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Stop Building Apps in Teams: It's the SharePoint Graveyard All Over Again

Stop Building Apps in Teams: It's the SharePoint Graveyard All Over Again

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 Stop building apps in Teams.You already feel it: Teams is becoming the new SharePoint graveyard — same chaos, better emojis. “Quick” Adaptive Card Extensions (ACEs) seem harmless, but they quietly create a compliance landfill while leaving your Viva dashboard full of orphaned cards. In this episode, you’ll learn:Why SPFx ACEs rot fast even when they “work”The five governance failures that always appearA reference architecture that doesn’t implodeA decision tree to say “no” without being the villainA checklist you can deploy today to stop dashboard decayBy the end, you’ll know exactly how to use SharePoint, Viva, and Power Platform the right way — with real ALM, strong governance, and fewer 2 a.m. incidents. 💀 The ACE Trap: Why “Quick Apps” Become Long-Term Risk “Just a SharePoint list.”“Just JSON.”“Just a rotating announcement.” That’s the trap. ACEs demo beautifully but age like milk because:They hide logic in lists with no versioningThey have no built-in lifecycle or ownership trackingThey surface unlabeled or unmanaged content in TeamsThey multiply unpredictably across departmentsThey store schema in places with no governance guardrailsThe result?A sprawl of cards, ghost owners, inconsistent schemas, broken automations, and compliance gaps that leaders find after the screenshot goes viral. ⚠️ The Five Governance Failures (You See Them Every Time) 1. App Sprawl Every team builds “their” card. No portfolio view. No prioritization. The dashboard becomes a digital flea market. 2. Orphaned Owners The contractor leaves. The card doesn’t.Nobody knows who maintains it, updates it, or sunsets it. 3. Data Silos Each ACE uses its own schema and its own list.Analytics break, consistency dies, and schema drift becomes inevitable. 4. Compliance Gaps Content appears in Teams mobile without labels, retention, or DLP.Broadcast channel + unmanaged data = a quiet compliance nightmare. 5. Broken Lifecycle No expiry. No archiving. No governance.Stale outage notices and forgotten campaigns haunt your dashboard forever. Each failure compounds. Together, they recreate SharePoint 2013 chaos — except now it’s pushed directly to everyone’s pocket. 🏗️ The Reference Architecture That Doesn’t Rot The fix is simple but non-negotiable: ✔ Treat the ACE as a skin — not an application. All business logic, schema, and lifecycle live below the card in governed systems. Layers that keep you clean:Governed data storage (SharePoint content types or Dataverse tables)Canonical content contracts (Announcement, Event, Alert)Proper ALM via SPFx repo + CI/CD + non-production environmentsPurview labels + retention at the data layer, not the cardDLP enforcement on the content sourcePlacement governance (slots, schedules, expiration rules)Telemetry + monitoring so failing cards are automatically pulledThe ACE renders; the platform governs. 🧭 The Decision Tree: Block or Allow That Teams App This is how you say “no” with receipts:Is there a governed data contract?If not → BLOCK.Is the data stored in a labeled, retention-enabled site/table?If not → BLOCK until migrated.Are there two named owners?If not → BLOCK.Does the ACE write data?If yes → MOVE to Power Apps or web app.Is there a placement record + expiry?If not → BLOCK.Are Purview/DLP requirements met?If not → BLOCK.Is there telemetry + rollback?If not → BLOCK.If all green → limited rollout → then expand after a clean telemetry window. 📋 Governance Checklist (Fast, Brutal, Effective) Run this at intake, pre-prod, and quarterly reviews:Catalog entry existsTwo owners assignedContract schema validatedGoverned data store onlyRead-only verifiedPlacement scoping + expiryLabels + retention enforcedTelemetry wiredNo manual package deploymentsAccessibility + localization compliantRollback plan readyNo duplicates in the portfolioFail two items? Freeze deployment. 🏁 The One Rule That Saves You The ACE is a skin.Govern everything under it — not inside it. Stick to that rule and your dashboard stays clean.Break it, and you’re rebuilding SharePoint’s graveyard one card at a time. 📣 CTA Want the full governance kit — checklist PDF, architecture diagram, and the ACE decision tree? Subscribe and watch the next episode, where we rebuild a real ACE the right way and show how to avoid the rot from day one.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/m365-show-podcast--6704921/support.Follow us on:LInkedInSubstack
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