PL-900 Practice Question: Describe the business value of Microsoft Power Platform
A government agency needs to modernize a paper-based permit approval process. The solution must enforce strict access control, provide an audit trail, and allow citizens to submit applications online. The agency uses Microsoft 365 and has a Power Platform license. Which approach should they take?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates assume Power Apps canvas apps can serve as an external citizen portal, but they require internal user licenses and cannot be accessed anonymously, whereas Power Pages is specifically designed for external-facing, authenticated self-service portals.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use Power Pages for citizen submissions, Dataverse for storage, and Power Automate for approvals
It combines Power Pages for external citizen-facing submission portals, Dataverse for secure, auditable data storage with role-based access control, and Power Automate for automated approval workflows. This architecture meets all requirements: strict access control (Dataverse roles), audit trail (Dataverse change tracking and auditing), and online citizen submissions (Power Pages).
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use Power Automate with AI Builder to process paper forms and store in SharePoint
Why it's wrong here
AI Builder is for optical character recognition, but the goal is digitization, not scanning paper.
- ✗
Build a Power Apps model-driven app for internal staff and a canvas app for citizens
Why it's wrong here
Canvas app for citizens would require authentication, not ideal for anonymous submissions.
- ✗
Use Power BI to create a dashboard and Power Automate for approvals
Why it's wrong here
Power BI does not provide a submission portal.
- ✓
Use Power Pages for citizen submissions, Dataverse for storage, and Power Automate for approvals
Why this is correct
Power Pages handles external submissions, Dataverse provides audit and security, Power Automate manages approvals.
Quick reference
Access Control Model Comparison
| Model | Acronym | Who Controls Access? | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discretionary Access Control | DAC | Resource owner | Small teams, file shares |
| Mandatory Access Control | MAC | System / security labels | Classified govt / military |
| Role-Based Access Control | RBAC | Administrator (via roles) | Enterprise environments |
| Attribute-Based Access Control | ABAC | Policy engine (user + resource attributes) | Fine-grained, dynamic policies |
| Rule-Based Access Control | RuBAC | System rules / ACLs | Firewall rules, network ACLs |
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PL-900 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PL-900 exam.