2 / DATA ARCHITECTURE
Make the data you already have
work for your team.
A well-designed data foundation is the underlying power behind useful unattended automations, with a known and maintained single source of truth place for each dataset and a refresh process the team can understand.
Custom M365 solutions with no additional Power Platform licence spend.
I specialise in building within the standard, free Microsoft 365 tools universities already have: SharePoint, OneDrive, Excel, Microsoft Forms, Approvals and Outlook, connected through Power Apps and Power Automate.
Dataverse is the gold standard for a richer relational data model and granular security when premium licensing is available. Where that budget is out of reach, standard free connectors can still deliver a substantial, sustainable working system.
Designed around the organisation’s existing Microsoft 365 entitlements, users and standard connectors. Microsoft licensing guidance ↗
POWER QUERY IN EXCEL
Designing the continual data architecture behind the automation
Registration exports, assessment calendars, staffing records and local spreadsheets often describe overlapping parts of the same work. Power Query is an extremely powerful tool packaged within Excel which enables a team to clean and merge datasets into a consistent dataset, with repeatable steps instead of rebuilding the same lookups by hand.
That prepared data can be loaded into Excel tables, then brought into SharePoint through an explicit import or Power Automate sync. Once the lists have reliable keys and useful structure, the same foundation can serve many unattended apps and flows.
- 1 Prepare once, reuse widely
- Standardise column names, data types and identifiers; merge related records and flag missing matches before they enter the workflow.
- 2 Give the data a clear home
- Use structured SharePoint lists for shared operational records, with deliberate access rules and a defined route from source to destination.
- 3 Make upkeep part of the design
- Agree who refreshes each source, how updates are reconciled, and what happens when a file or schema changes. Document the steps for the next owner.
AN EXAMPLE FROM ASSESSMENT ADMINISTRATION
Several tools, one connected data model
Student registrations and the assessment calendar feed shared assessment records. Feedback delivery and marksheet production then reuse those records, so each tool has a clear role in the wider process.
