Analysis: ROI computation for Power Automate flows and Power Apps

[Copilot]

Enhancement request for tenant-wide ROI tracking requires execution metrics (run count, duration, success/failure rates) and business value calculation capabilities. APIs exist but throttling limits prevent tenant-wide continuous monitoring.

Analysis Documents

• ENHANCEMENT-ANALYSIS-ROI-Flow-App-Usage.md (720 lines)

  • Current CoE data collection inventory: metadata, connectors, last run timestamps already available
  • API feasibility: Power Automate Management API requires per-flow calls; no aggregated analytics endpoint; 30-90 day retention
  • 3-phase implementation plan with effort estimates
  • 4 alternative approaches (focused monitoring, maker self-reporting, PowerShell scripts, Azure Log Analytics)

• ISSUE-RESPONSE-ROI-Flow-App-Usage.md (251 lines)

  • User-facing explanation of gaps and solutions
  • Interim solution: leverage existing business_value_core components

• SUMMARY-ROI-Enhancement.md (117 lines)

  • Executive summary with key limitations and recommendations

• MAINTAINER-ACTION-SUMMARY-ROI.md (196 lines)

  • Decision framework, risk assessment, success metrics

Key Finding

Partially feasible with focused monitoring approach:

• Add business context fields (business unit, time/cost savings rates) to existing admin_Flow and admin_App entities
• Collect detailed metrics for tagged flows only (avoids throttling)
• Calculate ROI by combining run counts with manual rates
• 8-11 week implementation estimate

Blockers for full automation:

• No tenant-wide analytics aggregation API
• Billable action counts not exposed
• API rate limits prevent continuous monitoring of all flows
• Platform run history retention limited to 30-90 days

Recommendation

Phase 1 provides value despite constraints. Similar pattern to Power Pages session tracking limitation (see existing ENHANCEMENT-ANALYSIS-PowerPages-Sessions.md). Microsoft feature requests needed for comprehensive solution.

Original prompt

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This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>[CoE Starter Kit - Feature]: FEATURE TITLE</issue_title>
<issue_description>### Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

Power Platform CoE Starter Toolkit is not yielding the data needed for ROI computation for our reports on Microsoft Flows and App usage. We require data such as Flow Owners, Environments, and APIs that allow us to aggregate the flows, apply rates to the runs, and collect ROI for overall tenant.

Describe the solution you'd like

The solution should provide a centralized, tenant-wide view of all flows and apps across all environments, with the ability to aggregate and analyze usage and cost-impact data. Specifically, the solution should expose the following key data points in a consumable and reportable format:

• Flow and App metadata (Name, Environment, Type, Status)

• Ownership details (Primary Owner, Co-owners, Business Unit)

• Trigger and action details, including connectors/APIs used

• Execution metrics (Run count, success/failure rate, frequency, duration)

• Environment classification (Production, Non-Production, Sandbox, etc.)

Using this data, the solution should enable:

• Aggregation of flows and apps across the tenant

• Application of predefined cost or effort-saving rates per run or per action

• Calculation of ROI metrics such as time saved, cost avoidance, and overall business value

• Trend analysis over time (monthly/quarterly/yearly)

Describe alternatives you've considered

We have explored multiple alternatives to obtain tenant-wide ROI data for Power Automate flows; however, each approach had significant limitations.

We investigated the use of available Power Platform and Power Automate APIs to retrieve execution details such as flow duration, run history, and performance metrics across the tenant, with the intention of calculating time saved and associated cost benefits. While some flow-level data is accessible, the APIs do not provide a comprehensive, scalable, or consistent way to retrieve this information for all flows across all environments in a single, aggregated manner.

Additionally, we evaluated Power Platform Admin and Management connectors to extract flow usage, ownership, and environment data. These connectors do not expose the detailed execution metrics (such as run duration and connector-level activity) required to accurately calculate ROI, nor do they support tenant-wide aggregation suitable for enterprise reporting.

We also reviewed the capabilities of the Power Platform CoE Starter Toolkit, but found that it does not yield sufficient data for ROI computation, particularly with respect to flow execution duration, cost attribution, and comprehensive API usage analytics.

Additional context?

No response</issue_description>

<agent_instructions>Analyze the enhancement request described in the ticket. Provide a comprehensive evaluation that includes:
Understanding & Summary
Summarize the enhancement request in clear, concise terms.
Identify the core problem the enhancement aims to solve.
Feasibility Assessment
Determine whether the requested enhancement is technically feasible.
If not feasible, explain the blockers or limitations.
Proposed Implementation Approach (only if feasible)
Outline the required code, architectural, or configuration changes.
Identify all affected files, components, or modules.
Describe potential risks, dependencies, or compatibility considerations.
Step‑by‑Step Implementation Plan
Provide a detailed, sequential explanation of what changes should be made.
Include reasoning behind each step to ensure clarity for reviewers and maintainers.
Deliver the analysis in a structured format using headings, bullet points, and code blocks when necessary.</agent_instructions>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

Custom agent used: CoE Custom Agent
Specialized agent for triaging and fixing issues in the CoE Starter Kit. Always consult the official CoE docs and the team’s SharePoint notes first, then mine prior GitHub issues and the CoE Common Responses playbook.

• Fixes [CoE Starter Kit - Feature]: FEATURE TITLE #10765

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