# Best Practice Analyser

{% hint style="warning" %}
BPA is currently on a deprecation path. While there is no current date for deprecation, the functionality will not be expanded. The testing engine in [CIPP Dashboard](/user-documentation/dashboard.md) v2 will replace the BPA.
{% endhint %}

The **Best Practice Analyzer (BPA)** is a tool within CIPP designed to help audit and improve Microsoft 365 environments. It provides a detailed framework for ensuring your setup is secure and compliant with industry and organizational standards.

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## **What is the BPA?**

At its core, the BPA is built to:

* **Assess Tenants Against Best Practices:** Perform comprehensive audits to uncover misconfigurations or compliance risks.
* **Run on a Scheduled Basis:** By default, it refreshes data once daily for accurate reporting.
* **Leverage CIPP Framework Standards:** Use predefined, community-driven standards tailored to MSPs and IT professionals.
* **Provide Insight-Only Reports:** BPA reports findings but leaves decision-making and changes to the administrator.

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## **Viewing Your BPA Reports**

* **Navigate to:** `Tenant Administration > Standards > Best Practice Analyzer`.
* **Run Initial Data Refresh:** Select **“Force Refresh All Data”** if this is your first time displaying it.

{% hint style="info" %}
To replicate the functionality of the "Force Refresh All Data" button, you can use the `/api/ExecBPA`API endpoint.
{% endhint %}

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Note:** Larger environments (e.g., 100+ tenants) may take \~15 minutes per run.
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### **Report Types**

1. **Pre-Built Reports**
   * Use templates like **CIPP Best Practices Table View** for baseline compliance checks.
2. **Custom Reports (Advanced)**
   * Define custom reports to specify data sources, fields, and display formats. 
   * For further details, check out the community guidance added to the [Custom Reports](/user-documentation/tenant/standards/bpa-report/builder.md) page

### **Interpreting BPA Results**

The BPA uses a traffic-light system for quick, visual feedback:

* **🟥 Red:** Critical issues demanding immediate attention (e.g., unprotected global admin accounts).
* **🟧 Orange:** Warnings or recommendations—optional but strongly advised (e.g., enabling MFA for non-admin users).
* **🟩 Green:** All good! Configuration aligns with best practices.

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## **Common Snags and Fixes**

1. **Partial Data?**
   * Likely an issue with your **Refresh Token**.
   * Run the **Access Check** via: `CIPP Settings > Configuration Settings > Tenant Access Check`.
2. **Slow Refresh Times?**
   * Make sure permissions are correct. Navigate to:\
     `CIPP Settings > Configuration Settings > Run Permission Check`.
3. **API Compatibility (Self-Hosted Only):**
   * Ensure both **CIPP-API** and **CIPP platform** are up to date. The system logs (via the CIPP-API Function App) are your best friend for debugging.

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{% hint style="warning" %}

### **Key Considerations for Efficient BPA Usage**

**Understand Execution Times:** Forcing a refresh runs across your entire environment and may take some time. Use sparingly. Reports are refreshed nightly by default.

**Permissions:** Validate required permissions with `Run Permission Check` and troubleshoot invalid refresh tokens with `Tenant Access Check`.
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***

## Feature Requests / Ideas

We value your feedback and ideas. Please raise any [feature requests](https://github.com/KelvinTegelaar/CIPP/issues/new?template=feature.yml) on GitHub.


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