Getting Started with Microsoft Power Platform
What is the Power Platform?
The ‘Power Platform’ is a collective term for five Microsoft products: Power BI, PowerApps, Power Pages, Power Automate(previously known as Flow), and Power Virtual Agents. They provide the means to help people easily create apps, manipulate, surface, automate, and analyze data and can be used with Office 365 and Dynamics 365 (as well as other third-party apps and other Microsoft services). The Power Platform is possible thanks to the Common Data Services (or CDS) now known as the “Dataverse”, which is essentially the underlying data platform that provides a unified and simplified data schema so that applications and services can inter-operate.
The Microsoft Power Platform is more than the sum of its parts. Connect them together — and to Office 365, Dynamics 365, Azure, and hundreds of other apps — and build end-to-end business solutions.
In plain language, as powerful as these apps (Power BI, Power Apps, Power Pages, and Power Automate) can be, the mutualistic symbiosis between them is where the magic not only lives but thrives. Together with the other apps in Office 365 and Dynamics 365 and Azure, the possibilities for improvements are limitless.
Why is the Power Platform so important?
In this digital age, we are extremely reliant on data — and the amount of data companies are creating is continually increasing. While all this data is inevitable, it is useless for companies to gain insights and meaning from it — to gain tangible value.
Historically, data analysis, app creation, or automation would be achieved by IT/Development teams. This would require staff to outline their requirements and aims, send these requests to their IT (Information Technology) department (or even an external partner) and then see whether it was approved, and then, wait for it to be built. This would be time-consuming and would use valuable resources internally or be costly if fulfilled externally. What is more, those requesting the solution would tend to have an immediate need, and waiting for weeks could cause internal delays.
Therefore, the Power Platform is so exciting. The Power Platform enables data democratization — the ability for digital information to be accessible to the typical (non-technical) end-user. It provides three technologies that allow staff to do more with their data themselves without coding knowledge. While it does not allow the integration and flexibility of custom coding, it does supply a simple method for most users to be able to create, automate, or analyze their data in ways that have never been possible for the average worker.
How Can I Get Started?
Below I will be sharing the link to the resource material that helped me in my learning journey into the world of Microsoft Power Platform.
Learn Power Platform in 30 days
I hope this material helps you to get started in learning the Microsoft Power Platform
In the next article, I’ll show you how to write the Microsoft fundamentals certification examinations for free.
Please be sure to leave a comment with the name below.
Don’t forget to clap too.
My Twitter handle is @globalsmile
See you at the next one!
