PL-900 Practice Question: Demonstrate the capabilities of Power Automate
Which TWO actions can you take to improve the performance and reliability of a Power Automate cloud flow? (Choose 2)
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 parallel branches for independent actions.
Option A is correct because parallel branches let independent actions execute concurrently instead of waiting on each other, reducing overall flow run duration and improving throughput in Power Automate cloud flows. Option D is correct because 'Configure Run After' settings allow an action to run even when a previous action fails, times out, or is skipped, enabling error handling, retry logic, and graceful failure recovery that directly improves reliability. Option B is incorrect because forcing all actions to run sequentially increases run time and does not inherently prevent conflicts, so it degrades rather than improves performance. Option C is incorrect because using 'Apply to each' loops for all list operations adds unnecessary iteration overhead and can hit concurrency and throttling limits, hurting performance. Option E is incorrect because adding approval steps to all flows introduces manual delays and does not improve performance or reliability.
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 parallel branches for independent actions.
Why this is correct
Independent actions that do not rely on each other's outputs can run simultaneously rather than sequentially. Parallel branches cut total flow duration, directly improving performance, and reduce the chance that one slow action delays the rest of the run.
- ✗
Set all actions to run sequentially to avoid conflicts.
Why it's wrong here
Sequential execution removes parallelism, so independent actions wait on each other and total run duration increases. Concurrency is the mechanism that shortens runtime. Sequential ordering suits scenarios requiring deterministic action order, such as dependent writes to the same record, not general performance tuning.
- ✗
Use 'Apply to each' loops for all list operations.
Why it's wrong here
'Apply to each' iterates items one at a time by default, multiplying runtime across large lists. Enabling concurrency inside the loop, or using batch operations, is the performance mechanism. 'Apply to each' remains correct when per-item logic genuinely differs or ordering must be preserved.
- ✓
Use 'Configure Run After' to handle failures and retries.
Why this is correct
'Configure Run After' lets a subsequent action execute even when a preceding action fails, times out or is skipped. This satisfies the reliability requirement by preventing a single failed step from terminating the whole flow, enabling retries and fallback paths.
- ✗
Add approval steps to all flows for accountability.
Why it's wrong here
Approval steps pause the run until a human responds, adding latency and a failure point rather than improving throughput or reliability. Approvals belong in scenarios requiring human authorisation, such as expense sign-off, not as blanket additions to every flow.
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