Modernizing legacy with Power Apps at De Vereende

As De Vereende's digitalization partner, E-mergo recently developed an application in Power Apps. This app was developed for, among other things, managing their contracts, claims, settlements, reinsurance, and the maintenance of these. E-mergo was already De Vereende's partner for their Qlik dashboards, and now also for Power Apps. In this blog we discuss the solution De Vereende needed and how we realized it for them with Power Apps.

The Atoompool

The Atoompool insures nuclear risks in the Netherlands and acts as a reinsurer for foreign atomic pools. Insurers collaborate within this pool because damage at nuclear installations can be very large. The Atoompool is used to spread this risk.

The challenge

For the administration of contracts and claims, the Atoompool had long been using an outdated Microsoft Access application called ARIS. This application was due for renewal. Reasons for the renewal included:

• Maintenance: Microsoft is discontinuing support for Microsoft Access 2010.
• Database: The database setup was far from ideal. As a result, it was necessary to run reports afterward to check the data.
• Security: The application's security was outdated and needed to be improved. This was done using existing security modules that Microsoft offers through Azure AD.
• Usability: The application's user experience wasn't ideal, because some parts weren't clear to the end user or didn't even work. In addition, the application's front end was partly in English and partly in Dutch. Finally, the front end was dated, and a modern way of developing was desired.

The power of Power Apps

With Power Apps, a large number of app scenarios can be realized with which manual and outdated processes (for example in Microsoft Excel or Access) can be digitally transformed. Depending on your organization's needs, you can choose from 3 types of applications within Power Apps: Canvas Apps, Model-Driven Apps, or Portals. Each with its own approach, capabilities, and tooling. All these apps are supported by Dataverse for storing and managing the necessary data.

Developing, using, and managing Power Apps all happens in the cloud. This means the applications can be accessed anywhere. Of course, security can be fully configured in the management environment, where only (guest) users that exist in Azure AD can be added. Because this all takes place in the cloud, it's a lot easier to share the application than in the situation with Microsoft Access.

For Power Apps, data sources such as Dataverse (formerly Common Data Service), SharePoint lists, and Excel files can be used, but communication with an on-premises SQL server is also possible. This happens via a Data Gateway that's easy to install and manage.

Our sustainable solution

For the Atoompool, we converted the Microsoft Access application to Power Apps. The user interface and (business) logic woven throughout the entire application were recreated — and improved where necessary — in a combination of Power Apps and Power Automate (formerly Microsoft Flow). In Power Apps, the front end was rebuilt, with various overviews, forms, and data validation given a modern look. Power Automate is used for the more in-depth logic.

Because the data is stored in a SQL database that's also used for the Qlik reports, we chose to keep the complexity in SQL and call it from Power Apps using Power Automate. Views, functions, and stored procedures were therefore created in SQL, which we call from the app, so that the "thinking work" happens at the database level. If we chose to do this in Power Apps, it would make the app very slow.

One of De Vereende's wishes was to keep logs. For this, we created history tables in the database so that a copy of the original file is made with every change. We also show this in the app, so employees can immediately see exactly what has changed.

Benefits

The combination of Power Apps, SQL, and Power Automate offers various benefits in terms of design and functionality. Thanks to the new interface, it feels more modern compared to the Access application that was previously used. In addition to being user-friendly, the new solution was also set up to be maintenance-friendly. This makes it easier to maintain, both by external parties and by future employees of De Vereende who want to work with it.

Through the logs, the Atoompool can precisely track what has changed. This allows hundreds of settlements to be entered at once instead of one at a time, resulting in an enormous time saving. Finally, the app is better secured through Azure, and users can work with it on laptop, tablet, and mobile.

Do you have an on-premises application that you want to modernize and move over to a future-proof low-code application that you might want to combine with other (Microsoft) products? We're happy to discuss your specific needs in more detail through an online introductory meeting.

Written by Edmond Thaqi
Consultant