How One App Transformed a 65,000-User Bank

Microsoft Innovation Podcast

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16d ago 34:18

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👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/742
Michael De Abreu shares his journey from IT infrastructure to building enterprise-grade solutions on the Microsoft Power Platform. He discusses the evolution of his consulting firm, Third Floor Solutions, and dives into large-scale implementations, including a 65,000-user deployment for a Canadian bank. The episode explores practical frameworks, offline capabilities, and the transformative potential of Copilot in form design.
🎙️ What you’ll learn

How to architect scalable Power Platform solutions for enterprise use
Ways to rethink form design using Copilot and dynamic logic
Strategies for building reusable frameworks with Dataverse
Approaches to offline capability in Canvas and Model-driven apps
How to position yourself with FastTrack credentials and PL-600 certification

✅ Highlights

“I got addicted to the Power Platform… building so many apps.”
“We went from no Power Apps to close to 70 apps in 8–9 months.”
“We built a reusable framework that runs 350 forms off 4 tables.”
“Offline capability was key - we saved collections locally to the device.”
“FastTrack helps credential yourself and shows real enterprise experience.”
“We built a mining app for underground drill logging with offline sync.”
“Copilot can prompt users with missing info and SME knowledge.”
“I hate seeing a gallery trying to look like a table - grids are essential.”
“Plugins are powerful - many forget they run even on imported data.”
“We’re transferring problems from PDFs to Power Apps without rethinking.”
“Copilot is more than a chatbot - it can perform tasks and visualise data.”
“The biggest thing is building so users can maintain without white-glove support.”

🧰 Mentioned

Microsoft Power Platform - https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/power-platform/
FastTrack for Power Platform - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/guidance/fasttrack/overview
Dataverse - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-apps/maker/data-platform/data-platform-intro
Power Apps - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-apps/

✅Keywords
power platform, canvas apps, dataverse, fasttrack, copilot, offline capability, enterprise architecture, reusable frameworks, fusion developer, model-driven apps, PL-600, form design

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

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Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith

Chapters

1. How One App Transformed a 65,000-User Bank (00:00:00)

2. The Night That Changed Everything (00:03:40)

3. From IT Room to Entrepreneur: The Birth of Third Floor Solutions (00:07:32)

4. FastTrack Recognition: More Than Just a Badge (00:10:19)

5. The Enterprise Identity Crisis of Power Platform (00:13:46)

6. 65,000 Users, One App: The Largest Power Platform Deployment in Canada (00:17:03)

7. Rethinking Forms with Copilot and AI (00:22:33)

8. The Future of Interfaces: Beyond Menus and Manual Input (00:30:41)

750 episodes

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