What is behind the Microsoft Power Platform?

We often hear this question from our customers and you may have already asked yourself the question. In this article we will tell you what the Microsoft Power Platform is, what functions the individual components offer and what connection it has to Microsoft Dynamics 365.

The Microsoft Power Platform (on our webinar recording) is a low-code/no-code platform that consists of a collection of tools and services. It is a powerful tool designed specifically for businesses to easily create customized business applications, automations, reports, and develop intelligent solutions.

The Microsoft Power Platform consists of four main components:

1. Power Apps is the Power Platform product for building custom applications. These “apps” (applications) can be created for a wide variety of digitalization needs, for example for collecting data for billing travel expenses, recording fuel receipts, applying for vacation and much more.
2. Power Automate offers the ability to automate business processes and workflows. This will make it possible to handle recurring tasks automatically instead of manually, freeing up more time for other tasks. For example, approvals of vacation requests and travel expense reports are automatically forwarded to the appropriate people.
3. Power BI is the business intelligence tool of the Microsoft Power Platform. This allows users to visualize and analyze data very quickly and create meaningful reports and dashboards. This makes it a very helpful decision support tool, allowing deeper insights into business figures. This reporting can be done in real time or retrospectively.
4. Power Virtual Agents is a tool for creating chatbots and virtual assistants to interact with their users. The so-called bots can answer FAQs (frequently asked questions) and perform other simple tasks. They are often used in customer support and sales and are also suitable for internal use.

The low-code/no-code platform is aimed at making it available to all users, the so-called “Citizen Developers“, to enable people to participate in the creation of new solutions and to create them independently – without any in-depth prior development knowledge. The aim is, in particular, to promote collaboration between professional developers and specialist users (citizen developers) and to democratize the entire development process in order to create tailor-made applications with high benefits. This supports companies in achieving their goals in terms of efficiency, productivity, profitability and innovation.

What is the connection between Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform?

First of all, we should briefly explain what Microsoft Dynamics 365 actually is.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a comprehensive suite of enterprise applications that can cover all aspects of a business. It has preconfigured business solutions, for example for sales, customer service, finance, human resources and many more. The applications offer industry-specific functionality and are designed to optimize business processes, improve customer loyalty and drive business growth.

And how is this all connected?

The relationship between Microsoft Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform is a symbiosis. Microsoft Dynamics 365 leverages the capabilities of Power Platform components to expand its functionality and customization options. The data exchange between the Microsoft Dynamics 365 applications and the Power Platform components occurs seamlessly in both directions. This enables consistent and efficient use of data across different applications and prevents any data silos that could arise.

Examples of the symbiosis of Microsoft Power Platform and Dynamics 365

Customer service optimization:

A company manages customer service requests, including tracking service tickets and logging customer interactions. Automated workflows can help to respond even faster to service requests, send notifications and delegate tasks. An additional virtual agent can also intercept and answer recurring questions, which also minimizes manual effort. https://www.conet.de/DE/conet/veranstaltungen/webinare/customer-journey-dynamics-365-customer-service/param/searchresult=yes

Sales process optimization:

Sales representatives track leads, manage sales opportunities, and maintain customer contacts. They can be supported by custom apps that are used within the specific sales process, for example in lead qualification. In addition, meaningful dashboards and reports can be used to graphically display the key figures to be achieved or to identify the pipeline that has been built. A forecast of business development can also be displayed graphically. https://www.conet.de/DE/conet/veranstaltungen/webinare/customer-journey-dynamics-365-sales/param/searchresult=yes

Overall, the combination of Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform enables companies to create powerful, tailored and integrated business solutions that meet their unique needs and drive digital transformation.

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