The Microsoft Power platform is a set of tools that enable businesses to create custom applications and automate processes. The platform includes tools for data modeling, app development, and workflow automation among others.
You can use the Power platform to build apps that meet your business’s specific needs, automate repetitive tasks, and improve efficiency.
In this guide, we explore everything you need to know about this versatile suite of tools, including showing you how you can use it to solve various business problems. Let’s dive in!
What Is Included in the Microsoft Power Platform?
The Power platform consists of four main components: Power BI, Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power Virtual Agents. We take a look at each in more detail below:
1. Power BI
Power BI is a cloud-based business intelligence tool that enables users to connect to data sources, visualize and analyze data, and share insights. This platform offers a rich set of features that allow users to create highly customized data visualizations.
Power BI provides several ways for users to interact with data. For starters, users can explore data using the built-in explorer tool, or they can use the query editor to build custom queries.
Additionally, they can create their own dashboards and reports or leverage the growing number of pre-built templates and content packs available from Microsoft and third-party providers.
One of the key benefits of Power BI is its flexibility. You can use it as a standalone tool or integrate it with other components of the Power platform. For example, you can embed Power BI reports into SharePoint sites or use PowerApps to build custom applications that include Power BI visualizations.
Power BI Embedded is another essential component of the Microsoft Power Platform, offering advanced analytics capabilities for businesses. It allows you to embed interactive Power BI reports and dashboards directly into your own applications, websites, or portals. Now, let’s explore the pricing aspects of Power BI Embedded.
When it comes to the price of Power BI Embedded, Microsoft offers flexible options to suit various business needs. The pricing structure is based on a combination of factors such as node type, capacity, and usage. There are two main options available: the Power BI Embedded capacity-based pricing and the Power BI Premium capacity-based pricing.
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2. Power Apps
PowerApps is a low-code app platform from Microsoft that enables businesses to build custom apps for their organizational needs. With it, you can quickly create and deploy apps with a few clicks, without needing any coding knowledge.
PowerApps is built on top of the Common Data Service (CDS), which is a cloud-based data platform that stores and manages data for applications. CDS provides a consistent data model across all apps built on the Power platform, making it easy to share data between different apps and platforms.
The platform also includes Flow, a powerful workflow automation tool that can be used to automate business processes. Power Apps Flow can be used to connect different applications and services together, allowing businesses to create sophisticated workflows without code.
Finally, you can also take advantage of the growing ecosystem of PowerApps add-ons and connectors to further extend the capabilities of your apps.
3. Power Automate
Power Automate is a key component of the Power platform that allows users to quickly and easily create automated workflows between different applications and services. With this suite, you can connect to hundreds of different data sources, including OneDrive, SharePoint, Salesforce, Twitter, and more.
Once you have connected your data sources, you can then create powerful automated workflows that can save you time and money.
For example, you could use Power Automate to automatically generate weekly reports from your CRM data or send out alerts when new leads are added to your system. Other use cases of this platform include:
- Sending emails or text messages
- Creating and managing user accounts
- Filling out forms
- Approving expenses
- Generating reports
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4. Power Virtual Agents
Microsoft Power Virtual Agents is a bot-building service that enables anyone to create a chatbot without having to write any code. The service is based on artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) technologies, which makes it possible for chatbots to understand human language and respond in a way that mimics human conversation.
Power Virtual Agents offers a wide range of features that make it easy to build and deploy chatbots. For example, you can use the provided templates to get started quickly or use the drag-and-drop interface to build your chatbot without any coding. You can also import and export your chatbot’s conversations so that you can continue building them later.
Microsoft Power Virtual Agents also offers integration with other Microsoft products, such as Azure Bot Service, which allows you to deploy your chatbot on multiple platforms, including web chat, Facebook Messenger, Slack, and more.
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Conclusion
The Microsoft Power platform is a powerful set of tools that can help you automate your business processes and workflows. Whether you’re looking to build custom apps, connect to data sources, or automate tasks, this platform can help you get it done. And best of all, it’s relatively easy to learn and use.
If you are looking for a way to streamline your business operations, the Microsoft Power platform might be worth considering.
