For IT and Microsoft 365 admins
Policy sign-off built on the SharePoint platform you already run
iomer builds Beacon for your organization as a single deployment package and installs it in your own tenant, on SharePoint lists, a document library, site pages, Entra ID and Power Automate. There is no new vendor platform, no second sign-in, and no data leaving Microsoft 365.
Download the IT overview (PDF, no form)
Architecture overview · 2-minute read
How Beacon fits into Microsoft 365
| List or library | What it holds |
|---|---|
| BCN_Policies | One item per policy: title, category, document or page, owner, audience, review cycle, next review date, and whether it’s retired and why |
| BCN_PolicyVersions | One item per version: status, major or minor, change summary, author, approver, dates and a link to the document or page |
| BCN_PolicyDocuments (library) | Uploaded Word and PDF files, with major and minor versioning and content approval, so drafts stay hidden from readers until approved |
| Site Pages | Policy pages created from the Beacon template, kept unpublished until approved |
| BCN_PolicyEvents | The lifecycle audit trail |
| BCN_AttestationCycles | Recurrence, audience, policy and next run; stopped when a policy is retired |
| BCN_Attestations | One record per person per policy version: due date, completed date, typed signature and timestamp |
| BCN_Certifications | Certifications with issue and expiry dates |
| BCN_Settings | Lifecycle rules and the theme, as JSON, the same pattern as Journey and Hazel |
Download the IT overview (PDF)Download the datasheet (PDF, 2 pages)Watch the 45-second tour
How Beacon reaches your tenant
One package, built for you and installed by iomer
Beacon is a solution accelerator, not a product you download and set up yourself. We build a single deployment package for your organization and run the installation with your Microsoft 365 admin. Nothing is hosted by iomer: once it’s installed, Beacon runs entirely in your tenant.
Built for your organization
Your package contains the web part, lists, library, page template and Power Automate flows, already set up with your categories, approvers, audiences, cycles, certification types and theme.
Installed by iomer
We install it with your admin, who approves the app and its permissions. Your IT team doesn’t assemble components or follow a setup guide.
Changed the same way
When you need something beyond the console settings, we build a new version of your package, test it and install it. Your package runs only in your tenant.
The same in every build
A foundation your team reviews once
- The web part and the list and library design
- Approval, publication, reminder, cycle and escalation flows
- Separation of duties and the version and signature records
- The lifecycle audit trail and the attestation export
Specific to your build
Your organization’s settings, built in
- Categories, owners and approvers
- Audiences mapped to your Entra ID departments and groups
- Review cycles, attestation cycles and certification types
- Theme, site location and your imported policies
What differs between organizations is mostly configuration, not new code, so the foundation your security review looks at stays the same from build to build.
Security and data residency
Where your data lives
Beacon adds no new place for your data to live. Everything it stores is SharePoint content in your own tenant.
- Policies, versions, signatures, certifications and the audit trail are SharePoint list items and library files, under your security, retention and data residency settings.
- No separate database, server or vendor cloud. Nothing is hosted by iomer.
- People sign in with their Microsoft 365 accounts. Departments and the manager chain come from Entra ID through Microsoft Graph.
- A signature stores the minimum needed to show attestation: who signed, the name they typed, the version and the time.
- Your content is stored by Microsoft 365, which Microsoft independently audits against standards such as ISO/IEC 27001 and SOC 2. Those reports cover Microsoft 365 itself, not iomer, and are in Microsoft’s Service Trust Portal.
Microsoft 365 updates
Built to keep working through Microsoft 365 updates
Beacon uses supported Microsoft interfaces and standard SharePoint features, which keeps it clear of the usual causes of breakage after an update.
- The SharePoint Framework, for the web part on a modern SharePoint page
- SharePoint lists, library versioning and content approval, for policies and records
- Microsoft Graph, for people, departments and managers
- Power Automate with standard connectors, for approvals, reminders, cycles and escalation
When Microsoft changes something Beacon relies on, the change reaches you the same way as any other: a new version of your package, built, tested and installed by iomer.
Licensing prerequisites
Microsoft 365 plans Beacon works with
| Microsoft 365 plan | Beacon: read and sign | Email notifications | Dynamic audiences | Retention labels, applied manually | Records that lock, event-based retention |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E5 | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| E3 | Included | Included | Included | Included | Needs E5 Compliance or a Purview add-on |
| Business Premium | Included | Included | Included | Included | Needs a Purview add-on |
| F3 (frontline) | Included | Included | Included | Included | Needs a Purview add-on |
Beacon uses SharePoint, Entra ID and Power Automate with standard connectors, which these plans include. People without an Exchange mailbox get their notices in Teams. Dynamic audiences use Entra ID P1; assigned groups work on any plan. We size Power Automate capacity with you during planning, because larger organizations may need a Power Automate Process licence for Beacon’s flows. Checked against Microsoft’s documentation in September and October 2026. Microsoft changes plan contents, so check before you buy.
Specifications
What runs where
- Hosting
- Records live in SharePoint lists and a document library in your tenant, under your own security, retention and data residency settings. The Beacon web part runs on a modern SharePoint page inside your intranet. Nothing is hosted by iomer.
- Identity
- Departments, location and the manager chain from Microsoft Entra ID, resolved through Microsoft Graph. People sign in with their existing Microsoft 365 accounts.
- Policies
- Uploaded Word or PDF files, or policy pages from the Beacon template, with one lifecycle for both.
- Approval
- One named approver per version, with separation of duties. Publish on approval or on a set date.
- Attestation
- A typed full-name signature recorded against a specific policy version, with the date.
- Recurrence
- Annual, biannual or quarterly cycles re-open a policy for sign-off, per audience, on top of each major version.
- Certifications
- Tracked on their own issue and expiry dates, with evidence, manager verification and reminders before they lapse.
- Escalation
- Overdue items go to the person’s manager in Beacon, Teams and email, through Power Automate.
- Records
- Version history, a lifecycle audit trail, and an export of every attestation to CSV.
- Theming
- Inherits your SharePoint site theme, or a standard palette or your own colour.
Before you start
What you need
- SharePoint Online and Power Automate
- A Microsoft 365 account for everyone who signs
- Entra ID departments and the manager field kept up to date
- A policy owner in HR or compliance
- A Microsoft 365 admin to approve the installation with us
Delivered by iomer
What we do
- Map your policies, owners, approvers, cycles and certifications with you
- Build your organization’s deployment package
- Install it in your tenant and test it there
- Import your policies and certification records
- Launch with owner, approver, manager and admin training
For your IT team
Plain facts to plan around
The details a Microsoft 365 admin asks about in the first meeting. Microsoft features and licensing change often; these were checked in September 2026.
Licensing
The Power Automate Approvals connector is a standard connector, covered by Microsoft 365 licences. Integrations that need premium connectors need extra Power Automate licences. Dynamic Entra ID groups need Entra ID P1; audiences can use assigned groups instead.
The policy library
With content approval on and major and minor versions enabled, a new upload starts as a draft and isn’t visible to readers until it’s approved. That’s what keeps unapproved policies away from staff. Agree the library’s version limits with your records team.
Records and retention
Retention labels can apply to the policy library and to list items, so retired policies and their signatures can be kept for your records period. Records that lock against edits, and retention that starts when a version is replaced, need E5-level Purview licensing.
Notifications
SharePoint alerts were retired in July 2026. Beacon’s approval requests, reminders, review alerts and escalations run through Power Automate to Teams and Outlook.
Electronic signatures
Beacon records an electronic acknowledgement: who signed, when, and which version they were shown. Electronic signature laws in Canada and the US generally accept records like these, but ask your counsel to confirm a typed-name signature meets your obligations. This isn’t legal advice.
Privacy
Beacon stores the minimum needed to show attestation. Records follow your retention period, and we can describe the data and its flows for your privacy impact assessment, which Quebec’s Law 25 requires for new systems that handle personal information.
Could IT build this?
A library and an approval flow are the easy part
Your team can build a document library with an approval flow. The harder parts are one lifecycle for both documents and pages, major versus minor changes deciding who signs again, a signature record per person tied to a specific version, review cycles with a needs-attention view, and retirement that stops cycles but keeps the record.
Then add certification expiry, manager escalation and an export that answers an examiner’s question. That design and integration work is what Beacon brings, already built on the same SharePoint you would use.
Bring your IT team to the walkthrough
Watch the 45-second tour, or book a walkthrough and we’ll go through the lists, flows and Entra ID setup behind Beacon and answer your security and licensing questions.