Powerapps Development Duration

[barrymac20]

Hi all.

This is more of a discussion topic than a question.

I'm currently developing a pricing tool for my company using Powerapps. Its quite comprehensive and ive spent 6 or 7 weeks at it with another couple to go. (That includes teaching myself)

I'm hoping the time spent will be worth it in the long run and I'm also hoping that I'm not pushing Powerapps capability too far.....

With that being said I was curious to see how long have any of you guys spent on your apps and what were they for?

Barry

Barry

[WarrenBelz]

Hi @barrymac20 ,

Two years and still learning . . 

Seriously, it depends on two things - what coding experience and data structure understanding you have to translate this and the time you are prepared to spend at times learning some of the unique ways Power Apps does things.
I have an Access/SQL/VBA background and I struggled for a while at times doing things the "hard way" until "the light bulb came on".

I also spent a lot of time watching YouTube videos and duplicating things I had not already done. This is not an exclusive list, but start with Shane Young @Shanescows and Dave's Tech Tips. There are also many other useful authors (in no particular order), Reza Dorrani, Daniel Christian, Chino does Stuff, Pragmatic Works, Todd Baginski & Paul O'Flaherty.

To answer the question as to what they are for, in my case, users work on maintenance of power line infrastructure and most are field-based. The apps both field and office manage this process from end to end including all data collection, reporting, photos, documents and quality audit. It is also shared with our customer giving them a real-time view. About 30,000 jobs have been managed with this process. We use a SharePoint back end.

[barrymac20]

Thanks for sharing.

Hiw ling did you spend on the initial development of this app? Or is it a series of apps?

[Anonymous]

I have one that I took over in October - 2019 that we just went live with back in Mid-February. 
There are some missing features we are still ironing out.. So I'd say it is 95% done as we test the features first before bring to production.
Then again, that App has over 200 fields( most are hidden from users) and it has connections to SAP to retrieve and send data.

I have another one that I've been working on, when I've had time away from the SAP One, since December.
It uses both MS Graph and PowerShell Scripts stored in Azure WebBooks.
With any luck that one will go live here in the next couple of weeks.

Best advice I have is... set a end date in your mind, then add a couple months and give that to the client. 😉 

[WarrenBelz]

Hi @barrymac20 ,

First app was a rush job, but got something effective in about a week. It has been continually improved since and is the main field app for the biggest parcel of work.

[barrymac20]

Thanks for sharing.

The one that went live in Mid-Feb. Is it a large app?

[barrymac20]

Were you the only one working on the app?

How do you manage the improvement of the app. Do you simply not publish until its updated or do you move it into a test environment first?

[Anonymous]

@barrymac20  Yes, it is the most complicated one I've created yet..
It has over 200 fields, but users only see fields they need to see based on the type of request they are entering.  Depending on the type of request, there are different fields which are required before they can submit.
There are multiple buttons in the form that run flows that connect to SAP to retrieve data.
It also goes through up to 10 Approval steps based on what the user selected for the the type of request. 

I am the only one that worked on this App. I have documented all connections, flows, fields formulas, etc. in case someone else needs to take over. We have the same app in my test site so when changes are needed I first test there and then, after confirmation the change is what they want, I add it to Production.

[WarrenBelz]

Hi @barrymac20 ,

I will qualify my response with some context.

I am fortunate that I have an operational background (contract/legal) with a programming (almost) hobby interest for about 30 years. I am the analyst, designer and programmer so the lines of communication are short to the extent that I go on site and ask users what they want then go and write it. I also understand the process as my previous role was working for my current employer's customer managing the contract.

Having said all of that, I have a select group of fairly literate test users who get the Beta Version to use and test. I guess you would call this the test environment. Enhancements are made and accepted (or not) until we get the app we need which is then rolled out (shared) with all the required users. It is continually updated as required with this process repeated.

Looking at @Anonymous 's response, all apps and Flows are owned by a Service Account and the code is fairly well commented. I also have fairly detailed manuals for all apps.

[barrymac20]

Very good Shane.

And how do you find it interacts with SAP? Have you had any resistance from within the company regarding the use of Powerapps or is it accepted as a vital part of the business? Also, what back end do you use? CDS or SQL or something else?