Case Study: H&M Group achieves secure, scalable citizen development with Microsoft Power Apps

H&M Group strikes an effective balance of Power Platform development and security

H&M Group, the Swedish multinational retailer, faced a governance and security challenge after thousands of citizen developers built hundreds—approaching 1,500—Power Platform solutions across the company and more than 30,000 users were licensed. To scale adoption while protecting data, H&M Group turned to Microsoft Power Apps and the broader Power Platform toolset (Azure Active Directory, Power Automate, Power BI) and adopted the Microsoft Power Platform Center of Excellence Starter Kit to guide their approach.

Using the CoE Starter Kit and Microsoft Power Apps guidance, H&M Group created a Center of Enablement with a three‑tier environment model (Productivity → Important → Critical), implemented DLP policies and admin controls in the Power Platform admin center in just two weeks for all 30,000 users, and used the included Power BI dashboard for telemetry. The program reduced risk, enabled continued rapid innovation (including the FLEXI app used by 1,000+ employees and GDPR‑validated flows), and drove measurable governance improvements such as ongoing DLP rollout across 350+ connectors while sustaining growth in apps and citizen developers.

H&M Group

Helena Forsberg

Microsoft 365 Solution Architect