The Microsoft Suite of applications that the University of Manitoba has access to is not recommended for Enterprise-wide capability and is more suited to departmental scope.

This does not mean that all departmental-sized initiatives can automatically leverage the options made available by Microsoft successfully, and we highly recommended a consultation with IST.

Microsoft frequently changes capability and product offerings, which can impact any applications built in the environment; a willingness to respond and adjust is required.

Consultations and standards

• Teams can submit a Service Request to the IST SharePoint group for a consultation about their application idea and to be informed of any existing solutions and alternatives.
• System/Functional accounts are recommended for departmental applications, workflows, and connectors for any SharePoint and Power Platform application development.
  • Submit a Service Request to the IST Service Desk to obtain a System/Functional account.
  • Personal accounts are not recommended as the primary owner of departmental applications, flows, and connectors.

Azure Security Groups are recommended for access management.

• For complex applications, IST recommends creating a development version of the application so that you can perform appropriate testing before applying upgrades or deploying to a production environment.

U of M Compliance

• Confirm any IT Security, Privacy and Records requirements before building your application by consulting with:
  • IT Security and Compliance by requesting a Threat Risk Assessment.
  • Access and Privacy Office and Records Management by requesting a Privacy Impact Assessment.

Ownership

• SharePoint and Teams Sites
  • All SharePoint Communication sites must have an individual as an owner (SharePoint site owner).
  • All Team sites must have individuals as owners.
  • Make multiple people an owner of your site.
    • Best practices recommend at least two owners for business continuity. Ensure owners know what it means to be an owner and don’t accidentally select options detrimental to your functionality (such as accidentally deleting your Teams site).

Documentation

• Application Development Guide
  • IST recommends creating appropriate documentation from a development perspective.
  • Clear instructions are necessary so that any departmental personnel who provide support have appropriate reference material to troubleshoot when required.
• End User Guide
  • IST recommends creating appropriate documentation to assist anyone using the application to be self-supported.

Licensing

• It is important to be aware that you may incur additional costs to leverage Microsoft 365 capability for a departmental application.
• Submit a Service Request for any licensing inquiries.

Third-Party Development

• If a third-party developer is involved, ensure you have a support contract and a warranty period for upkeep.
• IST does not Support Power Platform content and functionality issues.
• IST will assist with permissions issues.

• When making documentation, remember your audience and be aware that licensing can be an issue if someone needs to support your application.
• Pay attention to licensing and avoid premium/specialized/license-only use situations that would lock out a ‘regular’ end user from using or maintaining your application (and if you need to do this, document it thoroughly within your unit).
• Lists are not infinite. After about 5,000 entries, the automation can no longer run because the list takes too long to respond. Include automation to clean up/archive your lists.
• Because M365 group names are unique and non-reusable, make decisions regarding naming carefully and be intentional when creating sites. Ensure you spell the name of your site correctly.
• SharePoint sites can be useful for access restrictions to Power Platform applications. Consider a consultation request with IST if you need assistance with SharePoint permissions.
• Choose a low code/no code approach over customizations using code such as C# or JavaScript.

• If an employee or student develops the applications/flows, ensure they leave sufficient documentation and provide sufficient in-unit training as support for Power Platform content and functionality outside of permissions issues is not within the IST M365 support guidelines.
• Rename your components by appending the default with specific, distinct, and unique names so that someone looking at your application/flow later can a) know what default component it is and b) they don’t all look the same and can be easily picked out of the various auto-generated lists M365 gives developers while building.

• For complex applications and large numbers of interconnected flows, create a development version replicating your production application/flow so that you can test out new functionality before implementing it.