New PowerApps and Flow Licensing coming October 1, 2019

[Pstork1]

If you haven't seen the announcement yet about the Licensing changes that are coming to PowerApps and Flow starting on October 1, 2019 you really need to read the following Blog. This announcement was originally made at Inspire this year, but has undergone a number of significant changes.  Make sure you read this and understand what it means to you and your organization.

https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/new-licensing-options-for-powerapps-and-flow/

[FredericForest]

Thanks @Pstork1 for the precisions on the HTTP calls. I'll admit it was not the answer I was hoping for, but at least now I know where I stand (and that's already a good start).

Considering the Office vs Dynamics team, it felt pretty obvious to me as well. It explains the pricing philosophy and the "do-or-die" attitude towards CDS.

I'm not going to get into politics, although MS has been known to suffer from internal politics before ("cough-cough" Power BI vs SQL Server)...

What I will say however is that if they push too much in this direction, PowerApps will become de facto a pure Dynamics 365 extension platform. And that's really coming short of its potential since Dynamics client only represent a fraction of the total market (and not being a Dynamics guy, they are just not my clients). Personally, as a business leader, I was considering dedicating 5-10 consultants to the solution within the next 12-18 months. But now I'm giving myself until Christmas to evaluate if it's a smart business decision or not...

[Pstork1]

I agree totally.  As a private consultant who has spent the last 18 months ramping up and focusing on PowerApps and Flow it is very disappointing. I think Office 365 users will continue to use it with SharePoint lists, but that is a fraction of what it is capable of.  MS thinks that if they use it there they will recognize the value and buy the standalone license.  Given the price point I think they are completely wrong. But give that its the Dynamics team calling the shots I don't know that they care if they lose the Office 365 customer base.

[MagnusGöransson]

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@Pstork1 wrote:

I agree totally.  As a private consultant who has spent the last 18 months ramping up and focusing on PowerApps and Flow it is very disappointing. I think Office 365 users will continue to use it with SharePoint lists, but that is a fraction of what it is capable of.  MS thinks that if they use it there they will recognize the value and buy the standalone license.  Given the price point I think they are completely wrong. But give that its the Dynamics team calling the shots I don't know that they care if they lose the Office 365 customer base.

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Approx 90% of my billable hours this year has been dedicated to the Powerplatform and I have also been working on getting other consultants up to speed on PowerApps, Logic Apps and Flow. Now I really don't know anymore. Beeing stuck in Office 365 services or pay to access services I'm already paying for just doesnt make sense.

An Microsoft E5 license is like $50/user and you get tons of services. Add one service to it and it almost double to price. It's so sad.

However, Microsoft has changed their mind before and hopefully they will do another round of discussions regarding this.

[Rick72]

@Pstork1 Thanks for starting this thread.

I have several thoughts at the moment about the new licensing model. Two of them I would like to share. It are 2 questions about the "PowerApps per app" plan.

Question I

Canvas apps have been positioned for customized tasks and role-based apps and model-driven apps for back-office scenarios. A business solution (called application in the licensing F.A.Q.) I have in mind is build on this concept and contains a few model-driven apps and several canvas apps. The apps are role specific, meaning an employee would normally only need just a few of these apps. This setup is also based on a best practice not to make big apps.

The new "PowerApps per app" plan allows for 2 apps and a single portal per application. So how are these 2 apps determined? If this is max. 2 apps per user per business solution, then I think it is ok. If this is max. 2 apps per business solution, then I think, well, 😐

Question II

Some business solutions only need to be executed once a year. Enabling a business solution for only one month could be an option.  How will the billing be processed? Example: All apps present on the first of the month will be counted.

Thanks!

Rick

[Pstork1]

1) The per App license is distributed per user. So the max would be 2 apps in a business solution for a user requires on per app license.  Other users could have different apps covered by a per app license. But in general this is primarily designed to be a low cost way to get started at $10 per user for a single business solution (with a couple incorporated apps).  Once a user uses 4 of these it becomes a better deal to buy the regular per user license for unlimited numbers of Apps. Most people will eventually get to that level of engagement.

2) I'm not sure about this one.  But as I understand it there will be a yearly commitment for the licensing. So in your scenario I don't think you could license an app just for a month while its being used. But that's a specific scenario that you should raise with your Microsoft rep for clarification.

[NEPatton]

I work at a manufacturing facility, and I've been using PowerApps to really change how we do work in my department.  All of my apps go through SQL as I'm connecting to various data sets used by other applications (e.g. Blue Mountain).  I've been active in the forums, and I've really held out hope for PowerApps as a long term solution at my site - but this is killer.  I might be able (MIGHT be able) to swing the money for a single P2 license and a few P1 licenses for my team to continue using the apps I've developed - but I'll never be able to expand my game-changing apps out to other groups (100's of employees).  Why would I continue using a product that isn't expandable (expansion is cost prohibitive = not expandable)?  

Someone up above said it best - this makes Powerapps a wasted opportunity.  And others were correct as well - I'm going to have to stop using Powerapps and start making something else on my own.  I'll go back to asp.net and eat the hours it takes to rebuild everything I've made in Powerapps on my own web page if I have to.  At least it's something I can rely on!

*feeling very betrayed - drinking wine in T-MINUS 2 hours*

[FredericForest]

I wonder if the Flow sentiment analysis demo we've seen a milion time is running on this forum. If so, lights must be flashing left and right at the moment. ^^

[gangurulz]

Applies to all connectors moving from standard to premium category effective Oct 1, 2019

[gangurulz]

To address SMBs and to support POC/prototyping scenarios, minimum purchase requirements have been eliminated

[gangurulz]

Note that per app licenses need to be assigned to individual users. Once a user is assigned a per app license, that particular user can access 2 apps and 1 portal. A single user can be assigned multiple per app licenses as well