PL-200 - Power Platform Functional Consultant

Fri, 12 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

I have finally got round to taking this exam, I have only just (well it feels like) passed MB-200 and so when this exam was announced, I was a bit “meh” about it.

Thankfully, the amazing Julian Sharp asked for people to review his new book Microsoft Power Platform Functional Consultant: PL-200 Exam Guide and I jumped at the opportunity.

As ever, I used Mind Maps to assist me in remembering key facts, the one for PL-200 can be found here.

The Exam

It is a wide-ranging exam, from canvas app button functionality to recommended data repositories and AI builder techniques and everything in-between. I found my selection of questions focused on Business Process Flows quite a lot as well as Power Virtual agents.

Basically, ensure you read the exam outline and know the fundamentals of each area.

The Book

Julian has done a wonderful job bringing all the aspects of the exam in one readable volume. His understanding of the intricacies of the Power Platform shines through strong with every page.

This is not a mere “learn these facts to win” book, the reader is given a deep understanding of the platform. Starting with ensuring his readers get practical, hands-on experience by signing up a for a trail, he then guides them through what to expect from the exam. He also highlights some of the history, tools and initiatives in and around the platform to ensure the reader has a rounded understanding.

Each area of the exam outline is then documented to a great extent, with screenshots and steps to complete the task at hand. Each chapter has a series of questions to test your knowledge. As a seasoned Power Platform professional, some of these were tricky and ensured I had the knowledge required to pass.

Overall, a great book, which I highly encourage people to purchase if they are working towards this qualification.

PL-100 - Microsoft Power Platform App Maker

Mon, 17 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000

One of the newest exams on the block is PL-100 Power Platform App Maker. This exam is targeted at individuals who are currently making apps for their company and want to certify their talents. I saw this exam similar to the MB-200 exam, which is soon to be replaced with PL-200, but I was wrong.

The qualification associated with this exam is Power Platform App Maker Associate. The exam is still in beta, so hopefully I will add this qualification to my list when it comes out of beta.

PL-100 is really an exam for the citizen developer, a doer. It delves deep into several areas, beyond a functional consultant role and more into the nitty-gritty of developing across the Power Platform. It is still CDS (or whatever it is called today) heavy, with no mention of SharePoint apart from in one of the scenarios.

It also covers everything, unlike EY when he took it with only a few questions on the topic, I got several Power BI questions. This is definitely not in my comfort zone, so I am glad I did some research on it before I took the exam.

One thing it didn’t really cover, even though it says in the Skills Outline that it is 10-15% of the exam was the soft skills. Nothing really on high-level design, components, or functional skills. May have been the random set of questions I got. Like EY didn’t get Power BI, maybe I was “lucky” not to get questions on these.

Like the rest of my exams, I did a Mind Map to help me ensure I have covered all the basis for the exam, driven by the skills outline. The Mind Map for PL-100 is here.

Power Platform on LinkeD365 Blog

PL-200 - Power Platform Functional Consultant

The Exam

The Book

PL-100 - Microsoft Power Platform App Maker