It’s the SharePoint Graveyard All Over Again

• Why SPFx ACEs rot fast even when they “work”
• The five governance failures that always appear
• A reference architecture that doesn’t implode
• A decision tree to say “no” without being the villain
• A checklist you can deploy today to stop dashboard decay

By 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 versioning
• They have no built-in lifecycle or ownership tracking
• They surface unlabeled or unmanaged content in Teams
• They multiply unpredictably across departments
• They store schema in places with no governance guardrails

The 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 environments
• Purview labels + retention at the data layer, not the card
• DLP enforcement on the content source
• Placement governance (slots, schedules, expiration rules)
• Telemetry + monitoring so failing cards are automatically pulled

The ACE renders; the platform governs. 🧭 The Decision Tree: Block or Allow That Teams App This is how you say “no” with receipts:

1. Is there a governed data contract?
   If not → BLOCK.
2. Is the data stored in a labeled, retention-enabled site/table?
   If not → BLOCK until migrated.
3. Are there two named owners?
   If not → BLOCK.
4. Does the ACE write data?
   If yes → MOVE to Power Apps or web app.
5. Is there a placement record + expiry?
   If not → BLOCK.
6. Are Purview/DLP requirements met?
   If not → BLOCK.
7. 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 exists
• Two owners assigned
• Contract schema validated
• Governed data store only
• Read-only verified
• Placement scoping + expiry
• Labels + retention enforced
• Telemetry wired
• No manual package deployments
• Accessibility + localization compliant
• Rollback plan ready
• No duplicates in the portfolio

Fail 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.

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