Environment Settings

Overview

The Power Platform Admin Center (PPAC) provides a centralized location to configure environment-level capabilities that impact how Model‑Driven Apps (including IncidentAnalytix) behave.

Feature settings control:

  • User experience (search, grids, help panes)
  • AI capabilities (Copilot, AI Builder)
  • Analytics and embedded content
  • Preview/modern capabilities

These settings are configured per environment under:
PPAC → Environments → [Select Environment] → Settings → Product → Features [learn.microsoft.com]

Important Notes Before You Begin

  • Permissions required: System Administrator or equivalent role
  • Availability varies: Some features are region-specific or release wave-dependent
  • Preview features: Many AI/Copilot capabilities are preview and may change or have limitations

Recommended Feature Configuration for IA

The following settings represent typical recommended defaults for IA deployments, balancing usability, supportability, and governance.

Search & Data Experience

Enable Modern Search Experience

  • Recommendation: ✅ ON
  • Provides improved record search and relevance across Dataverse data.
  • Enhances usability for incident lookup and reporting workflows.

Enable Relevance Search / Dataverse Search (if available)

  • Recommendation: ✅ ON
  • Improves findability of incidents, contacts, and related records.

Feature settings in PPAC include search-related configuration that controls how users interact with data across apps.

AI & Copilot Features

Enable Copilot (Environment-Level)

  • Recommendation: ⚠️ CONDITIONAL (see below)
  • Enables AI-powered experiences such as:
    • Natural language data queries
    • App assistance and help experiences
    • Formula and content generation

AI Chat / Data Query Experience

  • Recommendation: ✅ ON (internal environments)
  • Allows users to ask questions about data directly in the app using natural language

AI Builder Features

  • Recommendation: ✅ ON (if licensed)
  • Enables AI Builder models for automation scenarios.

IA Governance Recommendation (Important)

For production deployments with external portals or sensitive data:

  • Consider restricting AI features at the environment or site level
  • Use PPAC Copilot governance controls to limit exposure to public users

PPAC provides centralized controls to enable or restrict AI functionality across environments and applications.

Custom Help & User Guidance

Enable Custom Help Panes to see Admin-editable Help Panes

  • Recommendation: ✅ ON
  • Allows embedding IA-specific documentation URLs or contextual help
  • Critical for:
    • Customer onboarding
    • Field-level guidance
    • Reducing support overhead

Feature settings include options for “custom help” and user assistance experiences.

Analytics & Embedded Content

Enable Power BI Visualization Embedding

  • Recommendation: ✅ ON
  • Allows embedding dashboards directly in IA forms or dashboards
  • Typical IA use:
    • Incident trends
    • Safety analytics
    • KPI dashboards

UI & Productivity Enhancements

Enable Modern Read-Only Grid

  • Recommendation: ✅ ON
  • Improves usability of lists and subgrids

Enable “Edit Columns” on Views

  • Recommendation: ✅ ON
  • Allows users to personalize views more easily

Allow Personalization (optional)

  • Recommendation: ⚠️ Organization-dependent
  • Consider enabling for advanced users

PPAC features include controls for grids, views, and user personalization to improve productivity.

Collaboration Features

Show Co-presence in Forms

  • Recommendation: ⚠️ OPTIONAL
  • Displays when multiple users are viewing/editing a record
  • Useful in high-collaboration environments

Advanced / Preview Features

Enable Preview Features

  • Recommendation: ❌ OFF (Production)
  • Only enable in:
    • Dev / Sandbox
    • Early adopter environments

Preview features are not intended for production use and may have limited functionality.

Deployment Best Practices

Recommended Configuration by Environment Type

EnvironmentAI FeaturesPreview FeaturesCustom HelpNotes
Dev✅ ON✅ ON✅ ONTest new capabilities
Test✅ ON⚠️ Limited✅ ONValidate behavior
Production⚠️ Governed❌ OFF✅ ONStable, compliant config

Validation Checklist

After configuring features:

  • ✅ Users can search and locate IA records easily
  • ✅ Help pane displays IA documentation correctly
  • ✅ Dashboards render (if Power BI enabled)
  • ✅ AI features behave as expected (if enabled)
  • ✅ No unexpected UI regressions

Known Limitations (Real-World)

  • Feature availability can vary by region and release wave
  • AI/Copilot features may:
    • Require managed environments
    • Be partially enabled depending on licensing
  • UI feature toggles sometimes have delayed propagation across environments

Feature availability depends on the region and release plan.