Audit Platform Migration from Appian to Microsoft Power Platform
Remarkable by Formulate migrated a mission-critical audit platform from Appian to Microsoft Power Platform, reducing costs by over £2m while enhancing security, integration and user experience across the organisation.
Sector
Enterprise | Financial Services
Technology
Microsoft Power Apps, Power Platform
Tags
enterprise, financial
Reduction in licensing costs
Disruption to audit operations
Historical record integrity
The Opportunity
Modernising A Mission-Critical Audit Platform
A leading financial institution partnered with Formulate to modernise a mission critical internal audit platform as part of its wider technology and cost optimisation strategy.
The existing solution, built on Appian, had become increasingly expensive to maintain and difficult to evolve in line with the bank's modernising ecosystem.
This presented a clear opportunity:
Migrate to a more cost-effective, scalable platform while enhancing functionality, strengthening security and aligning with the organisation’s Microsoft-first strategy.
The Challenge
Balancing Transformation With Continuity To Support The Bank’s Governance and Risk Framework
The audit platform sat at the heart of the bank’s governance and risk framework, supporting audit planning, evidence capture, issue management and executive reporting.
Any migration would need to balance transformation with continuity. The bank required:
Disruption to ongoing audit operations
Historical Records
"The complexity was heightened by the platform’s scale and executive visibility. A poorly executed transition would risk operational disruption, regulatory exposure, and loss of trust in audit outputs."
Owen Davies
Formulate Managing Director
The challenge was clear and the bank required:
- —Zero disruption to ongoing audit operations
- —Full data integrity across thousands of historical records
- —Improved interoperability with core banking systems
- —Stronger security aligned to enterprise controls
- —Rapid adoption across a broad business user base
The Solution
Delivering An End-To-End Migration Programme
To address these challenges, we partnered with the bank to design and lead the end-to-end migration programme, combining platform expertise, structured delivery and user-centred design.
The Outcome
The migration was delivered on time and on budget, with minimal disruption to audit operations and strong user adoption across the business.
By moving to Microsoft Power Platform, the organisation established a more connected and scalable audit platform, supporting stronger governance today while enabling future innovation.
- •£2m+ reduction in licensing costs
- •Enhanced security and access control model
- •Improved integration across core banking systems
- •Increased user adoption with improved experience
- •Future-ready, scalable audit platform
In Licensing Cost Savings
While significantly improving integration, usability and reporting capability.
The transition achieved strong user adoption
0%A Structured Migration Approach
Our delivery was focused on:
Platform Redesign and Build
The team conducted a detailed assessment of the existing Appian solution to identify critical workflows, integrations, and data dependencies. A target architecture was then designed on Microsoft Power Platform, prioritising scalability, maintainability, and security. Using Power Apps, Formulate rebuilt the platform with a streamlined, intuitive user experience and improved case management journeys. Native integration with Microsoft services including SharePoint and Exchange enabled seamless connectivity across the organisation. To strengthen governance, full action logging was implemented, providing complete traceability of user activity across audit processes.
Data Migration and Security
A structured migration approach ensured the safe transfer of thousands of historical records, with validation checkpoints to guarantee completeness, accuracy, and audit readiness. Security was significantly enhanced through Microsoft Entra integration, introducing a robust identity and access model aligned with internal controls. Role-based access and enterprise authentication standards ensured sensitive audit data remained secure and compliant.
Enhanced Capability & Insight
The new platform delivered more than a like-for-like replacement. Key enhancements included:
- —Generative AI capabilities, improving efficiency in handling audit content
- —A modern, branded user interface, increasing usability and adoption
- —Integrated Power BI reporting, enabling real-time visibility and improved executive insight