Do you know just how powerful Microsoft Power Platform is? It was the answer to a complex situation for many organizations striving to maintain their operations while employees worked remotely.
The digital transformation we’ve witnessed in our society over recent years will be around for a while. Leaders and visionaries across organizations must understand the tools available to survive in a rapidly changing and increasingly digital landscape using automation.
Microsoft Power Platform is the most popular low-code platform for implementing innovation and automation in your business.
The Power Platform’s user-friendly approach to streamlining the journey from an idea to an end solution is what makes it so powerful. Regardless of your organization’s size or IT capacity, training allows your employees to create secure solutions tailored to your needs without needing a costly team of software developers.
Not a programmer? No worries. The Power Platform is available to everyone, and you may already have access to parts of it as part of your Microsoft 365 subscription.
10 ways the Power Platform can help your organization innovate
#1 Use AI to read and process ap invoices sent to your company via email
Do you receive invoices via email? How do these invoices get into your system for payment processing?
Microsoft’s Power Platform includes low-cost and simple-to-use AI models that can detect, read, and save information from standard documents such as invoices, purchase orders, and contracts.
If you still rely on a team to transpose details from PDFs, consider using Power Apps AI builder to reliably extract critical parts of these documents and free up your team’s time for other tasks.
#2 Key invoices into your legacy ERP power platform blog
Many businesses use applications restricting how transactions are imported into the system. These legacy applications, by definition, limit your automation options. Until recently, the only solution was to engage in a repetitive task of keying the data into the Enterprise Resource Planning software (ERP), limiting the hours these users could devote to high-value work. Desktop automation, specifically Power Automate Desktop, is the answer.
Power Automate Desktop automates repetitive tasks such as data entry using low-code/no-code Robotic Process Automation (RPA). RPA allows you to automate workflows across modern and legacy desktop applications by recording any action you could perform within the app. It works in the same way that macros do in familiar Office apps like Excel, only much more securely and efficiently.
When combined with ready-to-use AI, you could quickly build and deploy a solution that reads the contents of an emailed PDF invoice and enters them into your legacy ERP system without human intervention.
#3 Move your purchase request/approval process to teams
Do you have an approval process for your company’s purchase requisitions? Most Microsoft 365 licenses include Power Automate Approvals. This feature works with your organization’s approval structure. It can automate sign-off requests and combine human decision-making for your specific workflows.
When a request is submitted, you can specify how the approver will be notified, and they can approve or deny the request within the email or Teams notification.
#4 Send quick surveys to work-at-home employees
Good managers regularly check in with their employees to assist with daily challenges. It’s a given in face-to-face work environments but much more challenging with remote workers.
Keep your employees engaged with an easy-to-deploy weekly check-in survey built as a Power App as the workforce becomes more remote and dispersed. The findings can be compiled and shared with management. After reviewing their survey, managers can provide feedback or schedule a meeting with an employee via a feedback loop.
#5 Create an interactive tradeshow showcase
Do you want to give your salespeople a new way to display your product portfolio? In Power Apps, create a tablet-friendly canvas app for use at the next tradeshow.
Due to their interactive nature, Canvas apps will engage a prospective buyer more than a paper pamphlet. It will also give you complete control over the layout and content. Power Apps can display a gallery of product photos, embed videos, and collect contact information.
#6 Power Platform blog notes, pictures, and details from the field in real-time
Do you have field technicians capturing critical information for customers, projects, or bids? What systems do you have to ensure data transmission to your office for use in operations?
If you still use pencil and paper, consider developing a mobile-friendly low-code/no-code Power App to help your field employees capture the required information. In addition to typed notes, the app you create in Power Apps can capture pictures, location, audio recordings, and other data. Your critical information is transmitted securely to the office in real-time.
#7 Detect negative sentiment in customer emails or tweets and inform customer service
A Customer Service Team’s primary goal is typically customer satisfaction. Microsoft offers AI models that can detect sentiment from an email, tweet, survey, or any other natural language source as part of the Power Platform. This analysis is almost instantaneous.
Instead of waiting for a human to read the customer’s negative comment, a customer service representative can be notified immediately, allowing them to prioritize reaching out to that customer and resolving the issue.
#8 Create a portal for your clients or vendors
Is there a self-service option for external users to obtain relevant information at your organization? Power Apps Portal enables you to create low-code, secure, and responsive websites that allow external users to interact with the data you provide. These websites can integrate with Microsoft services such as Power BI, Power Automate, SharePoint, and Azure to enhance the user experience.
#9 Substitute digital mobile accessible checklists for paper QA/QC checklists
Do you have a quality control process in place for the output of your organization? In Power Apps, you can create a mobile-friendly low-code/no-code checklist app to maintain quality standards.
Create custom lists and allow users to capture images, handwritten notes, and other pertinent information. When exceptions occur, use Power Automate to monitor the results and notify the appropriate users via Teams or email.
#10 Maintain the security of your data
Unlike locally shared Excel files sent via email, custom-built Access databases you can’t get rid of, a one-time third-party SaaS solution, or any other rogue application you may be using, app development on the Power Platform is scalable, secure, and governable by design.
Microsoft provides several tools, including Data Loss Prevention (DLP), the Center of Excellence (COE) kit, and a robust Power Platform Admin center, to assist you in administering governance and oversight for your data, critical apps, and workflows.
These ten examples are just a taste of how your company can use the Power Platform to innovate and automate business processes.
Conclusion on why you should be looking at Power Platform
Basileia’s team of innovators has experience building solutions on the Power Platform and assisting organizations like yours in making the most of these powerful tools. We can assist in deploying and consulting low-code/no-code platforms, allowing you to scale without overwhelming your IT staff.
Ready to Learn More
If you’re ready to innovate and upscale your business, contact Basileia Consulting Group (BCG) by calling 949-329-3524 or via our contact form. Our expert team can evaluate your needs and requirements and recommend the best solution for your company.
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About the Author
Basileia Consulting Group assists other ERP software resellers and consultants with challenging implementations. To better ensure the successful adoption of ERP software across the entire company, we expanded the scope of our service offering eight years ago to include the complete suite of Microsoft business tools. We have established a name for ourselves in the industry as the people your software partner should contact whenever things go wrong.
