Microsoft Power Automate_

There are countless automations you can create. Here are some examples: 

• Data transfer: Move data between different applications (e.g. Excel to SharePoint). 

• File management: Organise and manage files based on specific criteria (e.g. automatically back up files to OneDrive). 

• Email automation: Send automated emails based on specific triggers. 

• Approval processes: Create and manage approval workflows for documents or tasks. 

• Form processing: Extract data from forms and populate other systems. 

• Desktop tasks: Create automated workflows for repetitive tasks performed on your computer, like data entry. 

You can also create bespoke automations in line with your business processes. 

Power Automate use rights are included in most Office 365 E1 and above subscriptions, as well as most Dynamics 365 licences. You can also purchase Power Automate standalone from £11.50 per user per month. 

Power Automate can be useful for many types of people, including: 

• Business users: People in various departments like sales, marketing, HR, finance and operations can automate repetitive tasks and improve efficiency. 

• IT professionals: IT teams can use Power Automate to streamline IT operations, automate system management tasks and integrate applications. 

• Developers: Developers can leverage Power Automate to build custom connectors and integrations, extending the platform’s capabilities. 

• Small businesses: Power Automate can be a cost-effective solution for automating tasks and improving productivity. 

There are four elements to a workflow. These are: 

1. Trigger: This is the starting point of your flow. It’s an event that initiates the automation process. This might include receiving an email, creating a new file or something else. 
2. Actions: These are the steps that occur after the trigger. You can choose from a vast library of actions to perform various tasks, such as sending an email, creating a task, updating a spreadsheet or approving a request. 
3. Conditions: You can add conditions to your flow to make decisions based on specific criteria. For example, you might want to scan the content of a enquiry and send it to a specific email address. 
4. Loops: These allow you to repeat actions multiple times, based on certain conditions. 

Because of the user-friendly interface and simple functionality with Power Automate, it’s easy to create workflows comprising of these elements. 

Power Automate connects with multiple Microsoft and non-Microsoft applications, including: 

• Office 365: Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, Excel, Word, PowerPoint 

• CRM systems: Salesforce, Dynamics 365    

• Project management tools: Trello, Asana, Jira    

• Marketing automation tools: Mailchimp, HubSpot    

• File storage: Dropbox, Google Drive, Box 

• Collaboration tools: Slack, Teams 

• Social media: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn    

• Databases: SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL 

• ERP systems: SAP, Oracle E-Business Suite 

• IoT devices: Azure IoT Hub 

• Payment gateways: Stripe, PayPal 

• Email services: Gmail, Yahoo 

• Custom APIs: Connect to any API using HTTP connectors