Enterprises are always looking for ways to break down data silos, for example, with data isolated in different systems or departments in an organization a common problem. Many companies are searching for ways to automate repetitive manual tasks that take up time and are often prone to errors – tasks like data entry and report generation.
There’s an ongoing challenge around streamlining processes, eliminating manual work, and automating repetitive tasks. But it’s not easy to overcome: workflow automation is a complex and daunting prospect and typically requires significant investment in time, resources, skills and technological infrastructure.
Studies show that enterprises lack the resources to keep pace with changing worker demands and productivity requirements. Further research says 93% of businesses report an IT skills gap. And 42% say the issue is due to the fast pace of technological advancements.
So, how can enterprises cost-effectively streamline and transform business workflows, simplify tasks and empower workers? And how can you ensure your app development initiatives have the necessary governance to stay on track and don’t get out of control?
Power Platform workflow automation
Microsoft Power Platform offers an accessible and innovative solution to productivity challenges and helps you simplify workflow automation and drive increased productivity. Power Platform lets you develop in-house apps through custom app development tools, automation and conversational AI. With workflows becoming ever more complex, you can tailor workflows to specific individual workers, tasks and business unit requirements. In short, it empowers your workers to make software adapt to how they work today.
Workers have evolved how they work, too, and many have developed custom habits and working practices. This has made them more demanding of the tools they’re given to do their work. So, it makes sense to provide them with the ability to develop new apps and tools that make them more productive and agile.
How Power Platform can benefit you
Power Platform gives you a low-code solution that empowers users with basic programming skills. They can use it to develop custom apps tailored to their working needs and free up your company’s IT resources to carry out more valuable, business-focused tasks.
Examples of business outcomes Power Platform can enable can be as simple as developing tools for booking meeting rooms more easily through more complex solutions like automating purchase orders, warehouse operations and inventory management. You can build productivity apps for frontline workers, or logistics teams can develop custom apps to improve supply-chain workflows. And it is all powered by an existing resource: your employees’ own experiences and know-how.
It comes with all kinds of desirable business benefits. Power Platform makes app development cycles significantly shorter, and apps can be scaled quickly and easily and rolled out to teams, departments or your entire company. There’s greater potential for further customization and efficiencies moving forward, too, with Microsoft Copilot Studio bringing the power of AI to custom app development. There is also a simple financial imperative: Forrester reports that low-code platforms can reduce 74% of costs related to traditional app development.
Effective governance is essential
While Power Platform is a potent new tool for driving productivity, you shouldn’t just roll it out to workers and let it run unchecked. As with remote working during the pandemic, you should ensure your company has appropriate levels of cybersecurity in place to keep employees and data safe. Because without the proper levels of oversight and governance, you can risk app development getting out of hand and becoming an app equivalent of what Shadow IT was to end users’ own devices.
Further to that, without governance, unauthorized apps can violate security policies. Or your in-house app development teams could potentially get confused about what is business and non-business data and risk sharing it between personal and business data sources. This can lead to a fragmented landscape of applications and workflows within your organization and take you back to those undesirable disconnected systems and siloed data. Unmanaged app development also presents compliance concerns around regulations like GDPR, HIPAA and others. You can control this by defining data-access controls and monitoring data usage throughout your organization to keep a lid on app growth without suppressing innovation and creativity.
Orange Business has extensive experience helping our customers and partners enjoy all the benefits of Power Platform without the potential pitfalls. Our Power Platform offering focuses on governance, training and citizen-development support to maximize productivity benefits without leaving you at risk from uncontrolled app development that can snowball into major problems. Our European Center of Excellence for Power Platform has experts on hand who specialize in helping you maximize Power Platform projects with the appropriate governance, training and citizen-development support to reduce risk. And our governance schemes are tailored to your individual requirements.
We’re entering an era where low-code app development can bring exponential benefits to business: Gartner forecasts that low-code development tools will make up 75% of new app development by 2026, up from 40% in 2021. It’s time to find out what Power Platform can do for you.
To learn more about Orange Business and Microsoft Power Platform and how it can drive enhanced EX in your organization, read our new Power Platform solutions guide.
Rémi Chambard, Microsoft Power Platform Consultant, Orange Business
As a technical/functional consultant in the Orange Business Microsoft expertise team, I’m especially passionate about all things around Microsoft Power Platform and bringing new solutions to help our customers solve their daily challenges.
Thomas Bourgerette, Microsoft Power Platform Consultant, Orange Business
I began with .Net, SharePoint, and K2 development, then my interest in the functional side and our clients' business naturally led me to a functional architect profile. This dual technical and functional competence allows me to hold the position of Power Platform Consultant today. My motto: "Keep It Simple"! I am also the coordinator of the M365 and Power Platform expertise community at Digital Services France.