In this article, I would like to discuss what are the key difference between PowerApps Portals and old Dynamics CE portals. We will also discuss key advantages of using PowerApps portals as well as new features that are available. In case you are confused and want to know more about the differences and what will happen in the future than this article is for you.
I’m not representing Microsoft, so this is my personal opinion on this topic. I will update this article as far as new information will come.
First of all, let’s discuss what are the differences between Power Apps portals and Dynamics CE portals are:
PowerApps Portals is the platform on which Dynamics 365 CE portals work. Power Apps Portals bring the following key capabilities:
1. Extend Portals beyond Dynamics 365 Applications and allow you to create a portal on the Common Data Service database.
2. Provide a simplified low code design experience to develop Portals. It is an HTML editor that helps users to create content. (not supported by Event Management portals, because front-end part is using Angular, still only pro developers can change the design of this app)
3. All the capabilities of Dynamics 365 CE portals will be available and will work as it is.
In total, PowerApps Portals provide some additional features to the standard framework, that’s it.
What happens to Dynamics 365 CE portals in the future?
1. At some point, all Dynamics 365 portals will get automatically converted into the PowerApps portal.
2. All the new capabilities of the PowerApps portal (Designer, management experience) would be available automatically to Dynamics 365 portal customers.
So currently, we are in the transition phase when you can create both types of portals, but in the future, only PowerPortals will be available.
What are some of the key features of portals?
1. Create a portal with CDS or Dynamics 365 CE database
2. Start with a prebuilt template like customer self-service, partner management, event management, etc. or create your own custom portal.
3. Integrate with Power BI components like reports, dashboards, and tiles. (More information)
4. Integrate with Azure AD B2C as an Identity Provider. (More information)
5. Integrate with Azure Application Insights for usage telemetry.
6. Portal checker. (More information)