It’s natural for your business applications to grow over time as you introduce more data, evolve your needs or bring in new users. But if you aren’t careful, they can quickly spiral out of control, leading you with customisations you can’t keep track of and platforms that are out of control.
You’re probably familiar with the power of Dynamics 365 for things like managing customers or sales, and maybe you’ve even dabbled in the Power Platform to automate tasks or build simple apps. But as you build more complex solutions – maybe connecting different systems, adding custom features or having multiple people working on the same thing – things can get messy.
That’s where Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) steps in. In this guide, we explore what ALM is in more detail and how to master it for your business.
What is ALM?
Simply put, ALM is like having a well-organised roadmap and set of best practices for your Dynamics 365 and Power Platform projects. It’s the entire journey of your application, from the initial idea all the way through to when it’s being used every day and even when it needs updates. It helps you plan things out, build them correctly, test them thoroughly, deploy them smoothly, and keep them running reliably.
Why does ALM matter?
A good Application Lifecycle Management approach is key to project success. If not considered at the start of a project, it can cause serious problems further down the line.
An example of this might be a project which starts out with some simple customisations to Dynamics 365, completed in a single solution in a sandbox environment, and then manually deployed to production once tested. Whilst this scenario would likely satisfactorily satisfy the requirements of the project in its early stages, it won’t when the project progresses. Perhaps you add another developer is added to the team, or another testing environment.
Once this happens, it becomes much harder to track who has changed what, which version of a solution is in which environment and what might have caused an issue in the production environment.
Good ALM across your Dynamics 365 and Power Platform deployments ensures stability and quality as it provides a structured and controlled approach to building and managing business applications. Without ALM, you risk instability, errors and inefficient deployments due to a lack of standardised processes and isolated development environments.
Furthermore, ALM streamlines the entire application lifecycle, from initial planning to ongoing maintenance. It facilitates faster and more reliable deployments through automation, enhances collaboration among development teams, and improves overall governance and compliance. By establishing clear processes for change management and providing auditability, ALM minimises risks and ensures that modifications are well-documented and controlled.
In essence, embracing ALM in Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform is about moving beyond ad-hoc development towards a sustainable and scalable approach. It mitigates the dangers of deploying untested changes directly to live systems, reduces manual effort and lays the foundation for building and maintaining complex business solutions effectively, ultimately maximising the return on investment and ensuring long-term success.
Key components of ALM in Dynamics 365 and Power Platform
Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) in Dynamics 365 and Power Platform is supported by several key components and tools, each playing a critical role in ensuring efficient, reliable and governed application development and deployment. Let’s delve into these essential elements:Environments
A fundamental aspect of ALM is the strategic use of different environments. Typically, you’ll have a development environment where initial work is carried out, a testing or User Acceptance Testing (UAT) environment to validate changes, and a production environment for the live application. Effective environment management and provisioning are crucial for maintaining the integrity of your applications as they move through their lifecycle.Solutions
Solutions are the packaging mechanism in Dynamics 365 and Power Platform. They allow you to bundle components like tables, apps and flows, and move them between environments. A strong understanding of managed and unmanaged solutions is vital, as is following best practices for solution layering and versioning. Mastering the export and import of solutions is also key to successful ALM.Source control
Source control is a cornerstone of ALM. For Power Platform and Dynamics 365, it provides a secure and collaborative way to manage changes to your application’s building blocks. This includes tracking modifications to code components, configurations and customisations. Utilising branching and merging strategies within your source control system enables teams to work in parallel and manage changes effectively. Azure DevOps is often used for this.Automation
Automation is another critical component. Tools like Azure DevOps Pipelines and Power Automate can automate the build, test and deployment processes, streamlining your workflows and reducing manual errors. Implementing Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) practices can significantly accelerate your development cycles and improve the quality of your deliverables.Testing
Rigorous testing is paramount in ALM. This encompasses various types, including unit testing, integration testing and user acceptance testing. Employing the right tools and strategies for each testing phase ensures that your applications function as expected and meet business requirements.Monitoring and logging
The final piece of the puzzle is monitoring and logging. Tools like Azure Monitor and the Power Platform Admin Centre provide the ability to track the health and performance of your solutions. Effectively leveraging logs is essential for troubleshooting issues, diagnosing problems, and gaining insights into how your applications are being used.Best practices for ALM
Implementing a robust ALM strategy for your Dynamics 365 and Power Platform solutions is crucial for ensuring stability, efficiency and maintainability. By adhering to these guidelines, you can minimise risks, streamline deployments and empower your team to deliver high-quality solutions consistently.
Here are some essential best practices to consider:
Establish clear naming conventions for solutions, components and environments
Consistency is key to manageability. Implement a well-thought-out naming convention for your solutions, individual components (like tables, columns, flows, model-driven apps), and environments (e.g., DEV_UK, TEST_US, PROD). This significantly improves clarity, reduces confusion during deployments and makes it easier to identify and manage assets throughout their lifecycle. Your naming conventions should be documented and communicated clearly to all team members.
Implement a well-defined branching and merging strategy in source control
Source control systems like Azure DevOps Repos or GitHub are fundamental to ALM. Establish a clear branching strategy (e.g., Gitflow, GitHub Flow) that dictates how changes are developed, isolated and integrated. Define clear rules for creating branches for features or fixes, merging changes between branches and managing releases. This ensures code integrity, facilitates collaboration and allows for easy rollback if necessary.
Automate as much of the ALM process as possible
Manual processes are prone to errors and can be time-consuming. Identify repetitive tasks in your ALM workflow, such as solution packaging, environment provisioning, deployment and testing, and automate them using tools like Azure DevOps Pipelines, GitHub Actions, or the Power Platform Build Tools. Automation increases efficiency, consistency and reliability, freeing up your team to focus on more strategic activities.
Conduct thorough testing in dedicated environments
Never deploy directly to production. Establish a tiered environment strategy (e.g., Development, Test/UAT, Production) and ensure rigorous testing is conducted in dedicated test environments that closely mirror your production setup. This includes unit testing, integration testing, user acceptance testing (UAT) and potentially performance and security testing. Thorough testing significantly reduces the risk of introducing issues into your live environment.
Document your ALM processes and configurations
Comprehensive documentation is essential for knowledge sharing, onboarding new team members and maintaining the long-term health of your ALM implementation. Document your branching strategy, naming conventions, deployment processes, environment configurations and any custom scripts or automation workflows. Keep this documentation up-to-date and easily accessible to the entire team.
Train your team on ALM best practices
Successful ALM relies on a well-informed team. Provide adequate training to all team members involved in the development and deployment process on the established ALM best practices, tools and processes. This ensures everyone understands their roles and responsibilities and can contribute effectively to the overall ALM strategy.
Regularly review and refine your ALM strategy
The Dynamics 365 and Power Platform landscape is constantly evolving. Regularly review your ALM strategy and processes to identify areas for improvement. Gather feedback from your team, analyse deployment successes and failures and adapt your approach as needed to optimise efficiency and effectiveness.
Consider security and compliance requirements throughout the ALM lifecycle
Integrate security and compliance every stage of your ALM process. This includes secure coding practices, managing sensitive data in development and test environments, implementing appropriate access controls and ensuring your deployments adhere to relevant regulatory requirements. Incorporate security testing and compliance checks into your automated pipelines.
Utilise Power Platform CLI (Command Line Interface) for scripting and automation
The Power Platform CLI is a powerful tool for automating various ALM tasks. Leverage its capabilities for scripting solution management, environment administration, data migration and more. Integrating the Power Platform CLI into your automation pipelines can significantly streamline your ALM processes and enhance efficiency.
By embracing these best practices, you can build a robust and efficient ALM framework for your Dynamics 365 and Power Platform solutions, leading to more stable deployments, improved team collaboration and greater success in delivering valuable business applications.
Get on top of your Application Lifecycle Management
Implementing robust Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) practices is essential for maximising the value of your Dynamics 365 and Power Platform investments. By establishing clear naming conventions, employing a well-defined branching strategy, automating processes, conducting thorough testing and prioritising security and compliance, you can ensure the delivery of high-quality, reliable applications. Remember that ALM is an ongoing journey that requires continuous improvement and adaptation. Embrace these best practices and you’ll streamline your development processes, enhance collaboration and drive successful outcomes for your Dynamics 365 and Power Platform projects.And if you need support, we’re here to help. Find out more about our support contracts across the Microsoft stack.
