Bibo Tran

Currently, in the new Unified Client Interface (UCI) within Power Platform, importing files that contain special characters such as "&" results in an error stating that the file is not well-formed. This behavior differs from the previous (classic) UI, which automatically sanitized or cleaned the file during import, allowing the process to complete successfully.

This limitation has caused users migrating to UCI experience unexpected failures when importing data files that include special characters. Which then creates additional manual steps for data preparation and increases the risk of errors during migration or bulk updates.

Enhance the UCI file import process to:

• Automatically detect and sanitize special characters during import, similar to the classic UI.
• Provide clear, actionable error messages if sanitization is not possible.
• Optionally, include a pre-validation tool or toggle to clean files before upload.

This improvement will:

• Reduce friction for customers transitioning to UCI.
• Minimize manual intervention and data preparation time.
• Improve overall user experience and data integrity during imports.

Problem Statement

Large organizations with hybrid centralized/decentralized administration models face challenges in managing permissions within Power Platform environments. Currently, permissions are applied at the environment level, meaning any developer with access can modify all solutions. This creates security risks, increases administrative overhead, and conflicts with the principle of least privilege.

Current Challenges

• Broad Access: Developers in an environment can access all solutions, raising risk of accidental or malicious changes.
• Complex Governance: With thousands of staff and hundreds of organizational units (OUs), managing permissions at the environment level is inefficient.
• Compliance Risks: Lack of granular control makes it harder to enforce security and compliance standards.

Proposed Solution

Introduce solution-level permissions within environments:

• Allow an Entra ID group to create solutions in a specific environment (similar to Environment Maker role).
• When a solution is created:
• The creator automatically becomes the solution admin.
• The creator can assign permissions to an Entra ID security group for that solution.
• Maintain flexibility for dependencies between solutions while enabling tighter control.

Benefits

• Improved Security: Aligns with least privilege principles, reducing risk of unauthorized changes.
• Scalability: Supports large organizations with multiple OUs and diverse developer roles.
• Operational Efficiency: Reduces administrative overhead and minimizes exceptions.
• Compliance: Easier to enforce governance policies without breaking dependency models.

Impact

This feature would significantly enhance governance for organizations using Power Platform at scale, enabling secure, efficient, and compliant solution management.

Current Issue Facing

Customers who need to clear or reset large volumes of business data in a Dataverse environment are currently required to re‑create or re‑implement all customizations when using supported approaches (e.g., environment re‑creation or schema‑only copy). This creates significant overhead, especially for mature environments with extensive customizations.

There is currently no supported option that allows customers to:

• Fully remove business data
• Retain existing customizations and configurations
• Remain within a supported Microsoft configuration

Customer Impact

Currently, re‑implementing all customizations is:

• Extremely time‑consuming
• Resource‑intensive
• Risky for production‑grade environments with complex solutions

This becomes especially challenging for customers with:

1. Large numbers of entities, forms, views, flows, plugins, and integrations
2. Long‑running environments that have evolved over time
3. Limited windows for downtime or rework

As a result, customers may delay necessary cleanup activities or operate in sub‑optimal states due to the lack of a supported alternative.

Proposed Approach

Introduce a supported mechanism or tooling that allows customers to:

• Reset or remove business data in a Dataverse environment
• Preserve customizations (schema, solutions, configurations)
• Avoid full environment re‑creation and re‑implementation

This could be delivered as:

• A controlled platform capability
• An administrative operation with safeguards
• A documented, supported workflow for specific scenarios

Providing such a capability would:

• Reduce operational burden for customers
• Lower risk during environment lifecycle management
• Improve overall customer experience for enterprise and long‑term Dataverse users

Description:

Currently, when a tenant is deleted in Dynamics 365, the process is immediate and irreversible. This design poses a significant risk because even a minor mistake can result in the permanent loss of critical data and configurations. The deletion workflow is straightforward and does not include any additional safeguards such as a second confirmation step or a grace period.

I propose introducing a configurable grace period (e.g., 7–30 days) before permanent deletion occurs. During this grace period, administrators should have the ability to restore the tenant easily. Additionally, notifications should be sent to administrators before the final deletion to ensure awareness and provide an opportunity to act.

Reasoning:

• The current deletion process is simple and lacks protective measures, making accidental deletions irreversible.
• There is no second confirmation prompt or delay mechanism to prevent unintended actions.
• A grace period would serve as a safety net, allowing organizations to recover from human errors without significant business disruption.
• This enhancement aligns with best practices for data protection and user experience, ensuring critical actions are safeguarded by additional checks.

Benefits:

• Prevents accidental and irreversible loss of data and configurations.
• Provides a safety net for organizations managing multiple tenants.
• Enhances user confidence in tenant management processes.
• Reduces operational risk and potential downtime caused by accidental deletions.

Request:

Please consider adding this feature in future releases of Dynamics 365 to improve reliability and reduce the risk of accidental data loss.