PL-200 Microsoft Power Platform Functional Consultant Exam Study Guide

The Microsoft Power Platform Functional Consultant certification exam is the best milestone for you if you want to work with some of the world’s biggest companies.

The Microsoft Power Platform certification tests your ability to configure Microsoft Dataverse, create applications using Microsoft PowerApps, and manage other Power Platform tools.

As a Microsoft Power Platform certified consultant, the PL-200 certification can unlock innumerable benefits, including validating your skills and getting recognition.

Let’s learn more about the PL-200 certification in this article

PL-200 Certification Overview?

PL-200 is an intermediate-level certification. In PL-200, you learn to automate workflows with Power Automate, customize applications with PowerApps, and sort and filter data with Power BI in order to add value to a business. As well as performing functions, you will:

• Discover new information
• Consult with stakeholders and domain experts
• Transform requirements into actionable steps
• Set up Microsoft Power Platform solutions and tools
• Enhance the app by adding new features
• Implement custom UX, data conversions, and system integrations 

Moreover, this certification will also test your technical skills in the following areas: 

• Dataverse configuration
• Customizing Microsoft PowerApps applications
• Managing business processes with Microsoft PowerAutomate
• Building Chatbots with Microsoft Power Virtual Agents
• Using Microsoft PowerApps with third-party apps and services
• Other Power Platform tools and solutions

Are you new to Azure Cloud? Do check out our blog post on the Microsoft Certification Roadmap 2023 and choose the best certification for you.

Who Is Microsoft Power Platform Functional Consultant Associate?

A Microsoft Power Platform Functional Consultant Associate builds and implements solutions that leverage power apps, Power BI, and power virtual agents.

They gather requirements and then implement Microsoft Power Platform solutions in collaboration with an organization’s stakeholders, such as solution architects, developers, and testers.

They develop model-driven, canvas, and portal applications. Additionally, they design chatbots using Power Virtual Agents and analyze data using Power BI visualizations and dashboards.

Besides designing applications, they also create custom user experiences, system integrations, data conversions, process automation, and visualizations.

Also Check: Pl-100 Exam Study Guide

Who This Certification Is For?

There are innumerable professionals and domains that can take the PL-200 certification exam. If you belong to a leading role such as the following, the PL-200 exam is right for you: 

• Functional Consultant
• Data Scientist
• Data Analyst
• IT Manager
• Business Intelligence Professionals
• Business Intelligence Consultant
• Developer
• Agile Developer
• DevOps Engineer
• Software Engineer
• Enterprise Architect
• Solutions Architect
• Testers

Why PL-200 Certification?

There are countless reasons to achieve the PL-200 certification. You can:

• Become a Microsoft Power Platform certified consultant and validate your skills.
• Explore Microsoft Power Platform components.
• Learn how to use Microsoft Power Platform and Dataverse components to accomplish mission-critical actions.
• Manage permissions and the administration of Dataverse ecosystems.
• Take your business to the next level by leveraging Power Platform solutions. 
• With PL-200 certification, you also have the chance to work with some of the world’s biggest companies like Apple, Meta, Avantiico, Ernst & Young, Capgemini, Deloitte, Planet Technologies, Visualbi, etc.
• Your salary range will be greatly increased by PL-200 certification. Every day, the tech landscape gets more complex, which increases the need for certified professionals. As a result, your credentials and salary can be upgraded.

Also Check: Pl-900 Exam Study Guide

Benefits of PL-200 Certification

The following are the benefits of PL-200 certification: 

• You can get recognized as a Microsoft Power Platform Solutions Consultant.
• By learning about Power Platform components and identifying the business areas that are impacted by them, you can stay on top of the technology curve.
• You understand how to design a technical solution using Power Platform components and Dataverse, formerly Common Data Service.
• You learn how to manage the permissions and administer the Dataverse environment.
• Also, the Power Platform is an emerging technology, and with a certification at the Associate level, you will be able to stay competitive in the job market.
• You get the chance to develop next-generation solutions for global leaders like Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, etc.
• Moreover, PL-200 certification by Microsoft was introduced recently, and you can become a proud member of the Power Platform community if you become one of the first certified candidates

Also Read: Pl-300 Exam Study Guide

PL-200 Exam Details

PL-200 Exam Skills Measured

How to Register for PL-200 Certification Exam

You can register for the Microsoft Power Platform Functional Consultant Associate Exam (PL-200) by going to the Official Microsoft Page.

Prerequisite for PL-200 Certification

The PL-200 exam has no official prerequisites. However, the following skills are recommended by Microsoft professionals and subject matter experts before starting the PL-200 exam prep process: 

• A basic understanding of Microsoft Power Platform 
• The fundamentals of model-driven applications
• The ability to customize and manage Dynamics 365
• Adapt Microsoft Power Platform elements to customize and extend services like Teams, Excel, and Word.

PL-200 Exam Study Guide

Configure Microsoft Dataverse (20–25%)

Manage a data model

• Create or modify standard, activity, or virtual tables
• Configure table ownership
  • Types of tables
• Create new tables or modify existing tables
  • Create a custom table
  • Edit a table
• Determine which type of relationships to implement including 1:N and N:N
  • Types of table relationships
  • Create N:N (many-to-many) table relationships in Microsoft Dataverse using solution explorer
  • Create one-to-many or many-to-one table relationships overview
• Configure table relationship behaviors including cascading rules
  • Configure table relationship cascading behavior
  • Automate business processes
• Create new relationships or modify existing relationships
  • Create one-to-many table relationships
  • Create a relationship between tables
• Create new columns or modify existing columns
  • How to create and edit columns
• Create alternate keys for tables
  • Work with alternate keys
• Configure table properties
• Configure connection roles
  • Configure connection roles

Configure Dataverse

• Configure Dataverse search
• Configure auditing
  • Auditing overview
• Perform data management tasks including import, export, and bulk deletion
  • Add or remove sample data
  • Remove a large amount of specific, targeted data with bulk deletion
  • Merge data
• Configure duplicate detection settings
  • Detect duplicate data using code
  • Enable and disable duplicate detection
  • Set up duplicate detection rules to keep your data clean

Configure security settings

• Create and manage business units
  • Security concepts in Dataverse
  • Create or edit business units
• Create and manage security roles
  • Create users
  • Security roles and privileges
• Create and manage users and teams
  • About the Microsoft Dataverse for Teams environment
  • Create users
• Create and manage column security
• Configure hierarchy security
  • Hierarchy security to control access
• Configure Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) group teams
• Manage sharing
• Diagnose security issues

Create apps by using Microsoft Power Apps (15–20%)

Create model-driven apps

• Create and configure multiple form types
  • Create and design model-driven app forms
• Use specialized form components
• Create and configure views
  • Create and edit public or system views (legacy)
• Determine which reporting options to use including embedding Microsoft Power BI or using Fetch-based reports
• Configure site maps and compose model-driven apps
• Share a model-driven app
  • Share a model-driven app using Power Apps
• Configure custom pages
  • Add a custom page to your model-driven app
• Create and configure business rules
  • Create a business rule for a table
• Configure modern commanding

Define use cases for canvas apps

• Identify when to use a canvas app
  • What are canvas apps?
• Describe canvas app structure
• Describe form navigation, formulas, variables and collections, and error handling
  • Back and Navigate functions in Power AppsUnderstand variables in canvas apps
  • Errors function in Power Apps
• Run Microsoft Power Automate flows based on actions that occur in a canvas app

Build Microsoft Power Pages

• Configure pages, forms, and navigation
  • Work with basic forms
  • Manage web pages
• Configure advanced Power Pages features
  • Advanced configuration
• Configure website security including web roles and page access
  • Configure web roles
• Describe use cases for templates
  • Use Word templates to create standardized documents
• Implement registration options
  • Quickstart: Register an application with the Microsoft identity platform

Create and manage process automation (20–25%)

Create cloud flows

• Describe types of flows, use cases, and flow components including when to use a classic workflow
  • Overview of the different types of flows
• Describe common connectors, triggers, and actions
  • Connectors overview
• Implement logic controls including branches, loops, conditions, error handling, and variables
  • Create loops that repeat workflow actions or process arrays in Azure Logic Apps
  • Handle errors and exceptions in Azure Logic Apps
• Implement dynamic content and expressions
• Test and troubleshoot flows
  • Troubleshooting a cloud flow

Create and manage business process flows

• Configure a business process flow
  • Introduction to expressions in Power Automate
• Add stages, workflows, and action steps to a business process flow
  • Tutorial: Create a business process flow
• Manage the business process flow table for a business process flow
  • Business process flows overview
• Configure advanced logic

Create classic workflows

• Configure a workflow
• Troubleshoot workflows
  • Troubleshoot and diagnose workflow failures in Azure Logic Apps
• Manage workflow logs

Describe Microsoft Power Virtual Agents (10–15%)

Identify use cases for Power Virtual Agents

• Identify chatbot environments
  • Working with environments in Power Virtual Agents
• Describe chatbot skills and AI capabilities
  • Enable advanced AI features in Power Virtual Agents
• Identify options for security

Identify components of Power Virtual Agents

• Describe topics
  • Create and edit topics in your Power Virtual Agents bot
• Describe entities
• Identify use cases for fallback topics
  • Configure the system fallback topic in Power Virtual Agents

Import and visualize data by using dataflows and Power BI (10–15%)

Consume Power BI in Microsoft Power Platform

• Add Power BI tiles to model-driven apps and canvas apps
  • Tutorial: Add a Power BI visual into a model-driven app
• Add canvas apps to a Power BI dashboard
  • How to create a canvas app with Power BI visual
• Trigger Power Automate flows from Power BI alerts
  • Integrate Power BI data alerts with Power Automate
• Use Power BI in Power Pages
  • What is Power Pages?

Create and use dataflows

• Import data to Dataverse using Power Query
  • Import or export data from Dataverse
• Schedule dataflow runs
  • What are dataflows?
• Describe Power Fx
  • Microsoft Power Fx overview

Define an environment strategy (10–15%)

Participate in Application Lifecycle Management (ALM)

• Describe use cases for App checker and Solution checker
  • Use solution checker to validate your model-driven apps in Power Apps
• Create and manage solutions
  • Solutions overview
• Describe the difference between managed and unmanaged solutions
  • Solution concepts

Describe interoperability with other services

• Add apps to Microsoft Teams
  • Add an app to Microsoft Teams
• Create Teams channels
  • Create your first teams and channels in Microsoft Teams
• Identify when to use the on-premises data gateway

PL-200 Exam Retake Policy

Here is how you can retake the Microsoft Exam PL-200

1. Those who are unable to pass the exam on their first try must wait for a minimum of 24 hours before making another attempt.
2. A minimum gap of 14 days is necessary for candidates who fail the exam for the second time before attempting it again.
3. If someone attempts the exam for the fourth or fifth time, they must also wait for a period of 14 days before attempting it again.

Conclusion

For professionals looking to enhance their skills and expertise in the Microsoft Power Platform, the PL-200 certification is great. With this certification, you can demonstrate your understanding of PowerApps, Power BI, and Power Virtual Agents. 

Additionally, you’ll learn how to manage permissions and manage Dataverse ecosystems. There’s a wide range of professionals who can get this certification, including functional consultants, data analysts, IT managers, developers, and enterprise architects. 

By getting the PL-200 certification, you’ll be recognized as a Microsoft Power Platform Solutions Consultant. You can also develop next-generation solutions for companies around the world. 

So, if you want to stay on top of the technology curve and be competitive in the job market, get the PL-200 certification.

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