The Partner Opportunity For Microsoft Power Platform

Total Economic Impact

The Partner Opportunity For Microsoft Power Platform

A FORRESTER TOTAL ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY COMMISSIONED BY Microsoft, MARCH 2026

A Total Economic Impact™ Partner Opportunity Analysis

Introduction
Market Trends
The Partner Opportunity
Partner Investments And Best Practices
Conclusion
TEI Framework And Methodology
Appendixes

Introduction
Market Trends
The Partner Opportunity
Partner Investments And Best Practices
Conclusion
TEI Framework And Methodology
Appendixes

[CONTENT]

Introduction

Enterprise demand for low-code development platforms — and Power Platform specifically — has increased. Power Platform has evolved into an AI application platform and an AI agent platform. This not only drives agent-related services with Copilot Studio but also low-code, AI-infused services for apps, automations, and agents. Plus, AI is sparking low-code conversations with customers. These trends, combined with Microsoft’s ongoing investment in Power Platform and its partners, have expanded and evolved the partner opportunity. Partners that followed best practices and invested in their low-code practices and in Microsoft relationships reported growing profitable practices, and they expected continued growth.

Low-code adoption continues to grow as customers use it to reach their goals, drive business value, and achieve AI transformation. It helps them accelerate development, expand capacity, reduce costs, and spark innovation. To transform with low-code, customers rely on professional service providers. Microsoft partners help their customers modernize application portfolios with cloud-native capabilities, deliver personalized stakeholder experiences, and amplify human potential with intelligent automation.¹

For partners, these trends drive a growing Power Platform revenue opportunity with more deployment services opportunities. Advisory services are central, as customers need strategic support with low-code governance, center of excellence (COE) setup, adoption and enablement, and AI readiness. Solutions development services are also evolving and expanding, with opportunities to build not only apps, automations, and pages but also AI agents. And while partners and customers are increasingly discussing agents, demand for core app, automation, and page development remains strong and continues to grow. With Power Platform’s evolution, partners are helping customers operationalize AI at scale to deliver intelligent solutions leveraging apps, agents, workflows, and data. Partners also generate recurring revenue through managed services for solution support and enhancement, as well as ongoing advisory work and factory-based development to support continuous innovation. Finally, Power Platform’s position within the Microsoft ecosystem presents substantial pull-through and follow-on revenue opportunities across Microsoft practices, such as Dynamics 365.

To understand the impact of these trends on the partner ecosystem, Microsoft commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study and examine the potential business opportunity partners may realize by building and scaling Microsoft Power Platform practices. Power Platform includes Power Apps, Power Automate, Power Pages, and Copilot Studio.

In this study, Forrester has calculated the partner opportunity for cross-Power Platform services.

$7.00 per user per month

Expected revenue opportunity (with attach rates applied)

This study focuses on recent changes for Power Platform partners and the outlook for the upcoming year. This includes 1) what customers want from Microsoft partners, 2) how partners make money, and 3) the best practices and investments that create success.

To better understand the revenue streams, investments, and risks associated with a Power Platform practice, Forrester interviewed 18 representatives from nine partners with Power Platform practices. These interviews build on interviews from prior years with Microsoft partners and organizations that buy their services.

Forrester created a partner opportunity model for enterprise customers based on what leading partners have recently achieved and, to a lesser extent, what they expect to achieve in the coming year. This model quantifies the opportunities for deployment, advisory services, solutions development, and managed services. It does not quantify the licensing revenue opportunity. Accounting for attach rates, Forrester found that the expected revenue opportunity for a new enterprise customer is $7.00 per user per month.²

“Power Platform is the glue that brings Dynamics, Modern Work, and a host of other solutions together.”

Definition

Low-Code Platforms

Forrester defines low-code development platforms for professional developers as platforms for professional application development that employ visual, declarative techniques instead of programming to meet a wide variety of application and process automation use cases.³

Forrester defines low-code platforms for citizen developers as platforms for application development that provide an intuitive developer experience through visual, declarative techniques instead of programming to enable nontechnical workers to deliver applications and automate processes.⁴

Definition

Microsoft Business Applications services (MBAS)

Forrester defines Microsoft Business Applications services (MBAS) as a portfolio of capabilities that help customers achieve AI-powered digital transformation using Microsoft’s enterprise applications, including Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, and enhanced by integrated Copilot AI assistants. Services include process consulting, experience design, migration, and ongoing support, complemented by AI-driven automation and advanced analytics.⁵

Market Trends

The customer and partner perspectives

The Customer Perspective

This section incorporates Forrester’s research and survey data to understand what is driving customer demand in terms of their priorities and the services they are looking for. This data shows that:

Low-code platform adoption is increasing. Low-code has broad, global use across teams, departments, and organizations for both professional and citizen developers.⁶ According to Forrester’s Developer Survey, 2025, 82% of developers are adopting or planning to adopt low-code development platforms, and an additional 13% of developers are interested.⁷ Forrester also writes that “Low-code continues to gain steam” and “the fact that so many people build entire applications — even core business applications — on low-code suggests that the practice will have a bright future.”⁸

“What are your organization’s plans to adopt low-code development platforms?”

[CHART DIV CONTAINER]

Not interested Interested but no immediate plans to implement in the next 12 months Planning to implement in the next 12 months Currently implementing Implemented but no immediate plans to expand Implemented and currently expanding Don't know

Base: 2,317 developers
Source: Forrester's Developer Survey, 2025

Customers are adopting low-code platforms to meet organizational goals. Power Platform customers told Forrester that their organizations adopted low-code solutions to increase developer capacity and make development more efficient while maintaining governance standards, introduce automation in manual processes to generate end-user time savings, and identify cost-saving opportunities within the organization.⁹

Forrester’s Developer Survey, 2025, supports these interview findings. The top five goals for adopting a low-code platform include “Empower departmental IT to deliver apps,” “Empower employees outside of IT to deliver apps,” “Develop apps more quickly,” “Develop unique apps for specific business needs,” and “Make application development processes more efficient.”¹⁰
Customers use partners to adopt and succeed with low-code. When asked what had the biggest impact on their organizations’ digital transformation successes, “Working with third-party service providers” was one of the top five responses.¹¹ Customers engage partners for low-code applications, automation, and AI.¹²

The Partner Perspective

Partners shared their views on the high-level trends driving growth and those they believe will be even more important over the next year.

Expanded low-code adoption and increased Power Platform demand are creating more opportunities. Partners reported growing enterprise interest in low-code, which is translating into business growth. One partner said, “The next trend we are seeing is the acceleration around the low-code, no-code.” Partners also said that Power Platform demand specifically is rising and that the solution’s capabilities continue to improve, leading to more deals. One partner explained, “Customers are more comfortable with the enterprise reliability of Power Platform than they were a few years back.” Partners expect continued growth in low-code and Power Platform services as the technology evolves.

“As the capabilities have gotten much better and the appreciation for them in the market has gotten better, our Power Platform practice has continued to grow and expand.”

AI is generating more opportunities. Partners said that AI was influencing their low-code practices and driving additional business. They explained that their practices were taking on more AI-related work to meet rising customer demand. For example, this work included not only Copilot Studio-related services but also solutions development services for intelligent apps and AI-driven automations with the evolution of Power Platform. Senior leaders at their customers recognized the transformational opportunity of AI and were eager to adopt it. Furthermore, some partners also noted that AI created opportunities to revisit previous low-code work and deliver improved outcomes, such as faster automations.
In addition to direct AI-related work, partners described how customer interest in AI was sparking conversations about low-code and its ability to address business challenges and support transformation efforts. One partner explained: “AI is accelerating people. People who are doing things in old manual processes are engaging in conversations because they are acutely aware that they are behind.” They estimated that 10% of their pipeline was due to this type of AI influence. Another partner described how Power Platform helps them capitalize on AI interest: “Business leaders want the benefits of AI, but they have a fear of data issues. We see that Power Platform can play a role as a safe AI sandbox before venturing big into AI.”

“AI is sparking the conversation. The solution may be AI, or the solution might very well be Power Automate.”

Their customers face cost-optimization pressure. Partners said that customers needed to reduce their costs, which was driving increased Power Platform adoption and more services opportunities. One partner explained how Power Platform reduced customers’ legacy software costs: “What is driving demand? There is a cost component. [One customer had] close to 400 single-point solutions. Whether those were homegrown applications or third-party tools, Power Platform can replace a lot of the SaaS products that companies have purchased and integrated into their tech stacks. You can build all of those within Power Platform. You do not need to have this matrix of third-party tools.”
Partners also said that customers were increasingly interested in consolidating their solutions. One partner observed: “We see migrations from other low-code platforms. A one-platform strategy is one trend that we see.” Another partner said: “Microsoft revised pricing and developed different pricing models, and that made Power Platform more attractive for organizations that wanted to move. … We are starting to see a shift from other tooling onto Microsoft tooling when it comes to a low-code and pro-code perspective.”

“We see cost optimization pressure everywhere, and that is also leading to hyper-automation. Companies want quick ROI. We see asks from customers to automate manual activities and unify fragmented processes. Power Automate is less expensive compared to other players in the market.”

Service opportunities have evolved and expanded.Partners said their practices increasingly had services opportunities that spanned Microsoft solution areas, along with new AI-related work such as building AI agents and AI applications. In addition to low-code-focused engagements, partners noted that most Microsoft-related projects include at least some low-code work. One partner shared, “43% to 45% of our total revenue has some element of Power Platform.” They also emphasized that Modern Work and Dynamics 365 engagements frequently included Power Platform components and often created substantial pull-through and follow-on opportunities across their Microsoft practices. For example, Dynamics 365 engagements often led to Power Platform work, and Power Platform projects often opened the door to wider transformation efforts such as further low-code initiatives or Dynamics 365 implementations. One partner explained, “When it comes to Power Platform, 50% to 60% of our engagements have a long tail.”

Besides expanding, partners also explained that their services had evolved and continue to do so. They described the progressive rise of advisory services over the past few years and how they are now evolving and reevaluating their services in the context of AI. One partner noted, “Governance around Power Platform is becoming more important.” Another partner said: “The advent of AI is causing pressure on partners to deliver faster. AI has become the lever of doing things faster.” While delivering faster services due to AI can potentially mean less revenue, AI can trigger new demand and new services.¹³ Additionally, Forrester writes that the rise of low-code platforms will shift partner focus to more strategic support, including “developing custom AI agents, establishing crucial governance and security frameworks, and guiding organizational transformation for optimal adoption.”¹⁴ Partners indicated that these sorts of strategic services align well with both low-code and AI opportunities.

“Power Platform has been evolving. We are using Power Platform to extend Dynamics as part of those deployments. When we are delivering a SharePoint or Teams solution, they often need a Power App for it.”

Microsoft is driving low-code practice success. Partners said close go-to-market collaboration with Microsoft contributed to successful low-code practices. Microsoft provides solution play training, customer-ready assets, partner programs and offers, and more. Partners also highlighted the value of engagement funding such as End Customer Investment Funds (ECIF). One partner explained: “Funding makes the sales process much easier. … It just removes hurdles.” (Partners shared recommendations with Forrester on how to improve support and programs, and Forrester shared these with Microsoft.)

“The funding programs at Microsoft are extremely helpful. It is a great tool for us.”

The Partner Opportunity

Revenue streams by solution area and service area

The trends discussed above have increased revenues across Power Platform, both in terms of total revenue potential (i.e., what partners are offering) and the expected revenue associated with the likely bundles of services that customers are buying (attach rates applied).

While this is Forrester’s first dedicated Power Platform Partner Opportunity Assessment, partners agreed that the revenue opportunity has grown in recent years. They also look at the opportunity holistically and not by solution area, so Forrester is presenting the opportunity as a cross-Power Platform one. Looking ahead, partners expect continued growth driven by the previously mentioned trends and their ongoing investments. One partner anticipated 20% growth, while another predicted 45% growth.

Total And Expected Revenue Opportunity

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Total

Expected (attach rates applied)

Deployment

Advisory

Solutions development

Managed services

Forrester also broke down the expected revenue opportunity across four service areas (not including licensing revenue): deployment, advisory, solutions development, and managed services.

Deployment services. Deployment services are the typical entry point for new customer engagements. These services include workshops, proofs of concept, and initial Power Platform setup.
Advisory services. Advisory services also typically lead or run alongside deployment services. Partners can also offer these services to customers that have previously deployed the platform or built solutions without proper governance and best practices. Advisory services include upfront strategy and planning work as well as COE setup, governance, adoption and enablement, and Copilot Studio-specific guidance. This work frequently leads to ongoing revenue opportunities such as continued training and governance support.
Solutions development services. Solutions development includes resalable IP, whether sold as standalone offerings or used to make deployments and managed services more efficient. It also includes custom solution development and advanced integration work such as building custom apps, automations, pages, and agents.
Managed services. Managed services offer scalable, predictable, higher-margin recurring revenue for partners following deployment, advisory, and solutions development. These services include support and enhancement for developed solutions, ongoing advisory services such as governance and training, and ongoing solutions development such as factory approaches (e.g., determining customers’ use cases and building solutions over a period of time). Long-term client relationships also lead to other sales opportunities.

Revenue Opportunity By Partner Service

Partner Service	Total Revenue Per User Per Month	Blended Attach Rate	Expected Revenue Per User Per Month
Deployment	$0.85	65%	$0.55
Advisory	$1.50	30%	$0.45
Solutions development	$5.95	44%	$2.60
Managed services	$8.20	41%	$3.40
Total	$16.50	42%	$7.00

Microsoft Power Platform Practices: Good, Better, Best

The Microsoft partners Forrester interviewed were diverse in terms of maturity, scale, customers, geography, offerings, and more. The chart below shows the total and expected revenue opportunity ranging from good offerings to best-in-class offerings that more advanced and mature partners may provide.

A good partner may deliver deployment services, some advisory services such as planning, and engage in solutions development.
A better partner may deliver additional advisory services, such as governance and adoption and enablement. It may also have resalable IP and offer ongoing managed services to enhance developed solutions.
A best-in-class partner delivers everything previously mentioned plus ongoing solutions development and advisory, such as factories, governance, and adoption and enablement. Some of this may be delivered as part of an ongoing managed services agreement.

For example, a good partner serving a new enterprise customer with 5,000 knowledge workers could recognize an expected revenue opportunity of $558,000 over a three-year customer journey, with the opportunity scaling from there. This expected revenue opportunity could include $99,000 in deployment, $18,000 in advisory, and $441,000 in solutions development as detailed in the following table:

Revenue Opportunity Examples By Partner Service

Partner Service	Good Partner Example Expected Revenue	Better Partner Example Expected Revenue	Best Partner Example Expected Revenue
Deployment	$99,000	$99,000	$99,000
Advisory	$18,000	$81,000	$81,000
Solutions development	$441,000	$468,000	$468,000
Managed services	$0	$117,000	$612,000
Total	$558,000	$765,000	$1,260,000

The expected revenue opportunity varies among these partner examples based on the offerings within each service area, with more mature partners successfully selling a full range of services. Many other factors will influence the expected revenue opportunity.

Forrester recommends that readers use their own estimates within the framework to determine their organization’s partner opportunity.

Total And Expected Revenue Opportunity

[CHART DIV CONTAINER]

Good

Better

Best

Total

Expected (attach rates applied)

Cross-Power Platform Services

The Power Platform revenue opportunity includes all low-code partner work related to Power Apps, Power Automate, Power Pages, and Copilot Studio. This work spans deployment, advisory, solutions development, and managed services. Partners told Forrester that they view the revenue opportunity holistically and by service area, rather than by individual solution area, because their offerings are often platformwide (e.g., COEs) and typically draw on multiple Power Platform products for customer use cases. This view aligns with Power Platform’s development into a platform for AI applications and AI agents where apps, agents, workflows, and data come together.

Partners said key growth drivers included expanded low-code adoption and increased Power Platform demand, cost optimization pressure, and AI. Overall, they are optimistic about the revenue opportunity not only from AI, but from core low-code.

Deployment services opportunities are increasing. Power Platform engagements often begin with envisioning workshops and discovery sessions, identifying challenges and pain points. This leads to proofs-of-concept followed by deployment. Microsoft supports its partners in this early work with resources such as the Copilot and Power Jumpstart initiative. Microsoft also provides funding for these engagements, helping partners win and progress deals. Interviewed partners said this funding helps remove sales hurdles, unlock opportunities, and drive revenue. Deployment services attach at a high rate (65%), with overall opportunities growing due to the trends discussed previously.
Advisory services have risen in importance. Partners said advisory services have steadily become more important, and customers today are more willing to pay for them than in years past. To recognize the benefits of low-code platforms, customers must plan, establish governance foundations and best practices, and train their teams. Building agents with Copilot Studio also requires customer AI readiness. Advisory services include COE setup, governance, and adoption and enablement (e.g., training, building with clients, etc.) as well as more AI-focused readiness and strategic support related to Copilot Studio. Partners also deliver advisory services flexibly, including supporting customers that previously undertook low‑code work and now need help adding governance, activating citizen developers, or rebooting their efforts. Advisory services attach 30% of the time.
Core low-code and agent solutions development services are growing. Building apps, automations, pages, and agents with Power Platform is the core revenue opportunity for partners, and demand is increasing. Partners shared numerous examples of customer challenges and creative solutions that delivered improved business outcomes. Deal scope varied significantly based on complexity, number, and scale of use cases, not simply the number of employees. Another factor partners had to consider was the customer and whether they would be doing some of this development themselves, particularly for less complex use cases or parts of development with AI assistance. Partners emphasized that while agent-related work is expanding, apps, pages, and automation remain in strong demand. With Power Platform’s evolution, partners are infusing AI into the apps, automations, and agents they build for customers. Solutions development services attach 44% of the time.
Managed services, including factory approaches, are significant. Managed and ongoing services represent a critical part of the revenue opportunity. These services include support and enhancement for developed solutions, as well as ongoing advisory (e.g., governance, COE management, and adoption and enablement) and continued solutions development such as factory approaches. Partners described factory models where they work with customers to identify and prioritize use cases and then iteratively build solutions. Deal sizes varied depending on the number of use cases and their complexity. Factories typically lasted multiple months, and partners shared that they did renew over multiple years depending on the customer. Managed services attach 41% of the time.

“There is a large real-world need for apps and automation. … The focus should be apps plus agents.”

Solution Area By Frequency Of Inclusion

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Power Apps Power Automate Copilot Studio Power Pages

Source: Interviews

Spotlight

Power Platform Solution Areas

In addition to the four service areas, partners shared insights into each Power Platform solution area, including:

Power Apps. Partners said that Power Apps, alongside Power Automate, dominates the work they do for customers in terms of solution development. This includes building apps to fill gaps that other software does not meet, aiding with software and vendor consolidation, modernizing existing apps, and building net-new modern, AI-native apps with agent integration. While some partners noted that a growth in agents could mean fewer apps, partners shared that there was a continued “real-world” importance of apps and that the number of opportunities were increasing leading to more Power Apps work.

“Ninety percent of our engagements are Power Apps with Power Automate. They go hand in hand.”

Power Automate. Together with Power Apps, partners consider Power Automate to be the most substantial part of the revenue opportunity. This includes modernizing and consolidating legacy automations, extending other software, building new automations to optimize business processes, and revisiting past work to deliver better outcomes with Power Automate and Copilot Studio. As with apps, while partners discussed agentic process automation, they also observed continued and growing core automation opportunities with Power Automate. Overall, partners expect automation to remain a critical part of client work, providing more opportunities to help clients achieve transformation at scale.

“Power Automate is the glue that connects everything together.”

Power Pages. Compared to Power Apps and Power Automate, partners said that they managed fewer similar Power Pages projects but often resulted in larger deal sizes. This was due to the greater user experience and design demands that require employees with those skills. Partners shared examples of modernizing and replacing legacy business portals with Power Pages, leading to customer cost savings and better customer experiences. Partners also noted increased demand for Power Pages due in part to its cost-effectiveness compared to other options.

“Power Pages deal sizes are slightly higher than Power Apps. … The UI and UX component with Power Pages will always increase the cost and duration or complexity of a project. It is 15% to 20% higher.”

Copilot Studio. Copilot Studio is the fastest-growing part of the revenue opportunity for partners, and it has increased in terms of its project inclusion frequency. Partners are creating, customizing, and launching agents for and with customers and offering the AI-related advisory services they need for agents. They also leverage it synergistically with core low-code work, driving better outcomes for customers as apps, agents, workflows, and data come together with Power Platform. Partners expect continued Copilot Studio growth alongside overall Power Platform growth. As one partner stated: “The immediate trend is AI adoption. Microsoft completely changed the AI game. Customers are ready to jump in and experiment. The capabilities in Copilot Studio have become top-notch, so agent orchestration and building agents will become a significant trend this year.”

“The immediate trend is AI adoption. Microsoft completely changed the AI game. Customers are ready to jump in and experiment. The capabilities in Copilot Studio have become top-notch, so agent orchestration and building agents will become a significant trend this year.”

Partner Investments And Best Practices

Investments and best practices fueling partners’ success

Forrester asked representatives of partner organizations about the best practices and investments fueling their success with go-to-market approaches and delivery. These included:

Putting the customer first. Partners did not lead with specific solutions. Instead, they emphasized the importance of putting the customer at the center of their low-code practices and business decisions. From start to finish, partners discussed having to understand customer problems, needs, and asks; pick the right solutions for those use cases; deliver successfully and quickly; and prove the business value of their work. One partner said: “We will work with the enterprise to understand the use case, the current investment, and the ROI they want to achieve. We do a business value proposition ahead of starting any engagement.” This results in successful outcomes for customers and follow-on work for partners.
Reimagining and evolving their low-code practices and services. Partners discussed the structure of their businesses and how they delivered low-code engagements. Some partners built low-code practices with dedicated delivery team members, while others had more decentralized approaches to low-code, with team members across Microsoft solution areas delivering low-code projects. Partners also invested in cross-practice AI teams to support and evolve delivery. Besides investing in their practices, partners were also taking the time to rethink their services in the context of AI. One partner said: “Our services are getting completely reimagined. … They are getting a significant investment in terms of what will be the new age way of doing them.”
Investing in their talent. To differentiate their practices, earn benefits from Microsoft such as designations and funding, and deliver better work for their customers, partners invested in hiring the right employees and training them sufficiently for both low-code and AI. In terms of hiring, some partners were seeking certain relevant skill sets like UX and baseline AI competency. Looking ahead, one partner said: “The skill set expectation has shifted. For what was just meant to be a canvas and model app developer with Power Automate skills, we are [now] looking at mandatory AI experience, Copilot Studio touchpoints, and some thought process around governance. The expectations of the people we are hiring are quite high. The learning [curve] is steep, but that is how the world is changing around us.” Another partner said, “We see the need for a slightly different mentality and skill set with regard to delivering a bespoke novel solution in the Power Platform.”
In terms of training, partners discussed needing a baseline level of Power Platform training across delivery roles and the importance of AI training for everyone. For example, one partner said: “We have gone through a lot of effort to make sure nearly everybody in the organization has some level of Power Platform skills.” Another partner said: “We are investing in the knowledge of the core team who are servicing our customers. AI upskilling is the first big investment we are doing from a team front.”
Investing in differentiation. Every partner recognized that their organizations had unique elements to their businesses that differentiated their low-code practices in the eyes of customers. For some partners, this was their business history, their other practices, their size, their industries, and their employees. Partners also discussed the specializations they achieved such as Intelligent Automation, Low Code Application Development, and Microsoft Copilot. They also differentiated with IP-building accelerators that they could not only use in engagements but use to show industry expertise and technical ability. Some partners had even started building industry-focused agents with Copilot Studio for this purpose.
Working closely with Microsoft. Partners invested in the Microsoft partnership to drive success. This included investing in dedicated or designated partner relationship roles, aligning with Microsoft’s solution plays, and leveraging Microsoft’s resources and partner programs. One partner said: “Our relationship with Microsoft is important. We have a 360 relationship. The more Microsoft knows about what you are doing and the better connected that you can be, [the more clients you will reach]. There are there are a lot of programs like Power CAT and Kickstarter Workshops that Microsoft has that have a lot of influence when you are talking to clients.” Another partner added, “It is hugely important to be part of Microsoft’s programs because they have really unlocked future opportunities and revenue for us.”

“Power Platform is not a vertical. Treat it as a horizontal. It is across everything. So make sure that you connect all the different things that you have in your practice with Power Platform.”

Conclusion

The partner opportunity for Microsoft Power Platform

Partners have built and grown Power Platform practices that not only offer direct low-code revenue opportunities but also follow-on opportunities that extend across multiple Microsoft practices. Customers are increasingly interested in low-code and demanding Power Platform due to its capabilities. They also seek to adopt AI, and that interest in AI is sparking low-code conversations. With Power Platform’s evolution, partners are well-prepared to help customers innovate with low-code AI and agents.

In addition to increased deployments, partners are also offering customers the advisory, solutions development, and managed services they need to accelerate innovation and digitally transform their businesses. Advisory services are increasingly important for customers to realize the full value of their low-code investments. This includes governance, COE setup, and adoption and enablement, as well as AI-related strategic support. Solutions development has evolved with partners not only building more agents due to AI’s growth but also building more intelligent apps, automation, and pages due to increased customer interest in low-code. Plus, Power Platform is driving other Microsoft practice work (e.g., Dynamics 365), and those practices are synergistically driving Power Platform work.

Partners believe that this success will continue. They are optimistic about customer demand and low-code’s growth, as well as Microsoft’s continued investment in Power Platform and partners. The partners that follow the best practices in this case study and invest in their low-code businesses are succeeding today and poised to continue capitalizing on the partner opportunity for Microsoft Power Platform.

Revenue Opportunity By Partner Service

Partner Service	Total Revenue Per User Per Month	Blended Attach Rate	Expected Revenue Per User Per Month
Deployment	$0.85	65%	$0.55
Advisory	$1.50	30%	$0.45
Solutions development	$5.95	44%	$2.60
Managed services	$8.20	41%	$3.40
Total	$16.50	42%	$7.00

From the information provided in the interviews, Forrester constructed a Total Economic Impact™ framework for those partners considering building and growing a Microsoft Power Platform practice.

The objective of the framework is to identify the revenue streams, investments, and best practices that affect the investment decision. Forrester took a multistep approach to evaluate the holistic opportunity for partners building and growing a Microsoft Power Platform practice.

Due Diligence

Interviewed Microsoft stakeholders and Forrester analysts to gather data relative to Power Platform.

Interviews

Interviewed 18 decision-makers at nine partner organizations with existing Power Platform practices to obtain data about investments, revenue streams, and best practices.

Financial Model Framework

Constructed a financial model representative of the interviews using the TEI methodology. The model normalizes all results as a per-user per-month opportunity at an enterprise customer with 5,000 knowledge workers on a 36-month customer journey.

Case Study

Created a case study that explains the benefits and investments a partner can expect when building a Power Platform practice. The case study also explores the best practices partners have identified that have made them successful.

Please see Appendix A for additional information on the TEI methodology.

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 solution providers in communicating their value proposition to clients. The TEI methodology helps companies demonstrate, justify, and realize the tangible value of business and technology initiatives to both senior management and other key stakeholders.

Appendix B

Supplemental Material

Related Forrester Research

Chris Gardner, Allie Mellen, Noel Yuhanna, and Merritt Maxim, Microsoft Ignite 2025: Living The Frontier Lifestyle, Forrester Blogs, November 21, 2025

The Forrester Wave™: Low-Code Platforms For Professional Developers, Q2 2025, Forrester Research, Inc., May 8, 2025

The Evolution Of Modern Business Applications, Forrester Research, Inc., June 13, 2025

GenAI Is Disrupting Professional Services, Forrester Research, Inc., December 11, 2024

Your Microsoft Business Applications Implementation Is A Transformation Opportunity, Forrester Research, Inc., September 26, 2024

Related Forrester TEI Case Studies

The Partner Opportunity For Microsoft’s Skilling And Enablement Program, a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, December 2025

The Partner Opportunity For Microsoft Security Partners, a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, November 2025

The Impact Of AI On Microsoft Modern Work Partner Revenue: Copilot And Agents, a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, July 2025

The Partner Opportunity For Microsoft Dynamics 365, a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, July 2025

The Total Economic Impact™ Of Microsoft Power Apps, a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, July 2024

The Total Economic Impact™ Of Microsoft Power Automate, a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, July 2024

The Total Economic Impact™ Of Microsoft Power Pages, a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, updated September 2024

New Technology: The Projected Total Economic Impact™ Of Microsoft Copilot Studio, a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, October 2025

Appendix C

Endnotes

¹ Source: The Microsoft Business Applications Services Landscape, Q3 2025, Forrester Research, Inc., August 29, 2025.

² An attach rate is the likelihood of a customer buying a given service/solution. Forrester applies attach rates to solution areas (e.g., Power Apps and Power Automate) and to services (e.g., deployment, advisory, business solutions, and managed services). In other words, attach rates apply to the typical mix of solutions and services a customer buys. This will vary based on how a partner has entered low-code. For example, an automation-focused partner will attach more Power Automate services, while an application development-focused partner will attach more Power Apps services. Use this calculation: total opportunity x attach rate = expected opportunity.

³ Source: The Low-Code Development Platforms For Professional Developers Landscape, Q1 2023, Forrester Research, Inc., February 7, 2023.

⁴ Source: The Low-Code Platforms For Citizen Developers Landscape, Q4 2023, Forrester Research, Inc., October 16, 2023.

⁵ Source: The Microsoft Business Applications Services Landscape, Q3 2025, Forrester Research, Inc., August 29, 2025.

⁶ Source: The State Of Low-Code, Global 2025, Forrester Research, Inc., September 22, 2025.

⁷ Source: Forrester’s Developer Survey, 2025, Forrester Research, Inc., August 2025.

⁸ Source: The State Of Application Development, 2025, Forrester Research, Inc., November 21, 2025.

⁹ Source: The Total Economic Impact™ Of Microsoft Power Platform, a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, July 2024.

¹⁰ Source: Forrester’s Developer Survey, 2025, Forrester Research, Inc., August 2025.

¹¹ Source: Forrester’s Business And Technology Services Survey, 2025, Forrester Research, Inc., November 2025.

¹² Ibid.

¹³ Source: Four Forces Shape Technology Services In 2025, Forrester Research, Inc., April 2, 2025.

¹⁴ Source: The Agentic Business Fabric: AI’s Architectural Transformation Of Business Applications, Forrester Research, Inc., September 3, 2025.

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 results 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 a Power Platform practice.

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 partner names for the interviews but did not participate in the interviews.

Consulting Team:

Andrew Nadler
Jonathan Lipsitz
Marianne Friis

Published

March 2026