Centre of Excellence (CoE)

Build with confidence and compliance.
When scale and governance matter.

As usage of Microsoft Power Platform grows across teams, departments and portfolios, so does the need for clear oversight and consistent controls.

We design and implement Centre of Excellence (CoE) models that enable innovation across Microsoft Power Platform, while maintaining strong governance by design.

Scaling Microsoft Power Platform with confidence and intent

Your teams are already using Microsoft Power Platform to automate processes, build applications and improve services. As that capability expands, the opportunity is how to make that innovation repeatable, visible and well supported.

A Centre of Excellence (CoE) provides the operating model to do exactly that. It establishes shared standards, consistent ways of working and the right level of governance so innovation can scale smoothly without increasing risk.

The Factor solution

A well designed CoE allows you to extend Microsoft Power Platform capability across teams. Our approach starts with three core foundations

Application design aligned to your workflows and governance frameworks

We begin by understanding how your organisation already works.

This includes aligning application design and delivery approaches to your business processes, approval pathways and governance frameworks. Applications are designed to support real operational workflows, not generic patterns, ensuring they are fit for purpose from day one.

Embedded platform standards, security and governance by design

As scale increases, consistency matters.

We embed environment strategy, platform standards, security controls and governance best practices directly into your CoE model. This includes identity and access considerations, data loss prevention approaches, lifecycle management and visibility across environments.

Governance becomes part of how teams build and operate.

Flexible operating models that adapt to your organisation

No two organisations scale the same way.

We design CoE operating models that adapt to your Department or Agency structure, balancing central oversight with distributed delivery. This ensures teams can innovate responsibly while maintaining accountability and alignment with your operating model.

Experience

See Microsoft Business Applications and AI in action through real world use cases relevant to your industry and operating environment.

Build

Work alongside The Factor team to build a working solution during the session using your processes, data and scenarios where possible.

Apply

Understand how the solution fits within your governance, security and compliance frameworks, and how it integrates with your existing environment.

Extend

Identify where this capability can be expanded, reused or scaled across teams, services or portfolios.

What a CoE delivers for you

With a Centre of Excellence in place, you can:

empower teams to build and automate responsibly
establish clear standards for Power Apps, Power Automate and Power Pages
maintain visibility across environments and solutions
apply security, data loss prevention and lifecycle management consistently
scale innovation in line with your operating model

The outcome is a scalable delivery model that supports innovation with confidence and consistency.

How a Centre of Excellence works in practice

A Centre of Excellence is an operating model you design to fit how you already work. The Factor’s approach brings together governance, enablement and platform insight, aligned to Microsoft Power Platform and your organisational context.

Operating model and governance alignment

We align Power Platform governance with your existing IT, security and operating models.

This includes environment strategy, identity and access considerations, data loss prevention approaches and lifecycle management. The CoE should feel like a natural extension of your current operating model.

Microsoft CoE Starter Kit design

At the core of the engagement is the design of your Microsoft Power Platform CoE Starter Kit implementation.

We help define how the Starter Kit should operate in your environment, focusing on what genuinely supports scale and oversight. This includes tailoring:

governance and visibility components
environment and solution monitoring
usage and adoption insights
controls that support growth without adding friction

The Starter Kit becomes a practical management tool, not just a technical deployment.

Roles, engagement and enablement

We work with you to define clear roles and responsibilities across business, IT and security, along with decision making paths and engagement models.

We also shape training, enablement and support approaches so teams know how to build, when to engage, and where guidance sits. This strengthens collaboration while reducing unnecessary complexity.

Why a Centre of Excellence with The Factor

The Factor designs Centres of Excellence specifically for organisations operating Microsoft Power Platform in regulated environments.

We understand how to balance enablement with accountability, and how to design governance that actively supports delivery.

You work with a team that:

Why The Factor

We’ve delivered 150+ Projects across Microsoft Business Applications & AI Agents, supporting over 300,000 users.

We bring delivery maturity from Government and regulated Enterprise contexts, combined with deep Microsoft platform expertise.

Ready to get started?

Envisioning Workshops

The organisations we work with are already delivering in complex, regulated environments. They’re investing in Microsoft platforms and looking to extend that investment where it will have the greatest impact.

Kick off your CoE Design with an Envisioning Workshop.