In a tech-driven world, businesses are at the forefront of cutting out manual tasks and reducing operational costs. The newest tech innovations are more than capable of helping companies save on long-term costs. Fortunately, businesses have to realize and recognize the importance of process automation and its ties with MS Power Automate to automate process flows.
A Gartner Magic Quadrant highlights that the low-code development of applications will account for up to 65% by the end of 2024. It is no wonder Gartner hails Microsoft as a leader in low-code application platforms for enterprise use cases. It would be fair to state that Power Apps paired with Microsoft Power Automate has managed to revolutionize BPA (Business Process Automation).
Microsoft Power Apps: More Options, More Features, More Benefits
Despite the nature and size of the business, organizations want to take advantage of Power Apps and Microsoft Power Automate. On top of Power Automate and Power Apps, companies also now have options to reap the benefits of other aspects of MS Power Platform like Power BI and Virtual Bots.
The right approach at the right time allows business users to attain and retain improved workforce productivity. At the same time, it will enable businesses to cut back on operational costs and improve the efficiency of overall business processes.
Essential Use Cases and Examples of MS Power Apps
Now, let’s take a closer look at some of the use cases and examples of Power Apps for businesses:
Interactive Applications
One of the use cases of Power Apps is that it allows applications to interact with Microsoft 365 services. For instance, users of Power Apps can use the free Meeting Capture template to assign activities, take notes, and mark attendees in online meetings. This allows users to capture high-quality media via handwritten notes and a digital camera from a single touch-screen device.
In this type of use case, business users can take advantage of various capabilities of Power Apps. For instance, Power Apps users can integrate their Office 365 services like OneNote, Planner, and Exchange Online. The main aspect of this use case is that it allows users to combine the uses of device hardware and digital interfaces.
Image Processing Solutions
You can integrate Power Apps with a custom camera device that would allow businesses to build sophisticated apps and provide the best functionalities in image processing. For example, construction companies, healthcare providers, and retailers can take product photos with a mobile camera device.
This type of inspection would make data collection through GPS efficient and straightforward. In a practical sense, a personalized inspection app would be able to collect data within SharePoint. Manufacturing agencies can also use Power Apps to build custom apps to perform quality checks and allow staff to inspect a wide range of products by capturing photos and identifying any issues in real-time.
Onboarding Application
The majority of businesses use the Power Apps free template for onboarding tasks. This use case allows HR to streamline recruitment efforts and focus on diverse applicants throughout the onboarding process. From employees’ perspective, Power Apps come with various resources like team members’ contact information, dedicated links of official policy guides, and initiation to complete internal profiles.
User-specific Setup Scenarios
Power Apps are more than capable of streamlining setup processes for new users. Power Apps provide simple intake forms that hiring managers can submit and pass on to relevant departments for new hires. Most businesses have started integrating forms of Power Apps with MS Flow to get prompt workflow approval and automation.In-person Sales Forms
Power Apps are also ideal for in-person sales forms in a similar use case. Field workers who visit clients on-site can utilize Power Apps to take care of sales orders beyond office parameters through a subscription to Dynamics 365. This integration allows business users to add and extract data straight into D365 CRM with straightforward forms.
Request Service Applications
Businesses frequently utilize Power apps to create interactive helpdesk solutions that allow users to submit tickets easily through a dedicated app. Many companies now use Power Apps to collect specific service requests and ensure facility maintenance for purchase orders.
On the other hand, some companies are using Power Apps to navigate the complex relationships of applications. With the model-based approach of Power Apps, users can build custom fundraising apps to facilitate various campaigns, donations, donors, and recipients.
Business users can also leverage Power Apps to build return-to-work models, tracking applications, crisis communication applications, advanced expense approval applications, etc.
Example of MS Power Apps
One of the best practical examples of Power Apps is by IKEA, which managed to render a more satisfying customer experience. Over the years, IKEA has become famous as a holistic brand that offers the most realistic customer purchase experiences.
Through Power Apps, IKEA created a heightened customer experience for its B2C and B2B customers. For instance, when it comes to building a new kitchen, IKEA decided to collaborate with MS to create a combination of apps that would work as sales tools for IKEA.
And through these sales tools, IKEA significantly improved the purchase experience for B2B and B2C customers. With four sales tools apps, IKEA now uses the Kitchen app, B2B app, Customer Center app, and Co-worker app to manage various functions like in-store meetings with customers, customer bookings, B2B data collaboration, canceling or rebooking appointments for customers, and revenue generation.
Future Outlook of Microsoft Power Apps
You can look at the use cases of Power Apps from the lens of a future perspective and realize that there are bound to be more improvements. Still, businesses can utilize Power apps to identify the best ways to reduce operational costs, boost employee productivity, and streamline processes.
The new improvements in Power Apps now allow businesses to create highly accessible and complex apps across tablets, mobile devices, and desktops. The current Power Apps from Microsoft have subtle nuances that make it more critical for businesses to understand different uses cases for different situations.
Final Thoughts
MS Power apps empower average as well as pro developers as a low-code application platform. Power Apps allow developers to create and roll out applications seamlessly and efficiently and without traditional barriers. The fundamental aspect of Power Apps is that different users with different technical expertise can build apps.
Power Apps allow users to cater to specific business needs involving IT, HR, sales, process management, customer management, finance, etc.
In the end, the simplicity and subtlety of low-code Power apps continue to make it a successful and popular approach.
We’re a Microsoft Partner and to learn more about how to leverage Power Apps for automating your business processes, get in touch with our experts.
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