Frequently asked questions for Microsoft Power Platform

Microsoft Power Platform is a set of robust solutions that allow your people to build apps using no-code to low-code technology, enabling your business to streamline and automate processes without complex IT projects. It is the collective name of these powerful products designed to democratise application development: Power Apps, Power Automate (formerly known as Flow), Power BI, and Power Virtual Agent.

It is an application development platform that allows you to build end-to-end business solutions using no-code to low-code approach, and enables you to connect them to Office 365, Dynamics 365, Azure and hundreds of other 3rd party software applications.

To learn more about Power Platform and see what it can do, please visit our YouTube channel. 

The Microsoft Power Platform, while grouping four of Microsoft’s products, is not sold as a bundle. Each product is sold separately.

You can find a more detailed differentiation of the licensing structure for Power Apps and Power Automate here, Power BI here and Copilot Studio (formerly Power Virtual Agent) here.

Pricing is available on these pages: Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI.

Australian pricing for Power Virtual Agent is not yet available as of this writing. Please speak to one of our consultants for more information by calling 1800 126 499.

Yes you can, however, there are associated costs that go with it. Applications built on Power Apps can be shared with external users using Power Apps Portals. There is a different pricing for authenticated and unauthenticated users which you can find here at the bottom of its page.

Microsoft Power Platform is a set of robust solutions that allow your people to build apps using no-code to low-code technology, enabling your business to streamline and automate processes without complex IT projects. Businesses turn to Power Platform to enable: 

1. Build apps without code. 
   Microsoft Power Platform can turn anyone into a software developer. With no traditional coding skills required, any power user can design and create a simple, fully functional business application from scratch. With its drag-and-drop functionality and ready made templates, it is easy to use, fast to deploy and fuss-free. 
   
   
2. Accelerate development time.
   Microsoft Power Platform accelerates development time for building business applications with the use of a visual designer and templates, automating the workflows to ensure it works across three major platforms—iOS, Android and Windows. 
   
   
3. Maximise existing software investments.
   It is incredibly easy to connect Power Platform to other Microsoft services such as Excel, SharePoint, OneDrive, Dynamics 365, and even non-Microsoft products such as Salesforce and other on-premise systems. This integration gives Power Platform tremendous value by enabling you to get the most out of your business tools when you need it, where you need it.
   
   
4. Accessible from anywhere on any device.
   Applications built on Power Apps are optimised for mobile use and can also be published on the web. Even when your users build their apps, you are assured that you can manage data access and maintain corporate policies with data security and privacy controls innate in Power Platform.
   
   
5. Leverage the tools you already paid for. 
   Existing Dynamics 365 and Office 365 Business and Enterprise users have Power Apps, Power Automate and Power BI included in their subscription. Maximise your Office 365 investment and save on software costs by utilising an existing tool that you have already paid for.

 Read more about how Power Apps and Power Automate can help small businesses with process automation in this blog. 

Microsoft Power Apps and Power Automate is a solution included in your Office 365 Enterprise subscription that allows you to quickly build no-code or low-code custom apps. It bridges the needs of business users for fast deployment of applications without the need for complex IT scoping and lengthy completion timeframes.

It connects to your various data sources to allow your people to build apps using your unique data from Microsoft Excel files, SharePoint lists, Dynamics CRM records, Azure SQL Database, Twitter, and many more.

Power Pages provides organisations with a low-code way to build, host, and manage professional-looking websites, even without traditional coding experience. It is the evolution of Power Apps Portals and is the newest addition to the Power Platform product family.

Power Pages enables citizen and professional developers to create websites easily, whether by working with pre-built templates, using the design studio to build from the ground up, or coding advanced capabilities with HTML, JavaScript, liquid tags, and more using Visual Studio.

You can register for a free trial for Microsoft Power Pages when you go to this page. You can use your free trial account to create test sites and use your sample data there.

If you need further information on Power Pages, we can help. Please get in touch with 1800 126 499 or email [email protected] for your commitment-free personalised demo or to speak with a Power Platform expert.

Power Pages come in subscription or pay-as-you-go plans.

Visit https://powerpages.microsoft.com/en-au/pricing/ for more information. You may also contact us to learn more about volume pricing.

*Price is subject to change without prior notice. Please get in touch with Professional Advantage for the latest pricing.

Microsoft Power Pages can be used in several ways. Some of its use cases are:

• Community Portal. Create a theme-based communication portal that can manage forums, blogs, and other ideas for a specific group of your stakeholders or client base.
• Appointment Booking. Allow clients to book or reserve meeting venues, event spaces, services, or resources from a secure portal.
• Partner Relationship Management. Enable your partners to find and use sales and marketing resources, special offers, and training materials to manage partner-related content and engage with them more.
• Client Support Helpdesk. Allow your clients to raise support tickets and find self-help FAQs while enabling your employees to create new cases, view outstanding cases, and browse the knowledge base.

Power Apps is part of the four products that compose Microsoft Power Platform. It is a suite of apps, services, connectors, and a data platform that provides you with a rapid application development environment. Its low-code application development technology enables users to create rich, custom business apps without the traditional coding skill. 

You can use Power Apps to:

• Build agile business applications.
• Automate manual, paper-based business processes.
• data and automate reporting.
• Extend or integrate to other business-critical apps used in your organisation.

 Read some of the real-world Power Apps and Power Automate examples in this blog.

Below are some of the real-world use cases of how we implemented Power Apps with our clients.

1. Policy Read Acknowledgement.
2. Return to Office Requests.
3. Online Uniform Shopping Cart.
4. SMS Work Request/Allocation.
5. Vehicle Safety Inspection.
6. Invoice Approvals.
7. New Project Requests.
8. New Microsoft Teams Requests.
9. Artwork Request Processes.
10. Grant Funds Management.

You can also read our blog on real-world Power Apps and Power Automate examples here for better context on the problem that our clients experienced, the solution we developed for them, and the business outcomes.

Watch the on-demand demo of Invoice Tracker, Expense Tracker, and Employee Onboarding in our Power Platform playlist to see Power Apps in action.

Power Apps is licensed in three ways:

1. Free. Power Apps comes free with your existing Microsoft 365 subscription and allows you to extend and customise Microsoft 365 for productivity scenarios.
2. Per app plan. Power Apps per app plan entitles a licensed user to run 2 apps (canvas and/or model driven) and 1 portal. It costs A$14/user/month.
3. Per user plan. Power Apps per user plan entitles you to run unlimited applications based on the full capabilities of Power Apps. It costs A$55/user/month.

Watch a short explanation about how Power Apps is licensed in this video. You can also reach out to us at 1800 126 499 or email us at [email protected] for licensing advisory and consulting assistance.

Power Apps simplifies the process of building custom applications to solve business challenges. It is an easy, fast, and cost-efficient way to turn your bright ideas into brilliant apps. 

We discussed the top four reasons small businesses should innovate with Power Apps in this blog but for your quick reference, it pointed out these reasons:

• Use existing talent.
• Save money.
• Accelerate development.
• Scale.

Read our blog to learn more, or you can also reach us at 1800 126 499 or email us at [email protected] if you have further questions.

Power Automate (formerly known as Microsoft Flow) is one of the four products that compose Power Platform. It is a service that automates workflows between your favourite apps and services to synchronise files, get notifications, collect data, and more.

Power Automate is licensed in these ways:

• Per user plan. This plan equips a user to run unlimited flows with the full capabilities of Power Automate. It costs A$20.60/user/month.
• Per flow plan. This plan enables organisations to implement flows with reserved capacity that serve teams, departments, or the entire organisation without having to license each end user. Price starts at A$137.30/month for 5 flows.

We can guide you on the appropriate licensing based on your use case scenarios. Contact us at 1800 126 499 or email us at [email protected] to learn more.

Power Apps was launched to help organisations build business apps quickly, no matter their user's coding experience. It gives users two options when building their applications - either through a Canvas App or Model-Driven App with Power Apps. The basic differences between these two are: 

CANVAS APP

• It provides users with a blank canvas where you can drag and drop components in any information to design a user interface. 
• It provides users with much more intuitive user experience than model-driven apps since users don't have to worry about how data is structured within the canvas app. 
• It offers better flexibility for developers to change their apps' look and feel. 
• It has over 350 connectors, empowering users to have more functionalities. 
• It requires Power Platform license and the necessary roles and permission in Data Verse to be able to implement and develop on a Canvas App. 
• Its logic implementation is app-specific and can be done through Excel-like formula and conditional checks. 

MODEL-DRIVEN APP

• It enables users to design and develop component-focused apps to implement an end-to-end business process. 
• How the design and view of the app is based on the governing components used in the application. 
• It can only connect with only one data connector, and that is the Data Verse. 
• It requires Dynamics 365 product license (e.g. Business Central or Finance & Supply Chain) to implement and develop on a Model-Driven App. 
• It has flexible logic implementation which includes business rules, workflows, actions, and plug-ins. 

See how Microsoft Power Apps work in this YouTube playlist.