What our Application Operations team is excited about in Power Platform 2025 Release Wave 1
At The Factor, our Application Operations (App-Ops) team helps clients every day to keep their applications, environments, and platforms running seamlessly, resolving issues swiftly, monitoring proactively, and enabling new value at every turn.
The value-add to our App-Ops clients is to proactively suggest and enhance the solution as and when new functions and features are released by Microsoft or to quickly react when business requirements change. To ensure the team can spend more time on the value-add items, the team look to the Wave Releases to ensure the monitoring and reporting of the platform is as automated as possible and clients are making the most of their Microsoft investment.
Microsoft’s Power Platform Release Wave 1 (April 2025) offers a suite of new tools and capabilities that will help us further automate monitoring, reduce troubleshooting effort, and unlock even more value for our clients.
Here are five key features our team is particularly keen to implement:
1. A better admin experience: new Power Platform Admin Center
Use the new and improved Power Platform admin center →
With a new look and improved navigation, the updated admin center makes it easier to access core platform elements like Security, Deployment, Monitoring, Licensing, and Support. For teams living in the admin console, usability improvements here are always a win.
2. Business continuity + disaster recovery (Preview)
Business continuity and disaster recovery for Dynamics 365 SaaS apps.
Government agencies and departments often turn to us to help shape and align their BCDR (Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery) plans. This new feature allows us to perform DR drills in line with a client’s continuity protocols—an essential step in meeting regulatory requirements.
*This feature includes a storage-related licensing cost.
3. Version control for desktop flows
Enable version control for desktop flows →
This one’s a time-saver. With built-in version control, our team can compare different iterations of a Power Automate Desktop Flow, making debugging faster and improving overall change tracking.
4. Process maps for multi-flow automations
Generate process maps for multi flow automations →
Complex flows often come with hidden dependencies. This upcoming feature will help us visualise multi-flow automation processes, highlighting credentials, connections, and more. While it’s not expected to land until September 2025, it’s one we’re watching closely.
In the meantime, we’ll continue using our As-Built documentation approach.
5. Delegated admin via group admin roles (Public Preview)
Delegate admin responsibility with group admin roles →
This feature enables admin role delegation across grouped environments—perfect for clients where responsibility is split between teams. Setting up groupings in the Environment Groups tab does take some upfront planning, but it’ll provide greater clarity, security, and control across tenants.
Summary
The April 2025 release is packed with enhancements that align perfectly with how our App-Ops team delivers ongoing value to our clients: through proactive monitoring, improved security posture, and better automation tools.
Please note that preview features may be subject to change before general availability.
If you’d like to learn more about any of the features above, or how The Factor’s Application Operations approach can support your digital transformation journey, our team is always here for a conversation.
— Stu White