How to start with Power Platform? We can help!

The low-code/no-code platforms revolution has been, over the years, gaining traction in different companies and industries, as its potential is starting to become recognised. Proof of this is the projections both Gartner and Forrester make about these kinds of platforms. Gartner estimates that about 65% of applications developed by 2024 will use low-code/no-code platforms. Additionally, Forrester indicates that these platforms can reduce 74% of the costs related to traditional app development. More telling are the Forrester Wave reports indicating that the low-code market will exceed 21$ billion in spending by 2022.

These are relevant statistics that reveal these platforms’ true potential and how they can be crucial, differentiating tools in the way organisations address their digital transformation journeys, particularly for internal scenarios. These solutions allow non-technical profiles, so-called citizen developers, to build applications, workflows, dashboards and reports or even chatbots rapidly and with agility, without being dependent on IT departments, without programming knowledge or knowledge of more complex technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence.

Presently, there are several low-code/no-code platforms, and one of the market leaders in this segment (according to Gartner’s Magic Quadrant) is Microsoft Power Platform.

What is the Power Platform?

Microsoft Power Platform for those who don’t know it yet is Microsoft’s low-code platform. It is composed of 4 products with different purposes:

  • Power Apps: allows business users to develop applications that can be used either on mobile or the web, without the need for programming knowledge;
  • Power BI: provides access to data visualisation tools, where it is possible to build visually appealing dashboards and reports;
  • Power Automate: aims to automate business processes or enrich Power Apps applications with business logic;
  • Power Virtual Agents: you can build bots and conversation flows with just the knowledge about the conversation you intend to have with the users.

In addition to the products mentioned above, the platform also has components such as AI Builder, that allow users to take advantage of Artificial Intelligence differently. For example, users can create a model that learns to recognise specific fields in a document from a set of original documents, or even identify objects in images – all through a highly functional interface designed for non-technical users to take advantage of this technology’s potential.

Now that you already know the platform, we understand that the difficulty is sometimes understanding where exactly should you start and what components to bet on.

How do I get started with Power Platform?

Before you adopt Power Platform, there are three things you need to know to start your organisation’s digital transformation journey:

  • What are your needs? 

Your journey starts with your organisation’s needs. What are the most urgent challenges you need to tackle? Do you need to build an internal application or replace an Excel file continually being shared between users? Do you want to create a chatbot that supports the Human Resources Department? Do you need to automate critical business processes that are still dependent on humans, or do you want to analyse business data to make better decisions? Before you decide which Power Platform component is best suited to your needs, you need to clarify the company’s needs. Otherwise, you won’t be able to define the purpose of adopting the platform. Without purpose, the investment won’t have any guiding lines, and projects won’t be successful.

  • Can you identify a use case? 

Once you know your needs and the challenges your organisation must tackle first, you can decide which Power Platform component will best suit your needs. At this point, it’s essential to identify a use case and try to understand how the Power Platform will help you achieve your goals. Can you identify a specific process that could benefit from automation capabilities? If you need to build an application, how are employees currently performing this task? If you want to make a chatbot, do you know what kind of questions you want it to answer? Finally, if you need to analyse data, do you know what data you need to look into and where is it stored? Reflecting on your possible use cases for this technology will help you better materialise your vision for the solution. It will be important to help make that vision a reality.

  • What systems/ technologies are already at your disposal?

Lastly, it’s fundamental you make a cross-sectional analysis of the systems or technologies already in use in your organisation and that you can use to implement your use case. In many organisations, it’s already possible to access the various Power Platform components, so check if this is true for you and, if so, get down to business. If you need to, it’s quite simple to subscribe to the various products online, by activating a trial so that you can develop your first project. If you’re thirsty for more knowledge, you can attend, webinars or find out about solutions that already take advantage of this technology. What’s important is that you start exploring.

What’s next?

Suppose that even after you’ve explored the technology, examined the different content at your disposal and identified your particular needs, you feel you need specialised support to understand the best solution for your organisation better. In this case, an excellent first step is to fill in the Power Platform Assessment our team has built for you. This way, you will be able to receive different resources and personalised advice from our Xperts specialising in this technology directly in your inbox.

At Xpand IT, the Digital Xperience business unit has been focusing on developing Power Platform solutions, helping companies take advantage of its components and accelerating their digital transformation journey. In 2020, Xpand IT was awarded Partner of the Year’s prize in Power Apps & Data Analytics from Microsoft Portugal. Because of this, you can always count on us to support your projects – reach out to us at:  [email protected].

Filipa MorenoHow to start with Power Platform? We can help!

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