Power Platform governance in 2026: what changes as Microsoft shifts focus to the admin center?
The CoE Starter Kit was a major foundation for Power Platform governance in many organisations. In 2026 Microsoft clarified that the Starter Kit is no longer receiving ongoing feature investment, while native admin-center capabilities have expanded. That does not mean removing your CoE. It means deciding which governance functions should now be native and which still justify custom operating workflows.
1. A CoE is an operating model, not a toolkit
Microsoft itself distinguishes the Center of Excellence from the Starter Kit. Governance needs ownership, standards, support, maker enablement and defined processes.
- governance ownership
- maker support
- standards
- intake and exceptions
- operating model
2. The admin center is now the native hub
Inventory, Usage, Monitor and Actions in Power Platform admin center provide native tenant-level governance and operational insights. Start there before rebuilding equivalent reporting.
- Inventory
- Usage
- Monitor
- Actions
- admin APIs
3. Keep the Starter Kit where it still adds value
The Starter Kit remains available as a reference implementation. Existing deployments should be assessed for duplicated capabilities, custom workflows and ongoing maintenance cost.
- current deployment review
- duplicate capability
- custom governance workflows
- maintenance cost
4. Data policy and environment strategy remain foundational
Governance is not an inventory dashboard. Environment strategy, connector/data policies, roles, ALM and production controls still define the guardrails.
- environment strategy
- data policy / DLP
- managed environments
- ALM and pipelines
- admin role model
5. Insight must lead to action
A governance model needs a defined response when it finds risk: owner outreach, orphan remediation, connector exceptions and production support all need accountable workflows.
- owner outreach
- orphan remediation
- exception approval
- risk action
- SLA
6. A sensible 2026 target is native-first
Use native admin-center capabilities where they cover the need, and retain custom components only where the organisation's operating model genuinely requires them.
- native inventory
- custom action workflows
- minimal duplication
- measurable governance KPIs