Building a Power Apps Center of Excellence with a Nearshore Team
A decision guide for organizations that need an experienced Power Platform team they can plug in, covering governance, development frameworks, knowledge transfer, and nearshore delivery from Armenia.
For organizations needing immediate, skilled Power Platform capacity, this guide outlines how to partner with a nearshore team to establish a Center of Excellence. It covers governance, development frameworks, knowledge transfer, and how a dedicated team in Armenia can accelerate delivery while reducing cost. Solzet is a Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and Power Platform consultancy headquartered in Yerevan, Armenia. Our senior, certified engineers plug into your organization on B2B contracts, working under your brand where needed, to stand up governance, build reusable frameworks, and transfer knowledge to your internal makers.
The decision: how to source an experienced team you can plug in
When you need Power Platform capacity now, there are four realistic ways to get it. The trade-offs come down to how fast the team can start, the seniority of the people who do the actual build, and whether the model leaves you with a lasting capability.
| Sourcing option | Speed to start | Team seniority | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plug in a nearshore team (Solzet) | Fast, a senior team starts within weeks with no hiring cycle | Senior, Microsoft-certified engineers from day one | Organizations that need capacity and a Center of Excellence now, plus knowledge transfer to their own makers |
| Hire and build in-house | Slow, months of recruiting, onboarding, and ramp-up | Depends on a tight local talent market for PL-400 and PL-600 skills | A long-term permanent team where you can afford the hiring lead time and salary base |
| Independent freelancer | Fast to start, but capacity is capped at one person | Single skill set, limited cover for holidays or illness | Small, short, well-scoped tasks with low continuity risk |
| Global systems integrator | Slow to mobilize, with a heavier commercial and governance overhead | Mixed, with senior architects on sales and juniors on build | Very large multi-country programs with big governance needs |
Solzet sits in the first row: a senior nearshore team that starts quickly, brings governance and a development framework from day one, and transfers knowledge to your own makers so the capability stays with you.
What a Power Apps Center of Excellence contains
A Center of Excellence is not a single tool. It is four pillars that together let you build on the Power Platform safely and at scale.
Governance and administration
Environment strategy, DLP policies, connector governance, and a clear model of who can build what and where. This is what turns ad hoc app building into a managed platform you can trust in production.
A development framework
Solution-based ALM, source control, automated deployment, and a library of reusable components and PCF controls, so every new app starts from a proven baseline rather than a blank canvas.
Enablement and knowledge transfer
Documented standards, pairing with your makers, and enablement sessions, so your internal team grows the capability to own and extend the platform over time.
Support and continuous improvement
Ongoing managed support after go-live, from a part-time consultant up to a full team, keeping the platform current with Microsoft release waves and adapting it as your processes change.
How to build the Center of Excellence with a nearshore team
These are the steps we follow to stand up a Power Apps Center of Excellence and plug our team into yours, from first governance decisions through to steady-state support.
- 1
Set governance and an environment strategy
A Center of Excellence starts with control, not code. We define your Dataverse environment strategy across development, test, and production, set data loss prevention (DLP) policies that separate business and non-business connectors, and agree who can create apps and flows and where. This keeps citizen development safe rather than banning it.
- 2
Establish development standards and an ALM pipeline
We put solution-based application lifecycle management (ALM) in place using managed solutions, source control in Azure DevOps or GitHub, and automated deployment between environments. Naming conventions, connection references, and environment variables become standard, so what your makers build can move to production cleanly and be maintained later.
- 3
Build a reusable component and framework layer
We create the shared building blocks a Center of Excellence relies on: a canonical Dataverse data model, reusable canvas and model-driven components, standard Power Automate patterns, and custom PCF (PowerApps Component Framework) controls in TypeScript and React for the interactions that standard controls cannot handle. Each ships as a managed solution with source code and documentation.
- 4
Plug the nearshore team in alongside your makers
Our senior engineers join your delivery on a B2B contract, working in your Azure DevOps, GitHub, or Jira and attending your standups and sprint reviews over Teams or Zoom. From Yerevan in the GMT+4 time zone we give roughly 4 to 6 hours of daily overlap with Western Europe and 6 to 8 hours with the UK and Ireland, so the team works with yours rather than in a nightly handoff.
- 5
Transfer knowledge to your internal team
The goal of a Center of Excellence is durable in-house capability, so knowledge transfer is built in, not bolted on. We pair with your makers, document the standards and components, run enablement sessions on ALM and PCF, and hand over source and solutions, so your team can extend the platform without depending on us for every change.
- 6
Move to steady-state managed support
Once the framework and governance are live, we scale our involvement to match. That can be a part-time consultant of around 20 hours a month or a larger managed-service team, covering new Power Automate flows as processes change, Power BI reporting on Dataverse, PCF upgrades, and applying Microsoft release-wave updates before they break anything.
Why nearshore delivery from Armenia accelerates a Center of Excellence
Solzet is headquartered in Yerevan, Armenia, in the GMT+4 time zone. That gives roughly 4 to 6 hours of daily overlap with Western European business hours and 6 to 8 hours with the UK and Ireland, enough for daily standups, sprint reviews, and workshops over Teams or Zoom. For businesses in the Caucasus the hours are the same or adjacent, with on-site meetings possible. A senior team can start within weeks, so you skip the recruiting cycle that an in-house build requires.
We work on B2B contracts, either time-and-materials or fixed-price per milestone, and communicate in English, with Russian and Armenian also available. Our engineers use the same Azure DevOps, GitHub, or Jira tooling as your internal teams and hold Microsoft certifications across the Power Platform (PL-200, PL-400, PL-600) and Dynamics 365 (MB-210, MB-230, MB-240).
Because senior engineering costs less in Armenia than in Western Europe or the US, you get certified capacity at a lower rate without dropping to a junior team. Every engagement runs under a mutual NDA and a GDPR-compliant data processing agreement, with IP ownership defined in the statement of work. Microsoft partners can engage us on a white-label basis, where our consultants work under your brand as part of your delivery team.
Frequently Asked Questions
We need an experienced team we can plug in quickly. How does that work?
Solzet plugs a senior, Microsoft-certified Power Platform team into your organization on a B2B contract, usually starting within weeks rather than the months an in-house hire takes. We work in your Azure DevOps, GitHub, or Jira, join your standups and sprint reviews, and can work under your brand as a white-label extension of your team. From day one we bring governance, a development framework, and reusable components rather than starting from scratch.
What is a Power Apps Center of Excellence?
A Power Apps Center of Excellence is the set of governance, standards, reusable components, and support that lets an organization build on the Power Platform safely and at scale. In practice it means a clear Dataverse environment strategy, data loss prevention policies, solution-based application lifecycle management, a library of reusable and PCF components, and enablement for your makers. It turns scattered app building into a managed, repeatable capability.
Does a nearshore team really cut cost without cutting quality?
Yes, when the team is genuinely senior. Solzet delivers from Yerevan, Armenia, where senior engineering costs less than in Western Europe or the US, but every engagement is staffed with Microsoft-certified engineers holding credentials such as PL-200, PL-400, and PL-600. You avoid the recruiting lead time, the salary base, and the ramp-up of building in-house, while getting people who have set up governance and frameworks before.
Will we depend on Solzet forever, or can our own team take over?
A Center of Excellence is meant to build durable in-house capability, so knowledge transfer is part of the engagement, not an afterthought. We pair with your makers, document the standards and components, run enablement sessions, and hand over source code and managed solutions. Many clients then keep us on a smaller managed-support basis for the harder work while their own team handles day-to-day changes.
How much overlap will we have with a team in Armenia?
Solzet is headquartered in Yerevan in the GMT+4 time zone. That gives roughly 4 to 6 hours of daily overlap with Western European business hours and 6 to 8 hours with the UK and Ireland, which is enough for daily standups, sprint reviews, and stakeholder workshops over Teams or Zoom. For businesses in the Caucasus the hours are the same or adjacent, with on-site meetings possible.
How are data security and IP handled?
Every engagement runs on a B2B contract with a mutual NDA and a GDPR-compliant data processing agreement. IP created during the work belongs to your organization or your end client as defined in the statement of work, and you receive the source code, managed solutions, and documentation. For white-label work our consultants operate under your brand and do not list your end clients on their public profiles.
Need a Power Platform team you can plug in?
Whether you want to stand up a Power Apps Center of Excellence, add senior capacity to an existing program, or transfer knowledge to your own makers, our Yerevan team can plug in. Tell us what you are working on and we will scope it with you.