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Writer's pictureALIF Consulting

Introduction to PowerApps

Updated: Jul 25

Power Apps is used to build apps that allow you to act on your data. Power Apps is great for replacing paper forms, legacy solutions, or just that spreadsheet you and a few coworkers pass around. Using the skills and knowledge you possess, you can build apps to interact with existing data using more than 275 connectors.


What is PowerApps?

Power Apps, a collection of Microsoft tools, allows developers and non-technical users to create customized applications for various business purposes.

The suite includes different applications, services, connectors, and a data platform, which collectively forms a fast app development environment requiring minimal coding expertise.

Power Apps is a popular set of services for building business apps with minimal code. In addition to low-code and no-code app development, the platform integrates self-service analytics and automation.

The Power Apps application suite is hosted on the Microsoft Azure cloud. It can access enterprise data from a single data platform such as Microsoft Dataverse, as well as from various data sources like SharePoint, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, or Microsoft SQL Server. Data connections are facilitated through application programming interfaces (APIs).


Once built on the web-native Power Apps platform, these apps live in the cloud and can be easily shared and run on various platforms, including PCs, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones.


Power Apps is a no-code/low-code platform for building apps based on concepts like formulas in an Excel workbook such as SUM and TEXT.


You can use Power Apps to build simple solutions like vehicle inspection forms and status reports or complex business solutions for purchasing processes and inventory management.

If you can envision an app that solves a business problem, you can use your existing skills to build it. Power Apps offers advanced functionality and allows seasoned developers to design complex applications easily.


Apps built using Power Apps provide rich business logic and workflow capabilities to transform your manual business operations into digital, automated processes. Moreover, apps built using Power Apps have a responsive design and can run seamlessly in browsers and on mobile devices (phone or tablet). Power Apps "democratizes" the business-app-building experience by enabling users to create feature-rich, custom business apps without writing code. Power Apps also provides an extensible platform that lets pro developers programmatically interact with data and metadata, apply business logic, create custom connectors, and integrate with external data.


Do you have inefficient or legacy business processes you want to modernize?

Are you still moving information around using paper or even a shared Excel workbook?

Do you want to be able to perform these business processes from different devices like PCs or mobile phones? Then you need Power Apps.


Introduction to PowerApps

Benefits of Power Apps

Microsoft introduced Power Apps in late 2015 as a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offering. Utilizing the platform and development tools, individuals without technical expertise can easily create, manage, and share business applications, streamlining and expediting the application development process by empowering any user to build a fully-featured, customized app without the need for coding.


The Power Apps design interface enables users to conceptualize and construct new apps without the necessity of coding.


The Power Apps platform showcases an intuitive visual design and drag-and-drop functionality. Its user interface (UI) mirrors the functionality of applications such as Microsoft PowerPoint, which many users are already acquainted with and at ease using. The platform is adaptable and capable of interfacing with data, creating connectors, and applying business logic to any user-created app.


Applications developed with Power Apps provide sophisticated workflow capabilities for transforming manual processes into automated processes. These apps can seamlessly operate on iOS, Android, and Windows devices, delivering flexibility and responsive user experiences.


Work with your data where it lives

  • When modernizing a paper-based process, there are likely systems in your organization with data you can leverage.

  • With over 275 connectors, you can easily connect to data using the underlying data service and app platform, Microsoft Dataverse, or a multitude of online and on-premises data sources.

  • Some common data sources include:

a) Dataverse

b) SharePoint

c) Dynamics 365

d) SQL Server and Azure SQL

e) Office 365

  • You don't have to choose just one data source. Power Apps easily supports multiple data connections allowing you to bring data together from many platforms into a single app.


Different types of PowerApps for different scenarios

Canvas Apps

  • Canvas apps are a great option when you want to build an app from a blank canvas.

  • You start by choosing the screen size, tablet or mobile; then you have a blank screen from which to build.

  • You can interact with data in your app by adding data sources.

  • Drag and drop various controls and add the desired functionality by writing Excel-style formulas.

  • Canvas apps provide you with complete flexibility when building your apps.


Model-driven Apps

  • Model-driven apps are built from data in Microsoft Dataverse.

  • Power Apps will build you a great-looking, fully functional app to act upon and interact with this data.

  • With model-driven apps, there is no need to worry about choosing the app size; it is responsive, meaning it works on mobile or tablet with no extra work by you.

  • You define the relationships, forms, views, business rules, and more at the data layer, inside of the Data verse, giving you enough control to get your business result without writing all the formulas yourself.

What is powerapps

PowerApps Portals

  • Portals bring the power of no-code solutions to building externally facing websites.

  • Through the Power Apps interface, you can build an anonymous or authenticated website that allows users to interact with data held in Data Verse.

  • The same drag-and-drop experience you enjoy when building apps is available to create these rich, interactive websites.


PowerApps Portals

PowerApps for Developers

Power Apps empowers developers to extend its functionality beyond citizen development capabilities:


Custom Connectors and Advanced Logic

The platform provides robust APIs for developers to construct custom connectors. This enables seamless integration with external data sources that may not have pre-built connectors available. Additionally, developers can leverage Azure Functions to implement server-side logic for complex business rules or data transformations.


Client-Side Customization with JavaScript

While Power Fx provides a low-code approach, developers can leverage JavaScript to fine-tune the user experience within canvas apps. Highly interactive interfaces with custom animations, validations, and advanced UI elements can be created using this.


AI Integration with Power Automate

Power Automate, a workflow automation tool within the Microsoft Power Platform, integrates seamlessly with Power Apps. Developers can leverage AI Builder within Power Automate to build intelligent chatbots or automate tasks based on pre-built or custom AI models. This enables the creation of cognitive applications that streamline workflows and improve decision-making.


Power Apps and Data Connectivity

Power Apps excels in its ability to bridge the gap between disparate data sources and custom applications. The platform offers a rich set of connectors, enabling developers to connect to on-premises and cloud-based data sources such as SharePoint, Dynamics 365, SQL Server, and various SaaS applications (Salesforce, Dropbox, etc.) through REST APIs. Additionally, custom connectors can be developed to integrate with proprietary data sources, ensuring comprehensive data accessibility within Power Apps.







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