The Microsoft Power Platform is a robust collection of programs that enables you to automate operations, develop solutions, do data analysis, and build virtual agents.
The Power Platform has five major components: Power BI, PowerApps, Power Automate, Virtual Agents, and Power Pages. Let’s dive into each of the products.
Power BI
Power BI gives you insights into the information you want to see in a single window and lets you view interactive real-time dashboards.
The data you obtain from the live interactive real-time dashboards may be used to develop smart insights, incorporate those insights into guiding actions, and make well-informed decisions.
The Power Platform and Power BI can connect to more than 275 different types of data sources. There are common data sources available in Power BI, such as your SQL database, Dynamics environment, or data from file servers like Excel.
Power BI dashboards may interact with other cloud-based services like Google Analytics and PPM Express in addition to obtaining data from the Microsoft platform. Currently, Microsoft provides a large number of data connectors, and certain historical programs can be connected as well if they have a REST API.
Power Apps
With the help of Power Apps, users may create both low-code and no-code applications.
These programs, along with the other Power Platform offerings, can be used on various devices, including laptops, tablets, desktops, and phones running the Android or iOS operating systems, laptops, and desktops. They can also be used anywhere that there is an internet connection.
High enterprise security, administration, and control are available in Power Apps. Also, you can manage them with Azure Active Directory to implement multifactor authentication settings.
In essence, you can manage your data through the admin center. It gives you the full experience to manage your apps across your organization centrally and what has been deployed outside the organization. You can have complete audit logs, use available analytics, or put data loss prevention policies in place.
The one crucial component for all Power Platform apps is the idea that you may link almost any data and integrate that data across your existing systems to extend your solution.
You may use the data that is present in Dynamics 365. Also, it’s possible to connect that data to an app you’ve created.
Power Automate
Power Automate, previously Microsoft Flow, is an effective workflow automation application. It enables you to link various systems and convert data.
These can range from straightforward automation to more complex situations. For example, actions like branch creation or having several trigger responses and trigger actions.
Some applications are built-in natively into the Microsoft Cloud applications. Others can be added using methods like Microsoft Dataverse (formerly known as the Common Data Service), custom processes, or applications.
Power Pages
Microsoft Power Pages is a low-code, secure, enterprise-grade SaaS platform for building, hosting, and managing contemporary external-facing company websites.
Power Pages helps you to build, configure, and publish websites quickly. They can function flawlessly across web browsers and devices. This solution is suitable for both a low-code creator and a professional developer.
Power Virtual Agents
Microsoft Power Virtual Agents are intelligent virtual assistants. They can communicate and handle a lot of the tasks that you might otherwise have to complete manually or by hiring a third party.
Both a standalone web app and a standalone app within Microsoft Teams are options for Power Virtual Agents.
The majority of functionality is similar between the two. Nevertheless, there can be various reasons to select one version over the other. It all depends on how you want to use Virtual Agents,
Premium Microsoft Power Platform capabilities
Premium features enhance the Power Platform products that come with Microsoft 365 E3 and E5. They are enabling new use cases:
- More than 700 high-end connectors to external ERP, CRM, and other record-keeping systems.
- The capacity to develop and produce customer connections across Power Platform that expand applications, processes, dashboards, virtual agents, and websites by utilizing a custom API housed in a cloud provider or a publicly accessible API (such as Azure API Management).
- Power Apps model-driven apps.
- Microsoft Dataverse.