Study guide for PL-600: Microsoft Power Platform Solution Architect
Purpose of this document
This study guide should help you understand what to expect on the exam and includes a summary of the topics the exam might cover and links to additional resources. The information and materials in this document should help you focus your studies as you prepare for the exam.
| Useful links | Description |
|---|---|
| Review the skills measured as of September 26, 2023 | This list represents the skills measured AFTER the date provided. Study this list if you plan to take the exam AFTER that date. |
| Review the skills measured prior to September 26, 2023 | Study this list of skills if you take your exam PRIOR to the date provided. |
| Change log | You can go directly to the change log if you want to see the changes that will be made on the date provided. |
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Updates to the exam
Our exams are updated periodically to reflect skills that are required to perform a role. We have included two versions of the Skills Measured objectives depending on when you are taking the exam.
We always update the English language version of the exam first. Some exams are localized into other languages, and those are updated approximately eight weeks after the English version is updated. While Microsoft makes every effort to update localized versions as noted, there may be times when the localized versions of an exam are not updated on this schedule. Other available languages are listed in the Schedule Exam section of the Exam Details webpage. If the exam isn't available in your preferred language, you can request an additional 30 minutes to complete the exam.
Note
The bullets that follow each of the skills measured are intended to illustrate how we are assessing that skill. Related topics may be covered in the exam.
Note
Most questions cover features that are general availability (GA). The exam may contain questions on Preview features if those features are commonly used.
Skills measured as of September 26, 2023
Audience profile
As a candidate for this exam, you’re a solution architect who:
Leads successful implementations.
Focuses on how solutions address the broader business and technical needs of organizations.
This role requires you to have the ability to identify opportunities to solve business problems.
You should have functional and technical knowledge of:
Microsoft Power Platform
Dynamics 365 customer engagement apps
Related Microsoft cloud solutions
Other third-party technologies
You apply knowledge and experience throughout an engagement. You perform proactive and preventative work to:
Increase the value of the customer’s investment.
Promote organizational health.
As a candidate for this exam, you should have experience across functional and technical disciplines of Microsoft Power Platform. You should be able to facilitate design decisions across development, configuration, integration, infrastructure, security, licensing, availability, storage, and change management. In this role, you balance project's business needs while meeting functional and non-functional requirements.
Skills at a glance
Perform solution envisioning and requirement analysis (35–40%)
Architect a solution (40–45%)
Implement the solution (15–20%)
Perform solution envisioning and requirement analysis (35–40%)
Initiate solution planning
Evaluate business requirements
Identify Microsoft Power Platform solution components
Identify other components including existing apps, Microsoft Dynamics 365 apps, AppSource apps, third-party components, and components from independent software vendors (ISVs)
Identify and estimate migration and integration efforts
Identify organization information and metrics
Identify desired high-level organizational business processes
Identify business process improvement opportunities
Assess an organization's risk factors
Review key success criteria
Identify existing solutions and systems
Evaluate an organization’s enterprise architecture
Identify data sources needed for a solution
Define use cases and quality standards for existing data
Identify and document an organization's existing business processes
Capture requirements
Refine high-level requirements
Identify functional requirements
Identify non-functional requirements
Confirm that requirements meet an organization's goals
Identify and document an organization's desired business processes
Perform fit/gap analyses
Determine the feasibility of meeting specific requirements
Evaluate Dynamics 365 apps and AppSource options to solve requirements
Address functional gaps through alternate solutions
Determine the scope for a solution
Architect a solution (40–45%)
Lead the design process
Design the solution topology
Design customizations for existing apps
Design and validate user experience prototypes
Identify opportunities for component reuse
Communicate system design visually
Design application lifecycle management (ALM) processes
Design a data migration strategy
Design apps by grouping required features based on role or task
Design a data visualization strategy
Design an automation strategy that uses Power Automate
Design environment strategy
Design the data model
Design tables and columns
Design reference and configuration data
Design relationships and relationship behaviors
Determine when to connect to external data versus import data
Design data models to address complex sets of requirements
Design integrations
Design collaboration integrations
Design integrations between Microsoft Power Platform solutions and Dynamics 365 apps
Design integrations with an organization’s existing systems
Design third-party integrations
Design an authentication strategy
Design a business continuity strategy
Identify opportunities to integrate and extend Microsoft Power Platform solutions by using Microsoft Azure
Design robotic process automation (RPA)
Design networking
Design the security model
Design the business unit and team structure
Design security roles
Design column and row level security
Design security models to address complex sets of requirements
Determine security model management policies and processes
Identify Microsoft Entra groups and app registrations required to support a solution
Identify data loss prevention (DLP) policies for a solution
Determine how external users will access a solution
Implement the solution (15–20%)
Validate the solution design
Evaluate detail designs and implementation
Validate security
Ensure that the solution conforms to API limits
Assess the solution performance and impact on resources
Resolve automation conflicts
Resolve integration conflicts
Support go-live
Identify and resolve potential and actual performance issues
Troubleshoot data migration
Resolve any identified issues with deployment plans
Identify factors that impact go-live readiness and remediate issues
Study resources
We recommend that you train and get hands-on experience before you take the exam. We offer self-study options and classroom training as well as links to documentation, community sites, and videos.
| Study resources | Links to learning and documentation |
|---|---|
| Get trained | Choose from self-paced learning paths and modules or take an instructor-led course |
| Find documentation | Microsoft Power Platform documentation Center of Excellence (CoE) Starter kit Videos: Power Apps and Power Automate Architecture Series Real-world architecture examples Azure ExpressRoute with Power Platform |
| Ask a question | Microsoft Q&A | Microsoft Docs |
| Get community support | Power Apps - Power Platform Community Microsoft Power Automate - Power Platform Community |
| Follow Microsoft Learn | Microsoft Learn - Microsoft Tech Community |
| Find a video | #LessCodeMorePower | Shows Browse other Microsoft Learn shows |
Change log
Key to understanding the table: The topic groups (also known as functional groups) are in bold typeface followed by the objectives within each group. The table is a comparison between the two versions of the exam skills measured and the third column describes the extent of the changes.
| Skill area prior to September 26, 2023 | Skill area as of September 26, 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Audience profile | Minor | |
| Perform solution envisioning and requirement analysis | Perform solution envisioning and requirement analysis | No % change |
| Initiate solution planning | Initiate solution planning | Minor |
| Identify organization information and metrics | Identify organization information and metrics | No change |
| Identify existing solutions and systems | Identify existing solutions and systems | No change |
| Capture requirements | Capture requirements | No change |
| Perform fit/gap analyses | Perform fit/gap analyses | No change |
| Architect a solution | Architect a solution | No % change |
| Lead the design process | Lead the design process | No change |
| Design the data model | Design the data model | No change |
| Design integrations | Design integrations | No change |
| Design the security model | Design the security model | No change |
| Implement the solution | Implement the solution | No % change |
| Validate the solution design | Validate the solution design | No change |
| Support go-live | Support go-live | No change |
Skills measured prior to September 26, 2023
Audience profile
Candidates for this exam are solution architects who lead successful implementations and focus on how solutions address the broader business and technical needs of organizations. This role requires the ability to identify opportunities to solve business problems.
Candidates should have functional and technical knowledge of Microsoft Power Platform, Dynamics 365 customer engagement apps, related Microsoft cloud solutions, and other third-party technologies. They apply knowledge and experience throughout an engagement. Candidates perform proactive and preventative work to increase the value of the customer’s investment and promote organizational health.
Candidates should have experience across functional and technical disciplines of Microsoft Power Platform. They should be able to facilitate design decisions across development, configuration, integration, infrastructure, security, licensing, availability, storage, and change management. This role balances a project's business needs while meeting functional and non-functional requirements.
Skills at a glance
Perform solution envisioning and requirement analysis (35–40%)
Architect a solution (40–45%)
Implement the solution (15–20%)
Perform solution envisioning and requirement analysis (35–40%)
Initiate solution planning
Evaluate business requirements
Identify Microsoft Power Platform solution components
Identify other components including existing apps, AppSource apps, third-party components, and components from independent software vendors (ISV)
Identify and estimate migration and integration efforts
Identify organization information and metrics
Identify desired high-level organizational business processes
Identify business process improvement opportunities
Assess an organization's risk factors
Review key success criteria
Identify existing solutions and systems
Evaluate an organization’s enterprise architecture
Identify data sources needed for a solution
Define use cases and quality standards for existing data
Identify and document an organization's existing business processes
Capture requirements
Refine high-level requirements
Identify functional requirements
Identify non-functional requirements
Confirm that requirements meet an organization's goals
Identify and document an organization's desired business processes
Perform fit/gap analyses
Determine the feasibility of meeting specific requirements
Evaluate Dynamics 365 apps and AppSource options to solve requirements
Address functional gaps through alternate solutions
Determine the scope for a solution
Architect a solution (40–45%)
Lead the design process
Design the solution topology
Design customizations for existing apps
Design and validate user experience prototypes
Identify opportunities for component reuse
Communicate system design visually
Design application lifecycle management (ALM) processes
Design a data migration strategy
Design apps by grouping required features based on role or task
Design a data visualization strategy
Design an automation strategy that uses Power Automate
Design environment strategy
Design the data model
Design tables and columns
Design reference and configuration data
Design relationships and relationship behaviors
Determine when to connect to external data versus import data
Design data models to address complex sets of requirements
Design integrations
Design collaboration integrations
Design integrations between Microsoft Power Platform solutions and Dynamics 365 apps
Design integrations with an organization’s existing systems
Design third-party integrations
Design an authentication strategy
Design a business continuity strategy
Identify opportunities to integrate and extend Power Platform solutions by using Microsoft Azure
Design Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Design networking
Design the security model
Design the business unit and team structure
Design security roles
Design column and row level security
Design security models to address complex sets of requirements
Determine security model management policies and processes
Identify Microsoft Entra groups and app registrations required to support a solution
Identify data loss prevention (DLP) policies for a solution
Determine how external users will access a solution
Implement the solution (15–20%)
Validate the solution design
Evaluate detail designs and implementation
Validate security
Ensure that the solution conforms to API limits
Assess the solution performance and impact on resources
Resolve automation conflicts
Resolve integration conflicts
Support go-live
Identify and resolve potential and actual performance issues
Troubleshoot data migration
Resolve any identified issues with deployment plans
Identify factors that impact go-live readiness and remediate issues