The uncomfortable truth: Most customer portals are security risks. Outdated frameworks, home-grown authentication, missing encryption – and suddenly the data protection authority is at your door.
Microsoft Power Pages takes these worries off your plate. As an enterprise platform it brings security features that with custom developments would require a six-figure budget and a security team.
1. EU Hosting Included: GDPR-Compliant from Day 1
💡 The problem with many cloud solutions:
Your customer data ends up on US servers. GDPR Articles 44-50 require that personal data of EU citizens remains in the EU – or you need complex standard contractual clauses.
With Power Pages: You choose the Azure region during setup. "Germany West Central" or "West Europe" means: Your data remains physically in German or European data centres.
✅ What this means for you:
- • No data transfer impact assessment necessary
- • No "Schrems II" problem with authority requests
- • GDPR compliance checklist: ✓ done
- • Works council and data protection officer satisfied
2. Role-Based Access Rights: Granular Control Without Programming
Imagine: Customer A can only see their own orders. Partner B has access to all shared projects. Employee C can also edit Partner B's data.
In classic web applications this means: Weeks of developing permission logic, prone to security vulnerabilities (OWASP Top 10: "Broken Access Control" is the #1 vulnerability).
🔐 Power Pages Web Roles & Table Permissions
Power Pages uses a sophisticated roles and permissions system:
- Web Roles: Define roles like "Customer", "Premium Partner", "Administrator"
- Table Permissions: Specify which role can access which Dataverse tables
- Row-level security: "User only sees records where they are listed as owner"
- Field-level security: Certain fields (e.g. purchase prices) are only visible to internal users
Configuration instead of code: You set these permissions with clicks in the Power Pages management interface – without writing a line of code. This drastically reduces sources of error.
3. Enterprise Authentication: Single Sign-On & Multi-Factor Authentication
For internal users (employees) an additional portal login means: another password that gets forgotten. For external customers (partners, end customers): an entry barrier.
Power Pages supports all common authentication methods:
- ✅ Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD): Internal users (employees) sign in with their Office 365 account (SSO)
- ✅ Microsoft Entra External ID: External customers and partners use social logins (Google, LinkedIn) or local accounts
- ✅ SAML 2.0 / OpenID Connect: Integration with existing identity providers (e.g. Okta, Auth0)
- ✅ Multi-factor authentication (MFA): Enforceable for sensitive areas
Practical example: A machinery manufacturer uses Power Pages as a service portal. Internal service technicians sign in via Microsoft Entra ID (SSO via Office 365), external customers create an account via Microsoft Entra External ID, and for access to machine data MFA is enforced.
4. Audit Trails: Every Change Is Logged
GDPR Article 5(2) requires "accountability": You must be able to prove who accessed which data when. In case of data breaches or authority requests you need seamless logs.
📊 Dataverse Auditing
Since Power Pages is based on Microsoft Dataverse, you benefit from its audit functions:
- • Who created/changed/deleted which record?
- • Which fields were changed? (Before/after comparison)
- • From which IP address did the access come?
- • Timestamps for forensic analyses
These logs are also valuable for you as a decision-maker: With suspicious activities (e.g. mass data export by a user) you're warned before damage occurs.
What You Save with Power Pages
💰 Cost Comparison: Custom vs. Power Pages
❌ Custom Development
- • Penetration test: €13,000-26,000
- • Security audit: €8,700-17,400
- • ISO 27001 certification: €35,000-70,000
- • GDPR data protection impact assessment: €4,300-13,000
- • Authentication & authorisation development: €35,000-70,000
- Total: €96,000-196,400
✅ Power Pages
- • Penetration test: ✓ done by Microsoft
- • Security audit: ✓ ISO 27001 certified
- • SOC 2 Type II: ✓ included
- • GDPR EU hosting: ✓ settable with a click
- • Auth & authorization: ✓ out-of-the-box
- Additional costs: €0
Conclusion: Enterprise Security Without Enterprise Budget
Microsoft invests over $1 billion annually in cybersecurity. With Power Pages you benefit from this infrastructure – without needing to build your own security team.
🎯 Your Next Step
Do you have specific security requirements for your customer portal? In a free initial call I'll show you how Power Pages fulfils these – with concrete examples from your industry.
Book security consultation now (free)
Tino Rabe
Microsoft MVP for Power Pages
For over 10 years I've been supporting German companies in secure digitalisation with Microsoft technologies. As one of the few German-speaking MVPs for Power Pages I know the GDPR requirements and security concerns of SMEs from hundreds of projects.
→ Book free initial call