What exactly is the Power Platform?
The Power Platform is a standard part of many Microsoft 365 licenses and integrates seamlessly with applications such as Teams, Dynamics, SharePoint, and Excel. Within the Power Platform, we find the following four applications:
- Power BI; for creating reports and interactive dashboards
- Power Apps; for creating apps and forms
- Power Automate; for automating processes
- Power Virtual Agents; a virtual interlocutor
In addition to the above applications, Power Platform uses various Azure services in the background for data connectors, authentication, logging and AI functions.
Each of the aforementioned applications has a different perspective, but they are all characterized by the ability to get started easily and without technical knowledge. With any application, you can use the data from your Microsoft 365 environment and in many cases also with data that lives outside Microsoft 365 by using so-called Data Connectors.
Fusion Development: from low-code to full-code and back
In our opinion, the latter is what makes the Power Platform so interesting. You can get started with the more than 300 existing data connectors that you get from Microsoft as standard, but you also have the option to develop your own data connector for a specific application or data source. And this applies to all parts within the Power Platform; you find many different components 'in the box' but if you miss something, Microsoft offers developers the opportunity to build custom components that can then be used by low-code developers in the Power Platform. Microsoft calls this principle Fusion Development, but we'll tell you exactly how that works in a future blog... (#cliffhanger!?)
Why we love the Power Platform?
We are absolutely convinced that the Power Platform has a lot to offer organizations. And yes, mainly organizations that already use the Microsoft 365 platform. We have to be honest about that. In fact, we are so convinced, that we have made it our job.
Our personal top three on the Power Platform:
1. Microsoft 365 integration
A buff, of course. You can effortlessly create automations to automate common actions. Quickly promote incoming emails or Teams messages into an action with a smart Flow or aggregate an overview of hours spent and costs in an interactive Power BI dashboard. All existing data can be accessed quickly and easily. And once you've finished your app, you can easily share it with your colleagues via Microsoft Teams or SharePoint.
2. Fusion Development
If the existing components or data connectors are not enough for you, you can decide together how to proceed with the help of a professional developer. Is it possible within the Power Platform but do you need more knowledge, or is there no functionality and can you solve this with customization? This way, you can expand the functionality of the Power Platform together. And if it really gets too big, you can scale up to Azure and plug in other services to ensure that your app remains scalable and future-proof.
3. Get started quickly and comply with IT standards
The fact that you can quickly realize solutions with low-code solutions is not new. However, with the Power Platform, you also get the opportunity to comply with existing IT standards to ensure control and governance. Using Azure Pipelines, for example, you can control release management and deploy Power Apps via an OTAP street. You also have access to your app version history, and for more complex applications, you can even scale up to DevOps and Git.
With all these kinds of developments on the Power Platform, full-stack developers, low-code developers and 'operations' are coming together better and better. More and more DevOps principles are available, giving low-code the strategic place in the IT landscape it deserves.
And that's why we're fans of the Power Platform!
Wondering if the Power Platform is also something for you, let us know!
Are you as enthusiastic as we are? Or are you curious whether the Microsoft Power Platform can also bring acceleration and flexibility to your organization? Let us know. Then, together, we will look for the innovation opportunities that Power Platform has to offer you.
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