What is the Power Platform and Why Consider It? (Manager Edition)
What is the Microsoft Power Platform? Why use it at your organization? How do I use the tools? Is it available to you? What are the disadvantages of using it? What’s the best way to get started? I answer some of the basic questions here.
Over the next five weeks, I will be publishing blog articles going into greater depth of each of the five Power Platform tools. But first, what is it?
What is the Microsoft Power Platform?
The Power Platform is a small collection of low-code/no-code tools that expedite the development of business apps while utilizing the latest cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
At the time of writing, the Power Platform consists of these five (5) tools:
- Power Apps
- Power Automate
- Power BI
- Power Pages
- Power Virtual Agents
These tools enable you and your team to create applications much faster than typically done with traditional software development tools and methodologies. Your staff does not need to be well-versed in software coding. However, the solutions can be customized by someone with more coding skills.
The Power Platform can connect to nearly all other (Microsoft and alternative) tools and platforms.
Here are a few examples:
- Using Power Apps, you can create an interactive app that connects to and displays data together from SQL Server, Salesforce, and an Oracle database hosted in AWS.
- Using Power Pages, you can create a website using a predefined template with little web programming skills.
- Using Power BI, you can create reports or interactive dashboards with visual data on a refresh cycle.
- Microsoft is adding AI to all of its platforms and tools and the Power Platform is not an exception. Take advantage of these technologies!
Why use it at your organization?
By using the Power Platform, you save two things minimally – time and money.
You save time and money in these ways:
- Saving time, solutions can be created much faster than by using traditional software development methodologies.
- Saving money, less will be spent on developers who require less programming skills. Low code development does not require a lot of programming experience.
- Saving money, the cost of employee/contractor time spent creating solutions will be shorter.
How do I use the tools?
Each of the five tools has a specific purpose.
Here is how all five tools are used.
- Power Apps – Create desktop, tablet, and mobile apps using drag and drop with limited coding and view them on any platform. With over 900 connectors available, you can pull/push the data from virtually any application or data source.
- Power BI – Create reports and interactive dashboards using the latest UI visuals. Create the reports using the Power BI Desktop and publish them to the Power BI Service.
- Power Automate (previously Microsoft Flow) – Create and automate workflows that can perform repetitive tasks that can be triggered to run automatically based on schedules, events, and manually run.
- Power Pages (previously Power Portal) – can be used to create a website using one of the many available templates with very little coding.
- Power Virtual Agents – From data dictionaries, create virtual chat agents for employees or customers to ask questions for information and access other online resources.
Microsoft is constantly refining these tools. They may even add more to this list.
Is it available to you?
Your organization probably already has Microsoft 365 for employees. With it, they get the Power Platform tools. You can discover what has already been created and see where you can create your own solutions.
To give it a try, log into your web browser (I recommend Edge) using your work account and then try clicking these generic links below:
- Power Apps: https://make.powerapps.com
- Power BI Service: https://app.powerbi.com
- Power Automate (previously Microsoft Flow): https://make.powerautomate.com
- Power Pages (previously Power Portal): https://make.powerpages.microsoft.com
- Power Virtual Agents https://web.powerva.microsoft.com
It’s interesting that the URLs are not uniform across the toolset. It is because they were created at different times by different teams.
I suggested my brother try this at his workplace and he was a little nervous he would be probing where he didn’t belong. “Hey – all he was doing was opening web pages!”
Note: To make your own apps, you may want to first create a personal environment to contain your work. If you have rights, you can create your own environment. I created one using the “sandbox” model at this link: https://admin.powerplatform.microsoft.com
What are the disadvantages of using it?
There are a lot of advantages to using Microsoft’s “low code/no code” platform. Users with little programming skills can create simple solutions fast and the cost of development and maintenance is affordable. However, there are some things you should be aware of before considering it.
What to be aware of prior to consideration:
- Confusing pricing – Although the prices are low, be sure to fully understand the pricing model of the Power Platform tools you are considering. Know that certain connectors may require a premium subscription level.
- Limited customization – Microsoft owns the infrastructure of the Power Platform. Depending on which tool(s) you select, some customization can be performed through advanced coding. If this is required, check if the customizations needed are possible and who in your organization will perform them.
- Limited access – Some Power Platform apps are intended to be used primarily by employees or partners of your organization. Know who the audience will be and how that fits with the tool you select.
Microsoft is constantly refining these tools. They may even add more to this list.
What’s the best way to get started?
- Start small! Choose the correct Power Platform tool and create a simple application with limited requirements/customizations.
- Carefully select a tech-savvy user to create the solution.
- Learn the costs of development and its monthly costs for implementation.
- It’s most likely your organization is already using the Power Platform. Using the links above, you will see what’s already being used. Connect with the employees who are already using it and learn how it’s been working for them.
- Be sure your developer(s) connect with the other employees who have created solutions in the past.
- Hire a consultant who can help you get started. They can suggest the best tools for the job and how to implement them with your existing infrastructure.
Conclusion
In the next few weeks we will cover the five tools in greater detail, each designed to help you experience the benefits of the Power Platform. Check back and you’ll find the links below as they are completed and posted.
About Intertech
Intertech is a Software Development Consulting Firm that provides single and multiple turnkey software development teams and co-development resources, available on your schedule and configured to achieve success as defined by your requirements. Intertech teams combine proven full-stack, DevOps, Agile-experienced lead consultants with Delivery Management, User Experience, Software Development, and QA experts in Business Process Automation (BPA), Microservices, Client- and Server-Side Web Frameworks of multiple technologies, Custom Portal and Dashboard development, Cloud Integration and Migration (Azure and AWS), and so much more. Each Intertech employee leads with the soft skills necessary to explain complex concepts to stakeholders and team members alike and makes your business more efficient, your data more valuable, and your team better. In addition, Intertech is a trusted partner of more than 4000 satisfied customers and has a 99.70% “would recommend” rating.
