Author Archives: The Orange Bandits

The Orange Bandits – Approach to CI/CD

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With the rise of Citizen development, and low code/no code approach in Power Platform, organizations are facing new challenges regarding correct Application Lifecycle Management.

Citizen developers, often not having professional IT background, are often lacking needed knowledge to comfortably work with Power Platform solutions, not mentioning GIT source control.

In our team, we decided to implement Center of Excelence Application Lifecycle Management.

This allowed us, in a span of few hours, to have robust, controlable and reviewable history and version tracking for our solution.

We have decided to implement simplified version, with only two environments, Development and Production.

Instalation of CoE ALM kit is quite well described on MS Learn platform – https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/guidance/coe/setup-almacceleratorpowerplatform-preview, however in few points the documentation was a little bit outdated. This is expected, as this solution is still in Preview.

Also, you need to pay special care to any manual changes you make in DEvOps repository / configuration, as this can lead to unexpected results when running the pipelines.

One limitation that we faced, is that MS assumes the Azure Build agents are to be used, and does not allow one-place customization of Agent Pool used.

CoE ALM solutions installs two applications in Power Platform environment:

Second one is used for setting up the process and first one is used for managing the releases. Both of them offer user friendly visual interface to configure ALM process:

Triggering of solution deployment is as well user-friendly and hides the complexity of processes happening in the background:

In the background, multiple DevOps Pipelines are created and flow of solution is following:

Unpacked solution is available and versioned in GIT source control:

For each Solution Deployment Request, the PR is created and changes can be reviewed.

If this topic seems to be interesting for you, feel free to stop by our table for a chat! 🙂

Our deployment solution uses YAML and PowerShell scripts to ensure CI/CD

The Orange Bandits shows and tells

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An ERP implementation can be a complex and time-consuming process, but the benefits of improved efficiency, reduced manual labor, and enhanced data accuracy can be significant.

As part of our solution goals, we are focusing on 4 pillars, and we strongly believe that the first implementation of the Pirate Fleet Management hits all 4 pillars!

Check https://acdc.blog/avanade-2/the-jackpot-app-pirates-fleet-enlisting/

  • AI

The App uses a mix of built in and custom models in innovative way and yet makes the enlisting process easy and straightforward.

  • Sustainability

The use of a canvas app which is mobile-integrated (a device that everyone has) means that there is no need for extra devices and we are using available resources.

  • User Experience

The app is easy to use, straightforward and there is no need to punch any characters.

  • Scalability and integration

The app is scalable and can be used on any mobile device and integrates well with both our back-end CRM solution and external endpoints.

The Jackpot App :: Pirates fleet enlisting

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The reason we are calling this the jackpot app because we believe that it’s hitting multiple score-points!

The idea of this app is to enlist pirates’ fleet without a single character punch!!! Aided and infused by AI Builder, external API’s and Power Automate Flows; this Power Apps canvas app is state of the art geekiness!

Although, registered vehicles are the last of our worries (as pirates), but hey we thought of doing it anyways 🙂 The app starts by taking a picture of the registration plate of the vehicle. the app will send the picture to the AI Builder through a power automate flow that process the image and read the registration plate and show it on the app for confirmation.

Once the you are satisfied with the result, you can check the vehicle against the national registry and search for more registration information. This indeed does check the car against the Norwegian car registry (Statens vegvesen) show if the vehicle is approved for going on the European roads (EU-godskjenning). Also least of our concerns!

Actual data from Statens Vegvesen
Crawling and datamining data from external sources

Now, after confirming and inserting car data into our system. We need to identify the vehicle type and compare with our collected data in our backend system. However, identify the care is a simple process that doesn’t need any text input from the user. One picture will do while the AI Builder will take care of identifying the type of the vehicle and insert it into our backend system.

Vehicle plate identification flow (calls another flow through HTTP)
AI Builder made as an endpoint (all AI Builder models and flow are on separate environment, as AI Builder
can’t be included in a solution for deployment)

We are using a mix of built-in and custom AI models to achieve efficiency and productivity in an innovative way.

AI Builder model

The Orange Bandits Happy Camp

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ACDC has always been and enjoyable experience that is filled with happiness, geekiness and a lot of learning! ACDC focuses on fun activities and creating a positive atmosphere.

And that’s definitely what we are bringing today!

This is a place where people are happy and content, such as a community or workplace that has a positive culture. And here are the Orange bandits showing up early in the arena (7:30) before everyone else!

Pirates Enterprise Resource Planning (PERP)

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PERP is an ERP system(s) made easier for Pirates and for the mass. An ERP system helps pirates manage their business processes by integrating various functional areas, such as finance, human resources, and supply chain management, into a single system. also provide a centralized view of all the data and processes involved in running a business, so that pirates can make more informed decisions and operate and loot more efficiently.

An typical ERP system includes modules for accounting, finance, purchasing, inventory management, sales, and customer relationship management, and by integrating all these functions, an ERP system provides a view of a pirates’ operations, making it easier for captains to track performance, make decisions, and respond to changes in the business environment.

But hey, this not your usual ERP, this is a PERP, meaning that this will include other characteristics that are related to the pirate business. Such as a looting management system, tracking devices, systems and reports.

ERP implementation can be a complex and time-consuming process, but the benefits of improved efficiency, reduced manual labor, and enhanced data accuracy can be significant.

As part of our solution presentation, this PERP system will have focus on 4 pillars:

  • AI
  • Sustainability
  • User Experience
  • Scalability and integration

The PERP will initially include the following sub systems:

  • Pirate Fleet Management (PFM)

PFM is the management of pirates vehicles fleet. It involves the coordination and management of all activities related to vehicles, including enlisting, licensing, deployment (for looting), tracking, and drivers management. The goal is to ensure the efficient and cost-effective operation of the pirates vehicles, while maximizing productivity and minimizing deployment time. This may involve implementing processes for vehicle enlisting using AI to make it easier and better user experience!

  • Pirate Resource Management (PRM)

PRM will help in managing the various tasks and processes involved in pirates. The system helps in automating and streamlining pirates’ processes, such as recruiting, onboarding and performance management. The goal is to increase efficiency and reduce manual labor, as well as provide a single source of truth for employee data and records.

  • Pirate Reporting System (PRS)

A pirates life is rough but to make it easier we will create an app which will cover different reporting needs such as live location reporting av ships and their locations, inventory stats, pirate statistics to be able to make training more specific for each pirate, reporting on how our predictive models are performing in terms of accuracy, but also the results of our predictive models to be able to visually see which ships and areas would be best to attack, weather data reports & ship stats to mention a few.

  • Looting Management System (LMS)

This is not your usual components/systems you find under any ERP. but for the sake of the pirates, the need for and AI infused Loot or not is important. This will help pirates to manage loot cases and support requests, including loot management, loot knowledge management, and (maybe) live chat.

Initial data model:

The orange bandits ideas drawing board:

Power Platform :: Head 2 Head

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Here comes the Power Platform head 2 head challenge!

How many are the ninja turtles gang?! YES, four! And in todays challenge you get 4 different possibilities to claim the head 2 head badge, 25 points and a prize! Additionally, if you embedded any of the 4 challenges in your solution and blogged about it, you might get extra badges!!!