Overview
A SharePoint Administrator is the person responsible for managing a Microsoft SharePoint environment within an organization — configuring sites, managing permissions, ensuring security, and supporting users. Beyond SharePoint itself, modern administrators are expected to work across a broader Microsoft 365 ecosystem that includes Power Apps, a low-code platform tightly integrated with SharePoint that allows teams to build custom business applications using SharePoint lists as data sources.
This article covers the SharePoint Administrator role in detail, the certifications that validate SharePoint expertise, and how to integrate Power Apps with SharePoint — including building a Power App from a SharePoint list and running apps on mobile devices.
What Does a SharePoint Administrator Do?
A SharePoint Administrator manages the full lifecycle of a SharePoint environment: installation and configuration, user and permission management, site architecture, security, workflows, and ongoing maintenance. In organizations using SharePoint Online as part of Microsoft 365, the role shifts toward configuration and governance rather than infrastructure, but the breadth of responsibility remains the same.
Required Skills
Effective SharePoint administration requires a blend of technical knowledge and business awareness. Administrators need to understand the platform deeply enough to solve user problems, but also well enough to align SharePoint’s capabilities with the organization’s actual workflows.
Core technical knowledge
| Area | What’s Required |
|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows Server administration fundamentals |
| Networking & Security | Firewalls, security zones, encryption, and TLS/SSL basics |
| Database | SQL Server fundamentals (especially for On-Premises deployments) |
| Identity | Active Directory and Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) |
| Automation | SharePoint workflows, ULS logs, and PowerShell scripting |
| Analytics | Power BI for reporting and usage analysis |
| Microsoft 365 Suite | Teams, OneDrive, Exchange, and Dynamics 365 integration points |
Analytical and business skills
- Designing site and content architecture that matches business workflows
- Translating manual business processes into SharePoint-based automations
- Building and managing SharePoint forms for data collection (e.g. expense reports)
- Supporting users across a cross-platform Microsoft 365 environment
Certifications for SharePoint Administrators
Microsoft has consolidated SharePoint expertise into its broader Microsoft 365 certification path rather than maintaining a standalone SharePoint-only certification. The primary relevant certifications are:
| Certification | Covers SharePoint? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 Certified: Fundamentals | Partially | Optional entry point; not required for the Associate path |
| Microsoft 365 Certified: Teamwork Administrator Associate | Yes | Covers SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, and Office 365 collaboration; the primary certification for SharePoint admins |
| Microsoft 365 Certified: Enterprise Administrator Expert | Indirectly | Builds on the Associate certification; does not specifically test SharePoint depth |
The Teamwork Administrator Associate certification is currently the most direct path for validating SharePoint Online administration skills within the Microsoft certification ecosystem. Candidates must demonstrate the ability to configure, deploy, and manage Microsoft 365 workloads that support effective collaboration.
What Is Power Apps?
Power Apps is a Microsoft low-code development platform that allows users to build custom business applications without writing traditional code. It connects to data stored in Microsoft Dataverse (its native data platform), as well as external sources including SharePoint, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, SQL Server, and hundreds of third-party connectors.
App types in Power Apps
| Type | Description | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Canvas apps | Fully customizable UI built from a blank canvas; connects to almost any data source | Custom workflows, field tools, and tailored user experiences |
| Model-driven apps | Structured UI driven by the Dataverse data model; includes dashboards, views, and business logic | CRM-style applications, complex business processes |
| Portals | External-facing web pages for users outside the organization; supports anonymous and authenticated access | Customer-facing forms, partner portals, public data submission |
Power Apps and SharePoint Integration
Power Apps connects natively to any SharePoint list or library, as well as OneDrive. This means you can build a fully functional business application — with forms, validation logic, and a responsive UI — on top of structured data already stored in SharePoint, with no database or SQL knowledge required.
Create a Power App from a SharePoint List
Step 1 — Open the SharePoint list
- Navigate to the SharePoint site containing the list you want to use.
- Click the Settings gear icon and select Site Contents.
- Click the list you want to use as the data source for your Power App.
Step 2 — Launch Power Apps Studio
- With the list open, click Customize Forms in PowerApps from the list’s command bar.
- Power Apps Studio opens in your browser with the list’s form pre-loaded and the SharePoint list already connected as the data source.
Step 3 — Customize the form
- In the left-hand panel, click Fields from the Properties menu to manage which SharePoint columns appear on the form.
- Check or uncheck fields to add or remove them. Fields can also be reordered by dragging and dropping.
- Use the Icons menu to add UI elements such as a title bar rectangle, and use the Text option to add labels. Text properties including font, color, size, and width are all adjustable from the properties panel.
Step 4 — Publish back to SharePoint
- When your customizations are complete, go to File > Save > Publish to SharePoint.
- Return to the SharePoint list and reload the page.
- Click the New button — your customized Power Apps form now appears instead of the default SharePoint form.
Publishing a custom form back to SharePoint replaces the default new/edit item form for that list. All users with access to the list will see the customized Power Apps form when adding or editing items — no app installation required on their end.
Signing Into Power Apps
Sign in at make.powerapps.com using your Microsoft 365 credentials. The home page is organized into three sections: a top header bar, a left navigation toolbar, and a central area with quick-start options for creating apps, flows, and data connections.
Selecting an environment
All Power Apps work happens within an environment — a container that separates apps, data, and flows by team, department, or stage (development vs. production). The environment selector appears near the top-right of the header.
An app built in one environment is not visible or accessible from another. Confirm you are in the correct environment before building — components are difficult to migrate between environments after the fact.
To see the environment list, you must hold the Environment Maker, System Customizer, or System Administrator security role in that environment.
Using Power Apps on Mobile Devices
Canvas apps and model-driven apps can be run on iOS and Android using the Power Apps mobile app, available from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Users sign in with the same Microsoft 365 credentials used on the web.
Security and data protection on mobile
| Control | Detail |
|---|---|
| Data in transit | All data synced between the mobile app and Dataverse is protected using TLS/SSL |
| Cached data | Only previously viewed data is cached locally; cleared on sign-out or device restart |
| Cache encryption | Device-level encryption via Intune MDM, Intune app policies, or Windows BitLocker |
| Authentication | Browser-based authentication — no credentials stored on the device |
Key mobile app features
- Dashboards and charts — View and interact with dashboards pinned to the home screen. Charts are interactive; tapping a section drills into the underlying records. Charts are not available offline.
- Timeline activities — Add notes, tasks, emails, phone call records, and appointments directly to a record’s timeline from the mobile app.
- Search — Supports both Categorized search (begins-with matching) and Relevance search (full-text matching across all fields). Includes a barcode scanner for inventory and field scenarios.
- Quick Create — Create new records from any screen using the More button on the taskbar without navigating away from your current context.
- Business process flows — Guided step-by-step flows assist users in completing records consistently, following the same process every time.
- Reconfigure / clear cache — Available from the menu bar under User Information > Reconfigure. Clears all cached data and metadata for the current organization before handing a device to another user.
Power Apps mobile does not support Dynamics 365 customer engagement apps (Sales, Customer Service, Marketing). Those apps require the dedicated Dynamics 365 for phones and tablets app, which is a separate install.
Summary
The SharePoint Administrator role sits at the intersection of infrastructure, identity, security, and end-user productivity — and increasingly overlaps with the broader Microsoft 365 platform, including Power Apps, Power Automate, and Teams. The Microsoft 365 Certified: Teamwork Administrator Associate certification is the most direct way to formally validate SharePoint Online expertise today. And with Power Apps providing native SharePoint list integration, administrators and power users alike can extend SharePoint’s capabilities into custom business applications — without writing a single line of code.
