The Total Economic Impact™ Of Microsoft Power Pages
Cost Savings And Business Benefits Enabled By Power Pages
A Forrester Total Economic Impact™ Study Commissioned By Microsoft, June 2024
Rapid web application development is vital for all organizations. Regardless of size, organizations need to ensure that new pages and features are helping to convert customers as quickly as possible, while non-corporate entities have legal obligations to inform the public about access to resources or potential threats. However, as cross-functional collaboration becomes more important than ever, and skilled senior-level developers are in short supply, it can be difficult for organizations to grow quickly in a sustainable and affordable way.
Microsoft Power Pages, a part of the Microsoft Power Platform, provides organizations with low-code web application development capabilities, improved integrations between web applications and back-end services, and additional features when used in conjunction with other parts of the Power Platform, including Power Apps, Power Automate, and Copilot Studio.
Microsoft commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study and examine the potential return on investment (ROI) enterprises may realize by deploying Power Pages.1 The purpose of this study is to provide readers with a framework to evaluate the potential financial impact of Power Pages on their organizations.
Three-year Return on investment (ROI)
197%
Three-year Net present value (NPV)
$5.5M
To better understand the benefits, costs, and risks associated with this investment, Forrester interviewed five representatives with experience using Power Pages. For the purposes of this study, Forrester aggregated the interviewees’ experiences and combined the results into a single composite organization.
Interviewees said that prior to using Power Pages, their organizations were limited to outdated legacy web application development services. These services often required significant manual effort to maintain, and siloed management made both the actual labor of web application development and the processes surrounding it take significant time. This led to a reliance on external contractors, delayed web application projects, and significant expenses to maintain integrations and data connectors, maintain the prior platform, and pay licensing fees.
After the investment in Power Pages, the interviewees were able to replace expensive, senior-level contractors with business users and accelerate their web application development. Key results from the investment include productivity savings on web application development, cost savings on hiring contractors, reduced total cost of ownership, and accelerated rollout of web applications.
Key Findings
Quantified benefits. Three-year, risk-adjusted present value (PV) quantified benefits for the composite organization include:
- Reduced development time for new web applications by 25%. Microsoft Power Pages enables the composite organization to templatize their web application development, reuse work rather than having to perform the same tasks repeatedly, and ideate on feedback significantly faster. This equates to a 25% productivity boost for web developers, yielding a risk-adjusted, three-year present value (PV) of $3.2 million.
- Cost savings from reallocating 10 developer contractors by empowering junior or citizen developers. The low-code capabilities of Power Pages enable the composite organization to empower business users and junior-level developers for project support, instead of only relying on a team of high-level web development contractors to perform these tasks. This enables the composite organization to use the high-level web developers for other higher-value work. Replacing this team of 10 contractors saves the composite organization a risk-adjusted, three-year total of $3.3 million.
- Time savings of 20% on maintaining integrations and data connectors for existing web applications. Built-in integrations with Power Pages enable the composite organization to avoid dedicating significant time to manage the integrations and data connectors between their web applications and back-end services. This provides the integrations team with 20% time savings, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted benefit of $383,000.
- Avoided ongoing licensing and maintenance costs for prior software and platforms of $800,000 per year. The composite organization’s prior web application development solution requires $150,000 per year in licensing fees, two maintenance engineering FTEs, and two database administrator FTEs to maintain. Power Pages eliminates the need for this maintenance effort and expenditure. Over three years, this saves the composite organization a risk-adjusted total of $1.3 million.
Unquantified benefits. Benefits that provide value for the composite organization but are not quantified for this study include:
- Improved security. The built-in security for web end users of Microsoft Power Pages can enable savings on other security services and aid with compliance requirements for organizations that are either 1) working with, or 2) are a part of government or non-corporate organizations and regulated industries.
- Improved service for constituents and customers. The composite organization’s increased velocity of web application development allows them to better anticipate and meet customer needs, as well as more quickly respond to feedback and solve issues. For government or non-corporate organizations, this speed could translate to more convenience for constituent or citizen services.
- Reduced cost of service for organizations. Faster, more responsive web application development and improved overall web capabilities allow organizations to move away from costly solutions (e.g., call centers) for handling potential issues. Instead, they can leverage self-service or online options.
- Improved time-to-market. Increasing the speed of web application development can significantly reduce the amount of time to launch new web pages — and thus, potentially new revenue-generating services.
Costs. Three-year, risk-adjusted PV costs for the composite organization include:
- Implementation and training costs. The composite organization requires a small team working for three months to implement Microsoft Power Pages. This implementation, along with an initial training of the entire team and annual trainings of new employees, costs the organization a risk-adjusted, three-year total of $573,000.
- Ongoing licensing and maintenance costs. The composite organization has two junior maintenance FTEs managing updates and ongoing support for Power Pages. It pays $600,000 in licensing fees annually for 100,000 monthly authenticated end users for its web applications. Over three years, this costs the composite organization a risk-adjusted $2.2 million.
The representative interviews and financial analysis found that a composite organization experiences benefits of $8.2 million over three years versus costs of $2.7 million, adding up to a net present value (NPV) of $5.5 million and an ROI of 197%.
Key Statistics
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Return on investment (ROI)
197%
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Benefits PV
$8.2M
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Net present value (NPV)
$5.5M
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Payback
<6 months
Benefits (Three-Year)
Reduced development time for new web applications Cost savings on contractor developer team Time savings on maintaining integrations and data connectors for existining web applications Avoided maintenance and licensing costs for prior software and platformsTEI Framework And Methodology
From the information provided in the interviews, Forrester constructed a Total Economic Impact™ framework for those organizations considering an investment in Microsoft Power Pages.
The objective of the framework is to identify the cost, benefit, flexibility, and risk factors that affect the investment decision. Forrester took a multistep approach to evaluate the impact that Power Pages can have on an organization.
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Due Diligence
Interviewed Microsoft stakeholders and Forrester analysts to gather data relative to Power Pages.
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Interviews
Interviewed five representatives at organizations using Power Pages to obtain data about costs, benefits, and risks.
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Composite Organization
Designed a composite organization based on characteristics of the interviewees’ organizations.
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Financial Model Framework
Constructed a financial model representative of the interviews using the TEI methodology and risk-adjusted the financial model based on issues and concerns of the interviewees.
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Case Study
Employed five fundamental elements of TEI in modeling the investment impact: benefits, costs, flexibility, and risks. Given the increasing sophistication of ROI analyses related to IT investments, Forrester’s TEI methodology provides a complete picture of the total economic impact of purchase decisions. Please see Appendix A for additional information on the TEI methodology.
Disclosures
Readers should be aware of the following:
This study is commissioned by Microsoft and delivered by Forrester Consulting. It is not meant to be used as a competitive analysis.
Forrester makes no assumptions as to the potential ROI that other organizations will receive. Forrester strongly advises that readers use their own estimates within the framework provided in the study to determine the appropriateness of an investment in Power Pages. For the interactive functionality using Configure Data/Custom Data, the intent is for the questions to solicit inputs specific to a prospect's business. Forrester believes that this analysis is representative of what companies may achieve with Power Pages based on the inputs provided and any assumptions made. Forrester does not endorse Microsoft or its offerings. Although great care has been taken to ensure the accuracy and completeness of this model, Microsoft and Forrester Research are unable to accept any legal responsibility for any actions taken on the basis of the information contained herein. The interactive tool is provided ‘AS IS,’ and Forrester and Microsoft make no warranties of any kind.
Microsoft reviewed and provided feedback to Forrester, but Forrester maintains editorial control over the study and its findings and does not accept changes to the study that contradict Forrester’s findings or obscure the meaning of the study.
Microsoft provided the customer names for the interviews but did not participate in the interviews.
Consulting Team:
Sam Sexton
Drivers leading to the Power Pages investment
Interviews
| Role | Industry | Geography | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Director, products and technology group | Professional services | Global | $50 billion |
| Senior business analyst | International non-corporate organization | Global | $10 billion budget |
| Manager of product and engineering | Telecommunications | Global | $79 billion |
| IT director | State government agency | US | $80 million budget |
| IT program manager | Federal government agency | US | $5.6 billion budget |
Key Challenges
Before implementing Microsoft Power Pages, the interviewees’ organizations had limited, legacy low-code web development solutions. Some had multiple limited solutions that worked in silos for different parts of the process, while others had a single platform that had to be managed by a separate siloed team.
The interviewees noted how their organizations struggled with common challenges, including:
- Long, manual development process for web applications. Interviewees explained that developing web applications was a long and arduous process, often requiring manual and repetitive effort, and struggled to reach a build where ideation and feedback could occur. The manager of product and engineering for the telecommunications organization explained, “The development delays and intervals it would take to create solutions were too long.”
- Need to quickly create applications and pages to meet urgent circumstances. In addition to web application development taking too much employee time and effort, several interviewees told Forrester that their organizations were simply unable to produce web applications quickly enough to meet critical objectives. This need was especially acute for the government and non-corporate organizations, who had legal responsibilities to provide citizen services or resources to deal with crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. The IT director from the state government shared, “Everything was coming to my desk — either systems that needed to be modernized, or new programs required because of new legislation.”
- Difficulty collaborating with non-developers. Many of the interviewees’ organizations featured relatively small development teams that had to complete tasks disproportionate to their size. Often, they needed to work with non-developers on various tasks, but were forced to rely on external contractors or other departments’ developers for additional tasks, rather than empowering other roles. The IT program manager for the federal government agency explained how their organization was held back from this enhanced holistic approach to team-building: “I’m a big proponent of hiring people that have characteristics or experience at a junior level that allow them to learn what they need and be a part of the development cycle.”
- Fragmented, difficult-to-maintain prior state. Previously, many of the interviewees’ organizations used less sophisticated web application development solutions — sometimes multiple solutions for different parts of the process. These required manual effort to maintain, had expensive licensing, and lacked native integration and data connector support. The manager of product and engineering for the telecommunications organization explained that consolidating their solutions was a significant driver for the Power Pages investment: “We would have had to do some level of migration. We were at a point where in terms of saving around operational costs, it made sense for us to use this tool set.”
Investment Objectives
The interviewees’ organizations searched for a solution that could:
- Empower citizen and junior developers.
- Accelerate development without compromising security.
- Eliminate disparate or redundant license and management costs.
Composite Organization
Based on the interviews, Forrester constructed a TEI framework, a composite company, and an ROI analysis that illustrates the areas financially affected. The composite organization is representative of the five interviewees, and it is used to present the aggregate financial analysis in the next section. The composite organization has the following characteristics:
Description of composite. The industry-agnostic organization has 30,000 employees, a revenue of $10 billion, and operates around the globe. It has a total of 100 full-time web developers using Microsoft Power Pages.
Quantified benefit data as applied to the composite
Total Benefits
| Ref. | Benefit | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Present Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atr | Reduced development time for new web applications | $1,306,250 | $1,306,250 | $1,306,250 | $3,918,750 | $3,248,450 |
| Btr | Cost savings on contractor developer team | $1,309,417 | $1,309,417 | $1,309,417 | $3,928,250 | $3,256,325 |
| Ctr | Time savings on maintaining integrations and data connectors for existing web applications | $153,900 | $153,900 | $153,900 | $461,700 | $382,727 |
| Dtr | Avoided ongoing maintenance and licensing costs for prior software and platforms | $540,000 | $540,000 | $540,000 | $1,620,000 | $1,342,900 |
| Total benefits (risk-adjusted) | $3,309,567 | $3,309,567 | $3,309,567 | $9,928,700 | $8,230,402 | |
Reduced Development Time For New Web Applications
Evidence and data. Every interviewee noted that Microsoft Power Pages streamlined various parts of their web application development process, enabling faster development of web applications with less labor and effort required for their development team.
- Power Pages allows organizations to take advantage of stored templates to reuse work, rather than having to create the same elements or perform the same work repeatedly. The senior business analyst for the international non-corporate organization explained: “We have things we can reuse — forms, themes, styles. … We have custom layout pages or components we can just reuse if we have to make a new page because we got a request from somewhere.”
- Power Pages also provided more flexibility to organizations with strict requirements around branding. Rather than having to painstakingly build custom assets each time, they could simply import what they needed once and use those assets going forward. The director of the products and technology group for the professional services organization noted: “Power Pages was of particular interest to us because we have strict branding guidelines, and we couldn’t meet those guidelines quickly enough. Our brand component packages were easily imported into Power Pages, and it accelerated our ability to deliver web applications.”
- Modifying and adjusting web applications that were previously completed was also faster and easier with Power Pages. The manager of product and engineering for the telecommunications organization shared: “In Power Pages, it took much less time to add drop downs, add fields, or enhance something. … Before, it would take around a full week.”
- A key way Power Pages sped up development was by enabling developers to reach a preliminary stage where more detailed feedback and ideation could occur earlier than before. The director for the products and technology group for the professional services organization explained, “The time to get an application up off the ground is reduced by leveraging Power Pages, and therefore people are able to use it and iterate on feedback in a much quicker timeframe than what we had been doing previously.”
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
- The composite organization has 100 full-time web application developers, who develop five applications annually. Each full-time web application developer spends eight weeks per web application.
- Power Pages reduces the amount of time required to actively work on each web application project by 25%. The composite organization saves eight weeks to six weeks worth of time for web application projects.
- A 50% productivity recapture is applied to the time savings.
Risks. Factors that could impact the size of this benefit for organizations include:
- Size and productivity of web application development team before Power Pages.
- Fully-burdened salary of web application development team members.
- Degree to which Power Pages can improve on web application development speed.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $3.2 million.
Reduced Development Time For New Web Applications
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Web developers using Microsoft Power Pages | Interviews | 100 | 100 | 100 | |
| A2 | Web apps developed annually, per web developer | Interviews | 5 | 5 | 5 | |
| A3 | Time required for development before Power Pages (weeks) | Interviews | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
| A4 | Weekly fully-burdened salary of a web app developer | TEI standard | $2,750 | $2,750 | $2,750 | |
| A5 | Subtotal: Cost of web application development before Power Pages | A1*A2*A3*A4 | $11,000,000 | $11,000,000 | $11,000,000 | |
| A6 | Web app and page development time savings with Power Pages | Interviews | 25% | 25% | 25% | |
| A7 | Time required for development with Power Pages (weeks) | A3*(1-A6) | 6 | 6 | 6 | |
| A8 | Subtotal: Cost of web application development with Power Pages | A1*A2*A4*A7 | $8,250,000 | $8,250,000 | $8,250,000 | |
| A9 | Productivity recapture | TEI standard | 50% | 50% | 50% | |
| At | Reduced development time for new web applications | (A5-A8)*A9 | $1,375,000 | $1,375,000 | $1,375,000 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓5% | |||||
| Atr | Reduced development time for new web applications (risk-adjusted) | $1,306,250 | $1,306,250 | $1,306,250 | ||
| Three-year total: $3,918,750 | Three-year present value: $3,248,450 | |||||
Cost Savings On Contractor Developer Team
Evidence and data. Before Microsoft Power Pages, interviewees reported that they either had to rely on contractors to provide additional project support for the main web application development team, request help from higher-level employees from other parts of the business, or simply do without the needed support. Implementing Power Pages frees up other employees to work on additional tasks.
- Power Pages’ low-code development capabilities enabled organizations to bring in citizen developers or business users involved in projects on the non-technical side to provide assistance. The senior business analyst for the international non-corporate organization noted: “In the early days, one of the people on our team was critical in organizing everything, working on the flows. … He’s a lawyer! He’s not a technical person, but he’s very good at understanding what we needed, and with [Power Pages’] low-code capabilities, he was able to deliver more than you’d expect from someone who wasn’t trained in this stuff.”
- Some interviewees were able to speak firsthand to how the capabilities of Power Pages enabled greater participation in the design process from non-technical employees. The IT director for the state government agency noted, “I’m not a developer, and I’ve created multiple solutions in the Microsoft ecosystem, including with Power Pages.”
- The IT program manager for the federal government agency shared how Power Pages’ low-code capabilities allowed them to realize a vision for a less senior, technically-oriented workforce: “We don’t need to hire senior-level people anymore. … Power Pages lets us hire people that can come on, learn, and participate in the development cycle early and often.”
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
- Before Power Pages, the composite organization used 10 contractor developer FTEs to provide additional support on projects.
- With Power Pages, the composite organization can empower citizen developers and junior-level developers to provide this support instead, freeing up prior developers to work on other projects.
- Fifty of the composite’s junior or citizen developers are trained on using Power Pages, with each of these employees devoting 80 hours per year to development and maintenance tasks that were previously handled by contractors.
- Junior and citizen developers have a fully burdened hourly wage of $53.
Risks. Factors that could impact the size of this benefit for organizations include:
- Number of contractors or other high-level developers required for project support before Power Pages.
- Degree to which Power Pages can empower lower-level developers and citizen developers.
- Salary disparity between contractors and citizen/junior developers.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 15%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $3.3 million.
Cost Savings On Contractor Developer Team
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B1 | Junior or citizen developer FTEs used for project support | A1*10% | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| B2 | Fully-burdened blended salary of a junior or citizen developer | TEI standard | $110,500 | $110,500 | $110,500 |
| B3 | Fully-burdened salary of a web developer contractor | A4*52 weeks per year | $143,000 | $143,000 | $143,000 |
| B4 | Subtotal: Avoided contractor costs | B1*B2*B3 | $1,913,600 | $1,913,600 | $1,913,600 |
| B5 | Junior and citizen developers trained to support Power Pages | Composite | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| B6 | Annual hours per employee to replace contractor tasks | Interviews | 80 | 80 | 80 |
| B7 | Junior or citizen developer full burdened hourly wage | TEI Standard | $53 | $53 | $53 |
| B8 | Subtotal: Incremental labor from junior or citizen developers | B5*B6*B7 | $212,000 | $212,000 | $212,000 |
| Bt | Cost savings on contractor developer team | (B1*B3)-(B1*B2) | $1,540,490 | $1,540,490 | $1,540,490 |
| Risk adjustment | ↓15% | ||||
| Btr | Cost savings on contractor developer team (risk-adjusted) | $1,309,417 | $1,309,417 | $1,309,417 | |
| Three-year total: $3,928,250 | Three-year present value: $3,256,325 | ||||
Time Savings On Maintaining Integrations And Data Connectors For Existing Web Applications
Evidence and data. A major area of benefit for the interviewees’ organizations was avoiding the manual work of maintaining integrations and data connectors with web applications on their prior design platform.
- Microsoft Power Pages provides savings on managing integrations between different web applications, data connectors between each web application, and back-end services.
- The director for the products and technology group for the professional services organization explained: “[Power] Pages can integrate directly with our global integration fabric and interact with several dozen internal apps. … It lets us leverage [Power] Pages for different use cases.”
- The senior business analyst for the international non-corporate organization provided an example of how the ease of managing integrations came in handy during data migrations, “We have a group of individuals with expertise doing data migrations, but we would have had to massage the data quite a bit if we weren’t able to take advantage of the whole power platform approach.”
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
- The composite organization has 10 integration engineer FTEs managing integrations and data connectors full time.
- Power Pages saves 20% of time on managing integrations and data connectors.
- A 50% productivity recapture is applied.
Risks. Factors that could impact the size of this benefit for organizations include:
- Size and salary of the integration engineering team.
- Amount of time spent on integrations and data connectors before Power Pages.
- Degree to which Power Pages can provide additional time savings.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $383,000.
Time Savings On Maintaining Integrations And Data Connectors For Existing Web Applications
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | Integration engineers managing integrations and data connectors for web applications | Interviews | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| C2 | Annual fully-burdened salary of an integration engineer | TEI standard | $162,000 | $162,000 | $162,000 |
| C3 | Percentage of time saved on integration and data connection tasks by Microsoft Power Pages | Interviews | 20% | 20% | 20% |
| C4 | Productivity recapture | TEI standard | 50% | 50% | 50% |
| Ct | Time savings on maintaining integrations and data connectors for existing web applications | C1*C2*C3*C4 | $162,000 | $162,000 | $162,000 |
| Risk adjustment | ↓5% | ||||
| Ctr | Time savings on maintaining integrations and data connectors for existing web applications (risk-adjusted) | $153,900 | $153,900 | $153,900 | |
| Three-year total: $461,700 | Three-year present value: $382,727 | ||||
Avoided Maintenance And Licensing Costs For Prior Software And Platforms
Evidence and data. Interviewees whose organizations had significant investments in other web development platforms reported savings on total cost of ownership (TCO) expenses, including annual licensing and maintenance effort.
- The manager of product and engineering for the telecommunications organization explained: “Microsoft Power Pages made it an option for us to eliminate duplicate software and capabilities — another toolset. We avoided a significant amount of money and cost with a renewal.”
- The director of the products and technology group for the professional services firm gave another example of TCO savings around cloud licensing: “[Power Pages] changed where applications were sitting within the firm. We have less need for Azure resources and cloud.”
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
- The composite organization required two lower-level maintenance engineering FTEs to help manage their prior platform.
- The composite organization also required two database administrators to manage the back-end servers on their prior platform.
- The composite organization paid $150,000 in licensing fees each year.
- Power Pages eliminates the need for this labor and associated licensing costs.
Risks. Factors that could impact the size of this benefit for organizations include:
- Amount of maintenance engineering and database administration labor required before Power Pages.
- Licensing fees paid before Power Pages.
- Degree to which Power Pages can completely replace other solutions.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $1.3 million.
Avoided Maintenance And Licensing Costs For Prior Software And Platforms
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1 | Maintenance engineering FTEs required to maintain prior web app development platform | Interviews | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| D2 | Annual fully-burdened salary of a platform maintenance FTE | TEI standard | $120,000 | $120,000 | $120,000 |
| D3 | Subtotal: Avoided platform maintenance engineer FTEs | D1*D2 | $240,000 | $240,000 | $240,000 |
| D4 | Database administrator FTEs required prior to Microsoft Power Pages | Interviews | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| D5 | Annual fully-burdened salary of a database administrator FTE | TEI Standard | $105,000 | $105,000 | $105,000 |
| D6 | Subtotal: Avoided database administrator FTEs | D4*D5 | $210,000 | $210,000 | $210,000 |
| D7 | Subtotal: Annual prior platform and software licensing fees | Interviews | $150,000 | $150,000 | $150,000 |
| Dt | Avoided maintenance and licensing costs for prior software and platforms | D3+D6+D7 | $600,000 | $600,000 | $600,000 |
| Risk adjustment | ↓10% | ||||
| Dtr | Avoided maintenance and licensing costs for prior software and platforms (risk-adjusted) | $540,000 | $540,000 | $540,000 | |
| Three-year total: $1,620,000 | Three-year present value: $1,342,900 | ||||
Unquantified Benefits
Interviewees mentioned the following additional benefits that their organizations experienced but were not able to quantify:
- Improved security. Microsoft Power Pages features built-in security and authentication that is vital for external-facing web applications, especially in the government or organizations with strict regulations. The senior business analyst for the international non-corporate organization noted: “The configurable ways we can set up web roles and security was a huge advantage for us. I can make sure this page is only accessible for authenticated users, or users with a certain role.”
- Improved service for citizens and customers. Faster development of web applications enabled new possibilities for the interviewees’ organizations, giving them the capability to set up online services for customers — or citizens, in the case of governments — that could replace less convenient ways to conduct business or reach out for resources. The IT program manager for the federal government agency explained: “[With Power Pages,] the intent is that people can share information and get inquiries and requests submitted in a standardized, intelligent way, and decrease how complex the process is. … In time, the amount of other ingestion points is decreasing the need for others to even pick up the phone to call the call center.”
- Reduced cost of service for organizations. In addition to providing more convenience for citizens and customers, the improved services described above also enable cost savings or increased revenue collection for organizations and governments by reducing reliance on expensive call centers or more easily collecting fees and dues. The IT director from the state government agency shared, “I can’t talk enough about how much Power Pages enables us to promote public safety while driving more revenue at the same time — we’re looking at upwards of 5% more collected.”
- Improved time-to-market. The enhanced speed of web application development saved time and effort for the interviewees’ organizations, and also let them get features to market quicker, potentially increasing revenue. The director of the products and technology group for the professional services organization explained, “Depending on the size of the application, we’re able to see value in a matter of weeks versus months.”
Flexibility
The value of flexibility is unique to each customer. There are multiple scenarios in which a customer might implement Microsoft Power Pages and later realize additional uses and business opportunities, including:
- Additional benefits with other components of the Microsoft Power Platform. All the above benefits were primarily achieved through the use of Power Pages alone, but interviewees using the broader Power Platform told Forrester that they were able to realize even more benefits by using Power Pages alongside Power Apps and Power Automate. The director for the products and technology group of the professional services organization explained, “Power Pages natively integrates with Power Automate, which let us directly start accessing data.”
- This includes other Microsoft technologies, such as Copilot and AI. The IT director from the state government shared, “We continue to reap the benefit of being part of the Microsoft ecosystem, because it’s always growing — now they’re getting into Azure and AI services, and we can leverage those benefits with Power Pages.”
Flexibility would also be quantified when evaluated as part of a specific project (described in more detail in Appendix A).
Quantified cost data as applied to the composite
Total Costs
| Ref. | Cost | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Present Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Etr | Implementation and training | $560,175 | $5,214 | $5,214 | $5,214 | $575,817 | $573,141 |
| Ftr | Licensing and maintenance | $0 | $882,000 | $882,000 | $882,000 | $2,646,000 | $2,193,403 |
| Total costs (risk-adjusted) | $560,175 | $887,214 | $887,214 | $887,214 | $3,221,817 | $2,766,544 | |
Implementation And Training
Evidence and data. Interviewees described an initial implementation process followed by ongoing training.
- The initial implementation required a team of lower-level engineers to work for a few months to completely set up Microsoft Power Pages.
- After setting up Power Pages, organizations had to train their users, including citizen and junior developers.
- This includes additional training for net-new users throughout the investment as employees churn out.
Modeling and assumptions. For the composite organization, Forrester assumes the following:
- A team of 15 implementation team members works for three months to set up Power Pages.
- Upon implementation, the team of 100 web developers and 10 citizen or junior web developers are trained for eight hours on how to use Power Pages.
- Forrester assumes 8% employee churn year-over-year, requiring eight additional web developer FTEs and one citizen or junior developer to be trained each year.
Risks. Factors that could impact the size of this cost for organizations include:
- Size and salary of implementation team.
- Length of implementation.
- Amount of training required.
- Rate of employee churn.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this cost upward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $573,000.
Implementation And Training
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E1 | Implementation team members | Interviews | 15 | ||||
| E2 | Length of implementation (months) | Interviews | 3 | ||||
| E3 | Monthly fully-burdened blended salary of a implementation team member | TEI standard | $10,000 | ||||
| E4 | Subtotal: Total implementation effort | E1*E2*E3 | $450,000 | ||||
| E5 | Web developer FTEs required to be trained (rounded) | A1*8% | 100 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
| E6 | Length of training (hours) | Interviews | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
| E7 | Fully-burdened hourly salary of a web developer | A4/40 hours per week | $69 | $69 | $69 | $69 | |
| E8 | Subtotal: Total cost of training full web developers | E5*E6*E7 | $55,000 | $4,400 | $4,400 | $4,400 | |
| E9 | Citizen or junior web developers required to be trained | B1*8% | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| E10 | Length of training (hours) | E6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
| E11 | Fully-burdened hourly fully-burdened salary of a junior or citizen web developer | B2/2080 hours per year | $53 | $53 | $53 | $53 | |
| E12 | Subtotal: Total cost of training citizen or junior web developers | E9*E10*E11 | $4,250 | $340 | $340 | $340 | |
| Et | Implementation and training | E4+E8+E12 | $509,250 | $4,740 | $4,740 | $4,740 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↑10% | ||||||
| Etr | Implementation and training (risk-adjusted) | $560,175 | $5,214 | $5,214 | $5,214 | ||
| Three-year total: $575,817 | Three-year present value: $573,141 | ||||||
Licensing And Maintenance
Evidence and data. Interviewees told Forrester that their organizations had to dedicate lower-level engineering FTEs to maintenance and pay an annual licensing fee for usage of Microsoft Power Pages.
Modeling and assumptions. For the composite organization, Forrester assumes the following:
- The composite organization requires two maintenance FTEs to manage Power Pages.
- According to Power Pages’ list pricing, the composite organization pays an annual licensing fee of $600,000 for Power Pages, assuming list pricing is $50 per 1,000 authenticated end-users monthly.
- Pricing may vary for organizations depending on number of authenticated end-users required. Reach out to Microsoft for additional information.
Risks. Factors that could impact the size of this cost for organizations include:
- Number and salary of maintenance engineer FTEs required.
- Total size of licensing fees required to pay for Power Pages.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this cost upward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $2.2 million.
Licensing And Maintenance
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1 | Maintenance engineer FTEs required to maintain Microsoft Power Pages | Interviews | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| F2 | Fully-burdened salary of a maintenance FTE | D6 | $120,000 | $120,000 | $120,000 | ||
| F3 | Subtotal: Maintenance costs of Power Pages | F1*F2 | $240,000 | $240,000 | $240,000 | ||
| F4 | Subtotal: Annual license fees for Power Pages | Composite | $600,000 | $600,000 | $600,000 | ||
| Ft | Licensing and maintenance | F3+F4 | $0 | $840,000 | $840,000 | $840,000 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↑5% | ||||||
| Ftr | Licensing and maintenance (risk-adjusted) | $0 | $882,000 | $882,000 | $882,000 | ||
| Three-year total: $2,646,000 | Three-year present value: $2,193,403 | ||||||
Consolidated Three-Year Risk-Adjusted Metrics
Cash Flow Chart (Risk-Adjusted)
Total costs Total benefits Cumulative net benefits-
The financial results calculated in the Benefits and Costs sections can be used to determine the ROI, NPV, and payback period for the composite organization’s investment. Forrester assumes a yearly discount rate of 10% for this analysis.
These risk-adjusted ROI, NPV, and payback period values are determined by applying risk-adjustment factors to the unadjusted results in each Benefit and Cost section.
Cash Flow Analysis (Risk-Adjusted Estimates)
| Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Present Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total costs | ($560,175) | ($887,214) | ($887,214) | ($887,214) | ($3,221,817) | ($2,766,544) |
| Total benefits | $0 | $3,309,567 | $3,309,567 | $3,309,567 | $9,928,700 | $8,230,402 |
| Net benefits | ($560,175) | $2,422,353 | $2,422,353 | $2,422,353 | $6,706,883 | $5,463,858 |
| ROI | 197% | |||||
| Payback period (months) | Less than 6 | |||||
Appendix A: Total Economic Impact
Total Economic Impact is a methodology developed by Forrester Research that enhances a company’s technology decision-making processes and assists vendors in communicating the value proposition of their products and services to clients. The TEI methodology helps companies demonstrate, justify, and realize the tangible value of IT initiatives to both senior management and other key business stakeholders.
Total Economic Impact Approach
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Benefits represent the value delivered to the business by the product. The TEI methodology places equal weight on the measure of benefits and the measure of costs, allowing for a full examination of the effect of the technology on the entire organization.
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Costs consider all expenses necessary to deliver the proposed value, or benefits, of the product. The cost category within TEI captures incremental costs over the existing environment for ongoing costs associated with the solution.
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Flexibility represents the strategic value that can be obtained for some future additional investment building on top of the initial investment already made. Having the ability to capture that benefit has a PV that can be estimated.
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Risks measure the uncertainty of benefit and cost estimates given: 1) the likelihood that estimates will meet original projections and 2) the likelihood that estimates will be tracked over time. TEI risk factors are based on “triangular distribution.”
The initial investment column contains costs incurred at “time 0” or at the beginning of Year 1 that are not discounted. All other cash flows are discounted using the discount rate at the end of the year. PV calculations are calculated for each total cost and benefit estimate. NPV calculations in the summary tables are the sum of the initial investment and the discounted cash flows in each year. Sums and present value calculations of the Total Benefits, Total Costs, and Cash Flow tables may not exactly add up, as some rounding may occur.
Appendix B: Endnotes
1 Total Economic Impact is a methodology developed by Forrester Research that enhances a company’s technology decision-making processes and assists vendors in communicating the value proposition of their products and services to clients. The TEI methodology helps companies demonstrate, justify, and realize the tangible value of IT initiatives to both senior management and other key business stakeholders.
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