Platform, making external experience critical for successful adoption. Without the right skills, teams may struggle to design scalable solutions, optimise licensing, or implement best practices—leading to inefficiencies, higher costs, and missed opportunities. External experts bring deep knowledge, real-world experience, and proven methodologies to help organisations navigate challenges, avoid common pitfalls, and unlock the full potential of Power Platform. They also provide valuable guidance on governance, security, and user adoption strategies, ensuring long-term success. By leveraging outside expertise, organisations can accelerate innovation and maximise their return on investment.
Conclusion
Technology alone won’t make Power Platform adoption work, people will.
To succeed, organisations must:
Show the ROI to secure funding.
Work with IT, not against them.
Build strong teams with the right mix of skills.
What’s Next?
Identify the biggest barriers in your organisation to Power Platform adoption.
Invest in people, collaboration and training matter just as much as technology.
Consider bringing in a skilled facilitator to guide the process.
How has your team handled Power Platform adoption challenges? Share your experience in the comments.
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