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pmo365 | Project Portfolio Management Solution

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Need to make your own customizable business app but don't want to pay the exorbitant prices for fancy app developers? Microsoft PowerApps to the rescue!

We will walk you through what exactly Microsoft PowerApps is, what it can do and how your organisations can greatly benefit from using it.

What is Microsoft PowerApps?

Microsoft PowerApps is a platform and suite of services that provides an application development environment that enables organisations to easily build, develop and integrate custom apps to accommodate business needs. It is one of the core tools within Microsoft's Power Platform and is Microsoft's entryway into low code development platforms.

Low code development platforms aim to provide non-professional 'citizen' developers a way to create business solution apps that significantly minimizes the overall amount of coding required. A Forrester report recently recognized Microsoft PowerApps as a top leader in low code development platforms and rated it the strongest in terms of strategy.

Microsoft PowerApps comes built to integrate with different Microsoft tools - from fellow Power Platform tools such as Power Automate and Power BI to your general Office365 applications - and an extensive list of external data sources. This means whatever apps you create can be completely integrated into your current workflows.

Do you want to build a custom timesheet to document, analyse and optimise your team's productivity. No problem! You can easily make your own app with little to no coding experience suited to your specific needs, easily integrate it with your payment, cost and resource management applications withPowerApps Connectors, enable smart analysis with Power BI and automate reporting needs with Power Automate.

Types of PowerApps

There are three main types of Power Apps you can create:

Canvas Apps

Just like working with a blank canvas, users can start building a custom app from scratch by easily dragging and dropping elements onto the app canvas. The typical process starts with integrating a data-source, adding workflows and creating a user interface design. These are suited for users trying to build apps with the most flexibility and customizability.

Model-Driven Apps

Model-driven apps are automatically generated and designed by PowerApps itself according to the data set it is connected to. Model-driven apps will often recommend users pre-made interface components based on the data sets to simplify app layout generation. These are suited for users who want to produce end-to-end solutions with complex business logic and build responsive app designs that can automatically fit to any screen size.

Portal Apps

These are external-facing web portals that enable both internal and external users to interact securely with data in the Common Data Service. This allows for effective management of data by controlling content viewing and sharing restrictions and capabilities. This means that your data can be securely shared through other commercial login providers like LinkedIn and Microsoft Account.

Top 8 Benefits of PowerApps for your organisation

1. Streamlines development

Traditionally, businesses would have to wait for their desired apps to be developed by their team of developers. As the demand for customized apps increases, this waitlist only gets longer and longer and teams may not have the patience to wait until they are completed. This leads to ineffective processes and practices continuing on legacy systems and old applications. With PowerApps, new apps can be developed and distributed directly within the team or department that need it, how they want it and when they need it.

2. Fuss-free app creation process

Talking about coding and app development to non-programmers can be intimidating. PowerApps low-to-no coding UI means that making an application can be done easily by dragging and dropping elements into a page. The app creation process is more straightforward than ever and citizen development is championed through extensive online communities where people can share how they build amazing apps with each other. Building effective apps no longer required extensive knowledge of coding or experience as a programmer.

3. Extensive integrative capabilities

One of the biggest challenges of developing apps for non-professional programmers is connecting data. With PowerApps connectors, this is no longer a problem as it can easily connect to external data sources from within the Microsoft ecosystem such as Excel and Microsoft Projects to pretty much every common data source from Oracle to LinkedIn and many more. Have a look at the hundreds of connectors here.

4. Improves cost efficiency

Say goodbye to expensive programmer teams with exorbitant development costs. With access to its easy app creation UI starting as low as $7 per month, developing optimized apps has never been cheaper or more accessible. Even better, PowerApps for Office 365 includes business-level software subscriptions with free ad-on basic apps with its standard connectors.

5. Upgrades security

PowerApps give you complete control of your applications through the administration centre, giving employees extensive user control options to easily manage data and permits. Additionally, each application is automatically linked to Microsoft's active directory domain service (ADDS), which ensures all users and devices are properly authenticated and are subject to their respective security policies. That means all levels of accessibility and visibility of data can be easily tracked and controlled.

6. Enhances business speed & performance

Building an app to fulfill all your needs is a tough task. With its easy app creation processes, PowerApps significantly reduces the time-consuming elements of traditional app development processes and allows apps to be made faster than ever. More apps and more data means more intuitive and optimized updates that in turn improve overall business performance.

7. Boosts mobility and accessibility

Though modern programming is already quite accessible and mobile, it typically is still confined to a laptop or desktop computer. PowerApps takes mobility to the next level as users can develop apps on the road and even on their mobile devices. With its interface built specifically for both mobile and desktop set-ups, PowerApps allow users to keep making apps and accessing their data no matter where they are.

8. Elevates overall business productivity

By being able to create applications and automate processes that cover your specific needs, teams cut down wasted time from performing manual tasks and can optimise their time towards more value-adding activities. The integrative capabilities of PowerApps also means that your cost and time savings are not limited to singular apps, but can be experienced throughout your entire workflow, meaning an overall improvement in productivity.

Tap into the Power of PowerApps with pmo365

Our PPM experts are PowerApp Geniuses. At , we're all about making the right solution catered specifically to your needs. So make sure to book in a chat with our PPM experts to see how we can take your PPM activities to the next level. If you want to learn more about PowerApps and the amazing Microsoft Power Platforms apps, make sure to check our comprehensive guide to Microsoft Power Platform.

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What is Microsoft PowerApps? Top 8 benefits of PowerApps - pmo365 | Project Portfolio Management Solution

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Need to make your own customizable business app but don't want to pay the exorbitant prices for fancy app developers? Microsoft PowerApps to the rescue! We will walk you through what exactly Microsoft PowerApps is, what it can do and how your organisations can greatly benefit from using it.

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Business Benefits of PowerApps | Practical Power Apps Use Cases

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Looking for real-world PowerApps use cases? This blog will provide you with practical insights along with some brilliant Power Apps advantages for your business

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Click to view video transcript

Hi, my name is Diana, and I'm one of the technical consultants at PragmatiQ Solutions. We are going to be doing a series of videos over the next few months demonstrating varying capabilities of the Microsoft Dynamics platform. And today, I'll be giving you an overview of the holiday app that can be used within your organisation.

This app sits inside of Dynamics 365 and can be accessed via mobile, allowing employees to request and track holiday and managers to complete the approval process. In order to access your application on your mobile, you will need to download the Power BI mobile application, which is available on your App Store or Google Play.

This can also be embedded in Teams, but right now I'll show you a desktop version that will offer you an insight on how this is going to look on your mobile. In order to access the application, you will need to log in to our Power Apps with your company email, which would then display all the apps shared with you in the organisation. As you can see, there is no username and password protection you when you open up these because Power Apps will recognise your credentials and you'll be able to get it right away.

I will now present to you the content available to employees, allowances and how to create a leave request. This is my available balance, which is going to display my remaining balance and how many days I have used, I will go now and create a new request from the plus button. There are multiple times of request I can choose from. Right now I am going to choose holiday and I will select tomorrow, start from 8am and I am going to do it for a day and a half.

So duration is one day and a half and description is going to be holiday.

I'll click on the submit button, then it is going to take me to the review page where I can choose to either submit the request or if I want to edit any details. I can choose to change anything I want here, I'll just do this and I will submit now everything is all right. So I'm going to click on the green button. This has been completed, so right now my manager is going to receive an approval email for testing purposes.

I will show you other pages available in the application, which is the balance and leave request, which is showing all my requests from the past, within this year, which are approved, pending or declined. And again, I can see the page where I can create on your request.

I'll show you the email that is going to be received by my manager. It is showing the employee, the date where this has been created and all of the other details I have submitted in the request.

Now they can choose to approve or reject. I will just go ahead and do this, so this has been approved. Right now, if I go back to the app and go to balance and I'm going to refresh it, it says another day and a half has been used, which has also been taken out from the remaining days.

Now I'm going to see my leave request. I am going to look for a holiday that has just approved, as you can see it here.

I will show you the email that the employee's going to be received. The following has been approved, manager comments. The same format is going to be sent if this request has been declined, saying your request has been declined.

This is it for now. I hope you found this useful. And if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us using the details on screen. Our email is [email protected], where you can phone us on 01908 038110. Thank you.

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Business Benefits of Microsoft Power Apps

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Click to view video transcript Hi, my name is Diana, and I'm one of the technical consultants at PragmatiQ Solutions. We are going to be doing a series of videos over the next few months demonstrating varying capabilities of the Microsoft Dynamics platform.

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Every business runs into challenges that don't have a pre-written solution. Maybe there's a hang-up in how two departments communicate, your team experiences delays in product development processes, or you can't find a tool to perform a specific function on your website. Trying to cobble together solutions with existing apps can be frustrating and expensive.

Microsoft PowerApps can help your business solve impossible problems with easy custom apps. Read on to answer the question, "What is PowerApps, and what could it do for my business?"

What is PowerApps?

Microsoft PowerApps is a fantastic tool for businesses looking for innovative solutions. This platform allows anyone in your business to custom-build an app to solve company challenges. You don't have to have any programming experience to create these apps, thanks to Microsoft's innovative drag and drop approach.

There are two approaches you can use with PowerApps: Canvas Apps and Model-Driven Apps. With Canvas Apps, you drag and drop different components onto a canvas and create your app from the ground up. Model-Driven Apps use information about the app components you use and your specific business to optimize a program for you.

How Does PowerApps Work?

When you get ready to build an app, you'll start by selecting your PowerApps environment. You can create an app for a PowerApps website, in PowerApps Studio, on PowerApps mobile, or in the PowerApps admin center. Then you'll need to decide whether you want the greater control of the Canvas Apps or the simpler optimization of the Model-Driven Apps.

Next, you'll need to select where your data for this app will be stored. You can choose from a SharePoint list, an Excel file, a Common Data Service, or other data sources. With this decision made, you'll be ready to connect your app to your online or on-premises data source.

What Can PowerApps Do?

The great news about PowerApps is that it can do almost anything your team needs it to do. Need to be able to add a product part to your list without having to rewrite all of your Excel formulas every time you do? Set up a PowerApp that handles that for you.

You can use PowerApps to automate team communication, run intelligent data analytics, create data and metadata, and incorporate AI functionality into your daily operations. You can store and secure data, create plugins and workflow extensions, and embed custom apps into your website experiences. Whatever your team can dream of, you can create a custom app to do it in PowerApps.

Benefits of PowerApps

Building a custom app through traditional means is an expensive and time-consuming process. You may need to coordinate with a team of programmers, and paying them for their time may cost your company more than the original problem does in the first place. Your company may feel like they have no choice but to lose time and money working around this problem.

PowerApps allows solutions to be built quickly and affordably. You can scale these apps as needed. And because PowerApps incorporates seamlessly with other Microsoft programs, your team can implement dynamic solutions to keep things rolling as efficiently as possible.

PowerApps Mobile

These days, more than half of all web traffic happens on mobile devices. And in our pandemic-ridden world, everyone is working on the go more than ever. Your PowerApps need to work for mobile devices, and your team needs to be able to create solutions from their phones and tablets.

The great news is PowerApps mobile gives you all the flexibility and dynamic control you need. You can access and run the custom solutions you've created from a mobile device, keeping your team running, no matter where they are.

Limitations of PowerApps

PowerApps is an amazing tool, but there are a few small limits you should know about before you work with it. The biggest thing is that PowerApps is designed to be used as an internal tool; it's meant to foster problem-solving by and for your team. You aren't going to build a PowerApp and then release it in the Google Play store.

PowerApps is also specifically designed to allow for the fast creation of apps with coding reserved for complex situations. This means that if you do have developers on your team, they won't be able to alter any of the base code running behind the app components you're working with. However, this can ensure that your apps keep working, rather than breaking because someone changed a line of code without fully understanding what it affected.

Other Power Platform Programs

PowerApps on its own can revolutionize the way your company operates, but the best news is it's only the beginning. Microsoft offers a whole Power Platform designed to help your business operate better every day. From custom solutions and automation to data analytics and simple customer engagement, Microsoft has you covered.

PowerBI is a business intelligence tool that can help you create interactive, immersive reports that provide actionable insights for your company. Power Automate makes it simple to automate the tedious and repetitive tasks that happen every day in your company so your team can focus on what's really important. And Power Virtual Agents can handle customer questions through sophisticated chatbots - no coding required.

Bring PowerApps to Your Business

The simplest answer to the question, "What is PowerApps?" is that it is the solution your company has been looking for. Whatever your problem is, your team can create a custom solution without having to worry about the hassle of app development. And you can keep these apps running seamlessly on the go, with other Microsoft programs, and wherever your business goes.

If you'd like to make PowerApps a part of your business, check out the rest of our site at IncWorx. We provide consulting and support that makes your Microsoft technology easier to use. Contact us today and start working smarter, not harder, for your business.

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What is PowerApps? Reap the Benefits and Know the Limits | IncWorx

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Every business runs into challenges that don't have a pre-written solution. Maybe there's a hang-up in how two departments communicate, your team experiences delays in product development processes, or you can't find a tool to perform a specific function on your website. Trying to cobble together solutions with existing apps can be frustrating and expensive.

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Power Apps is a suite of tools from Microsoft that allows users, both technical and non-technical, to create, manage and share custom apps that easily connect to data.
'Power Apps is a suite of apps, services, connectors and data platform that provides a rapid application development environment to build custom apps for your business needs.'
From Excel to Dynamics 365, SharePoint to Power Automate - Power Apps encourages Microsoft collaboration and mass uses of its tools - working seamlessly alongside other Microsoft products to increase business efficiencies and allow users to build new capabilities without technical experience.

What are some key Power Apps features?

App creation, running and sharing

Drag and drop functionality

Integration with other Microsoft products

Common Data Service (CDS)

Custom API's

Collaboration support

Connected to the cloud

Power Apps is praised for its user friendly functionalities and its ability to integrate data. But how can these features benefit your business?
What are the benefits of Power Apps?

Power Apps provides lack of coding through easy to use drag and drop functionalities - providing a user friendly experience for both technical and non-technical users. Whether it's a mobile app or desktop app, the simplicity of Power Apps provides a smooth experience throughout the app creation process. Allowing users with little to no coding experience to successfully expand business capabilities without the worry of expansive libraries, APIs, functions and more.

Similar to most Microsoft apps, Power Apps also provides concise integration with other platforms. Allowing you to easily pull data in and out of other platforms and into your Power App. From Excel to Power Automate (Microsoft Flow) and SharePoint to Dynamics 365 - the options available for data input provide many businesses with a great starting point in app creation.

Power Apps is available within many Microsoft 365 subscriptions, see more on them here. But as a standalone app, it's also very affordable. With options for single users and organisation wide - at $10 per app/user/month and $40 per user/month - Power Apps provides a cheaper solution to outsourcing app development.

The great thing about Power Apps is its ability to reduce time and cost savings building web and mobile apps. It's efficiency, simple user interface and integrations provide a quicker process for creators, with it's drag and drop feature (as mentioned above) all technical leveled users can find the process simple and save time outsourcing developers on their projects.

Custom apps, mobile apps and digital transformation are on the cards for many businesses throughout 2021 - Microsoft Power Apps may be a solution suitable for your business processes, with it's friendly interface, ease to input data and friendly integrations - why not give it a try?

If you're looking for any guidance on how Microsoft technologies can benefit your business, get in touch with our team here at Blacklight Software. We are a UK Microsoft Gold Partner specialising in the Microsoft technology stack and . Chat with our team today at sales@blacklightsoftware.com or call us on +44 1924 640350.

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What is Power Apps & how can it benefit your business? | Blacklight Software

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Power Apps is a suite of tools from Microsoft that allows users, both technical and non-technical, to create, manage and share custom apps that easily connect to data. 'Power Apps is a suite of apps, services, connectors and data platform that provides a rapid application development environment to build custom apps for your business needs.'

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7 Microsoft Power Apps benefits for content managers

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Power Apps can boost productivity and efficiency in an organization, among various other advantages. Learn about the top seven Power Apps benefits.