Folio3 Employee Self Service App
The Employee Self-Service Portal Built for Your Microsoft Ecosystem
Folio ESS is a modern employee self-service app that runs on the Microsoft cloud you already use. Hosted on Azure. Built on Dynamics 365 Human Resources. Secured by Azure Active Directory. Four role-based experiences, web and mobile.
Your HR Self-Service Shouldn't Live Outside Your Microsoft Cloud
You have moved your business systems to Azure. Identity is centralized in Azure Active Directory. Data lives in Dataverse. Analytics runs on Power BI. So why is your employee self-service portal still a standalone third-party app fighting the stack it is supposed to live in?
Two identity systems to manage
A standalone ESS means a second login for staff and a second directory outside Azure Active Directory for IT.
Data outside your Azure tenant
Employee records, leave balances, and expenses in a vendor database instead of your Dataverse and your Azure region.
Compliance you can't audit end-to-end
Your Azure workloads are SOC 2, ISO 27001, and GDPR-covered. Your third-party ESS isn't necessarily.
No Power Platform reach
Standalone ESS data can't be surfaced in Power BI or automated with Power Automate without brittle connectors.
Contractors and deskless staff left out
Third-party bolt-ons were never designed for the phone-first workforce or the license-limited contractor.
The Solution
An Employee Self-Service Layer Built Into Your Microsoft Cloud
Folio ESS runs on the same Microsoft cloud your business systems already sit on. Hosted on Azure. Identity from Azure Active Directory. Data in Dataverse. Extensibility through Power Platform. Deployed and supported by a Microsoft Solutions Partner.
Nothing about the app is bolted on. Every capability it needs comes from a Microsoft service you already own, wrapped in a user experience purpose-built for employee self-service.
What You Can Use Folio3 ESS For
The app is organized around the four everyday workflows that generate the most HR support tickets in a Microsoft-cloud environment. Each has scoped access, its own screens, and a distinct adoption curve.
What employees do in the app
Personal details
View and update naming details, address, and contact information.
Bank details
Maintain bank account details with built-in sort code and IBAN validation.
Qualifications and memberships
Keep education records and professional memberships up to date.
Time off and expenses
Request leave, see who else is out, and submit expense receipts.
Tasks and onboarding
Work through assigned checklists, onboarding steps, and mandatory training.
Working Time Regulations
Set Working Time Directive status: opt in, opt out, or excluded.
What Folio3 ESS Can Do
Every capability the app ships with maps to a Microsoft service you already run. No new vendor infrastructure to procure, secure, or maintain.
Azure-Native Hosting
Deploys into your Azure environment with the same regions, compliance posture, and network policies as the rest of your Microsoft workloads.
Azure Active Directory SSO
One login across Outlook, Teams, Business Central, and Folio ESS. Conditional access, MFA, and privileged identity management supported.
Native Dynamics 365 HR Integration
Reads and writes directly to Dataverse. No middleware, no nightly sync, no shadow database. Employee records stay where they belong.
Power Platform Extensibility
Build with Power Apps components, automate approvals with Power Automate, and surface HR data in Power BI without adding new infrastructure.
Cross-Platform Mobile App
Native iOS and Android apps with the same role-based experience as the web app. Single sign-on through Azure Active Directory on every device.
A Native Mobile App for iOS and Android
The mobile app is a first-class part of Folio ESS, not a mobile-web wrapper. It carries the same role model, the same permissions, and the same Azure Active Directory sign-in your workforce uses on the desktop, into a form factor built for warehouses, construction sites, retail floors, and traveling staff.
- Approval alerts pushed to the phone the moment a request is filed
- Camera capture for receipts, IDs, and compliance documents
- Read access to key records when there is no data connection
- Role and access rules identical to the web app on every device
- Azure Active Directory sign-in with conditional access enforced
Five Reasons Enterprise Buyers Choose It Over a Bolt-On
Runs where your other Microsoft workloads run
Same Azure region, same tenant, same operational model. No new vendor cloud to reason about.
Uses the identity you already manage
Azure Active Directory, conditional access, and multifactor authentication out of the box.
Inherits your compliance posture
SOC 2, ISO 27001, and GDPR covered by the underlying Azure and Microsoft services you already audit.
Extensible with Power Platform
Customize with the same tools your teams already use for other Microsoft apps.
Delivered by a Microsoft Solutions Partner
Folio3 supports the app alongside Azure, Business Central, and Power Platform work.
See Folio ESS in Action
Book a walkthrough with the Folio3 team. We will show the four role experiences and the mobile app on a live environment and discuss what a rollout would look like inside your Azure tenant.
Book a DemoCommon Questions About Folio3 ESS
Yes. Folio ESS is designed to deploy into the customer's Azure environment, using the customer's own Azure region, network policies, and compliance controls. Folio3 supports the deployment as part of the implementation project.
Folio ESS relies on Azure Active Directory for identity, Dataverse for HR data, Power Platform for extensibility, and standard Azure hosting and networking services. Additional Azure services can be integrated during implementation if the customer's architecture requires it.
Folio ESS runs on top of Microsoft services that carry SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, and other regional certifications. The app itself does not introduce a separate compliance boundary, so the underlying Azure and Dynamics 365 posture applies.
The app is licensed on top of an existing Dynamics 365 Human Resources subscription. Anyone with a Dynamics 365 HR seat can use Folio ESS without buying additional Microsoft licenses. For contractors and other non-permanent workers, the app provides a scoped access model that does not consume a Dynamics 365 seat per person. Exact commercial terms are worked out during scoping.
Both configurations are supported. Whether Dynamics 365 Human Resources is running as its own application or has been consolidated into a Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations environment, Folio ESS talks to the same underlying data model in either case.
Most rollouts run in the weeks range rather than months, assuming Dynamics 365 Human Resources is already in production. The main variables are the number of role experiences going live at once, the mobile distribution mechanism (App Store, MDM, or both), and how heavily the underlying HR configuration has been customized.
All employee data continues to reside in the customer's own Dynamics 365 Human Resources environment, which sits inside the customer's Azure tenant and Dataverse instance. Folio ESS does not maintain a separate copy of the data on its own infrastructure.
Customization happens through Power Platform. Folio3 can build additional fields, alternate approval flows, and even new role variants as part of the implementation, using the same Power Apps and Power Automate tooling the customer already uses elsewhere.
Retirement of the legacy portal is part of the project scope. Folio3 covers data mapping from the outgoing system, plans the cutover window, and handles the change communications to employees so no one is caught between two portals.
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