Microsoft Power

Platform x Automation
The Perfect Bond
Table of Contents

Why is the Power Platform so important? ………............................................................…………………..... 3

How Power Platform Supports Business Transformation .................................…………………….…. 4

How does the Power Platform fit with the broader Microsoft strategy? .……………………….. 5

Power Apps …………………………………………………………............................................................................………………….. 6

Power BI ………………………………………………………………………………………............................................………………………. 7
Power Automate ………………………...........................................................................................................……………….. 8

Power Platform with Dynamics 365 Business Central …………………………………………………………….. 10

Use Cases ……………...………………………………..........................................................................................………………....... 11

Why Beyond Key ...................................................................................................................................……………......... 14

Conclusion ............………….........................................................................................................................……………......... 15

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Microsoft Power Platform

In the past few years, platforms have gotten more accessible for business users to use
and change. This change is reflected in the early adoption plans for Power BI and
Tableau. You only needed data, relatively inexpensive licenses, and a few hundred
dollars per year.

These trends have been taken up by low-code and no-code business app
development. You can build solutions that make a difference with domain knowledge,
drive, and a cheap license.

Gartner ranks Microsoft first for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms and
second for Low Code Application Platforms. Microsoft knows that these are not two
different lines of products. Power Platform makes it easier for citizen developers to
help businesses.

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Why is the Power Platform so important?

In this digital age, businesses are making more and more data, and we depend on it.
Companies can't get away from all this data, but they must find something useful.

IT/Development teams were responsible for data analysis, making apps, and
automating processes. Staff would have to write down their needs and goals, send
them to their IT department (or an outside partner), wait for approval, and then wait
for it to be built. If this were done from the outside, it would be expensive and take a
long time. The person asking for the solution may have a pressing need, and waiting
weeks could cause problems inside the company.

So, the Power Platform is thrilling. The Power Platform makes data accessible to
people who aren't experts. Three technologies let employees use their data without
knowing how to code. It doesn't have the integration and flexibility of custom coding,
but most users can create, automate, or analyze their data in ways the average worker
has never been able to.

Microsoft Power Platform

Power BI Power Apps Power Automate Power Virtual Agents

Business analytics Application Devlopment Process automation Intelligent virtual agents

Data Connectors AI Builder Dataverse

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How Power Platform Supports Business
Transformation

Business intelligence, custom app development (including chatbots), and automation

have traditionally been done by expensive and busy developers. You might have
needed a simple business app that could help you save time. It was a low priority.

This is changed by the Power Platform suite, which gives business users the tools they
need to make these solutions.

Your company, a trainer, is putting Power BI into place. Everyone has to take a
Dashboard in a Day, right? People will only need to learn the formula language used
by DAX, Power BI, and Analysis Services.

A Power Apps questionnaire determines the user's training level. Power Automate
gives users proper training with this form and sends them instructions.

As a good trainer, you know that most people need to read emails with
instructions. Using Virtual Power Agents, you build a chatbot that can answer
questions from trainees.

Do I need to get a
Power BI Desktop?

How do I use Is mobile app

a Mac? training available?

In the end, your program should work. Using Power BI, you can track how many
employees have been trained.

You've made a fully automated solution without the help of engineers or developers.
You made your own solution by using your domain knowledge and the Power
Platform's low-code features.

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How does the Power Platform fit with the
broader Microsoft strategy?

The Power Platform can connect to various data sources, including third-party apps
such as Google Analytics and Twitter. It does, however, work best with Office 365 and
Dynamics 365. Microsoft marketed the Power Platform as a way to "unlock the
potential of Office 365 and Dynamics 365 quicker than you ever thought possible,"
allowing you to easily extend, customize, and integrate these services.

Microsoft is investing heavily in the Power Platform. Because it is still relatively new, we
anticipate it will be updated and improved frequently as the products improve. Also, as
Microsoft works to integrate all of its technologies, the Power Platform will likely play
an important role. It will facilitate connecting services such as Microsoft 365, Dynamics
365, and Azure using a low-code/no-code approach.

What do we have in the Power Platform?

The idea for Power Platform came from the fact that data is everywhere. Power
Platform thinks that data and insights can make business processes smarter.
There are four main parts to the Power Platform:

1 2
Power BI is used to Power Apps makes
analyze business data. apps with low code.

3
Power Automate, which
4
used to be called Flow, AI bots are Power
automates tasks. Virtual Agents.

Over 275 data connectors are made just for the Power Platform connect data. Then
you can use AI to add logic and AI.

All Microsoft solutions use the Microsoft Dataverse (formerly the Common Data
Service) data store. Any application can use data from a single primary data collection.

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Power Apps

Power Apps are apps that can be made quickly. Power Apps lets you create apps with
little or no coding. A smart, complex app with business logic requires a few lines of
code.

You can use these apps and other Power Platform solutions on Android and iOS
smartphones, laptops, tablets, desktops, the web, and other places online.

You can make model-driven apps or apps based on a canvas that uses data from many
different sources and do a lot of other tasks in a way that fits your needs. This gives you
a complete experience from your data and data model to your business processes and
multiple devices.

Security is essential to both Power Apps and the Power Platform. Through Azure Active
Directory, Power Apps allow for multi factor authentication. Using audit logs, analytics,
and policies to stop data loss, the admin center lets you manage apps across your
organization and outside of it from one place.

All Power Platform applications can connect almost any data and integrate it across
your existing systems to make your solution bigger. Data from Dynamics 365 can be
automatically linked to and used in a custom app.

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Power BI

Power BI lets you see real-time dashboards and insights in one place. With Power BI,
the goal is to connect and combine data to get a fuller picture of your business.

Live, interactive, real-time dashboards can give you smart information to help you
take action and make decisions. Using the natural language query model to
understand and answer simple questions, you can even ask your data questions to
make it work.

More than 275 data sources can be linked to the Power Platform. Power BI uses data
from SQL, Dynamics, and Excel. All of these ways or sources of data can be used to
make that picture.

Dashboards made with Power BI can use data from Microsoft and other cloud services.
Microsoft has a lot of data connectors, and legacy apps that use the REST API can
connect to them. Power Platforms are not common.

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Power Automate

Power Automate, which used to be called Microsoft Flow, makes simple tasks more
manageable without making mistakes. Power Automate links systems together and
translates data to automate workflows.

There is one source of truth, and it works with multiple Microsoft systems. Power
Automate builds and automates business processes across apps and services that
have already been implemented. It is possible to do everything from simple
automation to branching or multiple trigger responses and trigger actions.
Some examples are approval workflows and platform notifications. These data sets can
be used with Power Automate.

Power Automate gives you security, connects your data, uses apps to make valuable
data for your organization, and strengthens your system. Power Automate has a lot of
different parts.

Some are built into Microsoft Cloud applications, while others can be added through
Microsoft Dataverse (formerly the Common Data Service), custom workflows, or
custom applications.

Power Automate has built-in platforms that work well together and robust data
connectivity for a more complete, smart, and automated experience.

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Microsoft Power Platform

Connecting to Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365

How do we connect the Power Platform to the systems we already have?
Power BI, Power Apps, and Power Automate can all be used independently,
but they are much more helpful when connected and part of a single
ecosystem.

Office and Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive,
SharePoint, and Outlook, as well as your Dynamics 365 solution and Microsoft
Azure, can be linked in this way.

Microsoft Business Applications Ecosystem

Microsoft Dynamics 365 applications help a wide range of businesses in
different industries and stages of their lives. Many solutions and applications
can be run on the Power Platform. Microsoft supports solutions that bring
people together.

The image above shows how Dynamics applications connect Finance and
Operations (now Finance and Supply Chain Management), Sales and
Marketing, HR, and other ERP systems. With the Power Platform, you can build
more and add to the app.

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Power Platform with Dynamics 365 Business
Central

Dynamics 365 Business Central is made better by Power Platform. Embedded Power
BI reports making it possible to look at data reports without leaving Dynamics 365
Business Central.

Power BI can also be used to get data and run reports. Using Power BI and Business
Central together, you can make dashboards showing real-time data. Power BI reports
can be changed and drilled down into.

Even though Power Automate and Business Central are two different workflow
systems, templates from Power Automate can be added to Business Central's
workflow list.

When you add Dynamics 365 Business Central as a data source, Power Automate lets
you build automation and flows from scratch or connectors.

When you connect Dynamics 365 Business Central to Power Apps, you can make
canvas or model-driven apps that you can share internally or publish online. Together,
the Power Platform and Dynamics are powerful.

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Use Cases

3 use cases that deliver the Power of Power Platform.

PowerApps simplified tool inspection process for a US-based

1 manufacturer.
One of Beyond Intranet's clients makes hardware. They wanted to make it
easier for each piece of hardware they make to be inspected and checked for
quality. Before shipping to the customers, they also had to make a quality
certificate.

At that moment, they used a Windows program with a long list of all the
hardware products. The staff had to go through a lot of trouble to pick a
product from the long inventory list and find out if it had been inspected from
the old system. Before they could get the certificate and ship the item, they
had to find the products on their inventory list and update the quality status by
hand. This was a complex and time-consuming process.

The Solution:
We suggested making a quality check app, which we did use PowerApps
for the front end and Azure SQL Server for the back end. We took the
client's needs and made them easier to understand. The goal was to
automate checking tools and make digital certificates in minutes.

The result:

Saved Time: Digitized: Search Got Faster:

Manual inspection To improve inspection Barcode scanner
saved time for the accuracy, the customer integration facilitated
consumer. automated their tool search.
process.

Improved product Saved Paper: High Efficiency:

quality: The system created PowerApps automated
It was easier to tell which digital certificates for the process to assure
batch had bad hardware. each item instead of accuracy and allow
printing them. employees to focus on
high-value assignments.

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Use Cases

Renowned FMCG Company Automates Their Food Processing

2 Lifecycle Using Power Apps
This US FMCG company manufactures many food products. These include tea,
coffee, ice cream, frozen desserts, health drinks, and other innovative products.

As a manufacturer and distributor, their direct customers include professionals

from various sectors, retail chains, e-commerce websites, and distributors.

The Challenge:
This company receives multiple raw material invoices from vendors daily for
food preparation. Daily manual receipt and raw material validation took up too
much staff time.
Their food processing lifecycle was laborious. Errors made tracking their
packaged product difficult. They wanted to know which vendor ingredients
were in each batch of the final product.
They also wanted to ensure shop floor workers followed the process and user
activity.
They wanted a shop floor-wide tracking app. Mobile responsiveness and
multiple logins were crucial.

The Solution:
We created a PowerApps-based lot tracking app for their tenant and
shared it with relevant team members. The app was mobile. The shop
floor production team and purchase department used the app to scan
and track food preparation items.

The result:
Saved Time: Improved Food Safety &
Quality:
The lot tracking Power App helped the client team
track production faster and more effectively than their It is now easier to check
previous system. The team saved time by automating product quality and
raw material receiving. identify which stage had
poor food quality.

Better Monitoring: Improved Accuracy: High Efficiency:

They got a food processing The solution eliminated OCR's efficiency helped
life cycle tracking app. Easy manual data entry, employees focus on
reports and process tracking reducing errors. high-value tasks..
helped stakeholders make
informed business decisions.

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Use Cases

Power BI sales analytics dashboards are installed at a market leader

3 in construction supplies to monitor key performance indicators.
When it comes to specialty performance coatings, the client is among the
industry's top players. The company's wares are useful for safeguarding and
improving the look of concrete, metal, stone, wood, glass, or plastic structures.

The client planned to use Power BI reports to manage and visualize their
existing data set. They had a reporting system that needed updating because
it was not producing reliable results. Because of this uncertainty about the
database tables, they brought on Beyond Key as a data modeling and
visualization partner to assist with the loading, transformation, modeling,
analysis, and visualization of data.

The Solution:
Beyond Key knew how important it was to find new data sources. We dug into
the raw data to find the right data table and architecture in the old reporting
system.

To ensure that our new, improved Power BI reports were an asset to the
client's business, we compared them to the old ones and made any necessary
adjustments based on the findings.

The result:
The client's team was able to monitor and control the company's operations and
increase sales output thanks to the newly implemented business intelligence (BI)
reports and dashboards.
Find reliable data table sources with the ability to make updates as needed.
Productivity gains due to simplified access to multiple resources detailing the
most effective ways to utilize any given visual aid
With a scalable reporting process, you can expect precise reports using
appropriate data mapping and metrics.
Economies of time and money
Get a visually robust system that provides a consolidated overview of the
business' performance at a glance.
Reports in Power BI feature an advanced level of data handling security.

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Why Beyond Key

We are a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner with a strong presence in Microsoft

consulting services across many platforms.

As an early adopter of Power Platform, we work with companies of all sizes and types
to help them with PowerApps, Power Automate, and Power BI. Our Power Platform
developers are experts at making professional applications for your business that have
been tried and tested for quality.

Our services include comprehensive consulting, application design, development,

support, and maintenance. As an experienced system integrator, we have made it easy
to connect PowerApps to data systems like SharePoint, Power Automate, Power BI,
Teams, Salesforce, Dynamics 365, and any other outside source.

We can be your best PowerApps consulting partner, whether you want to use
PowerApps to customize SharePoint forms or build a complex custom business
solution.

We have more than a decade of experience with Microsoft technologies and platforms,
including workflow development. We have also helped several businesses achieve
seamless integration with data connectors and external applications.

We can help you automate some of your complicated business processes and simplify
your life with Power Automate consulting, workflow design, and development.

We have also helped organizations understand the problems with their current
processes and find the pre-built templates that work best for their industry. When
Microsoft Power Automate is chosen as a service, we help with everything from
consulting to implementation, design to development, and much more.

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Conclusion

The possibilities are endless when you combine Power Platform components
with existing Microsoft solutions, like the Office family of products or an ERP
system like Dynamics 365 Business Central.

Beyond Intranet is a top Power Platform partner, and we have a whole practice
for making apps and BI reports, automating processes, and integrating them
with other systems.

We can help your organization through the entire process, whether you have
no existing system and want an all-in-one solution or you already have a system
and want us to support it and add new features.

Please contact us if you have any questions about

how to start using the Power Platform.

Contact us at
[email protected]

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