Microsoft has created Power Platform to create new business applications. This is a DIY (Do It Yourself) platform which allows business users to build simple applications in days and weeks. The applications that can be built are broadly classified in 3 categories:
App Modernization: Many business applications written years back still work functionally well but have severe limitations such as -
Upgrading such apps should not cost you significantly. We will review the applications for you and create Modernization Roadmap custom built for your business. Most of the technology which exists today is supposed to make your business more productive by eliminating data redundancy, instantaneous easy to understand reports, immediate information sharing etc. Modern workflow tools used to take months to build which can be completed in days now a days.
Most of us are used to getting notifications using WhatsApp or text messages. Most old systems notified the users using emails. That way of notification is not timely enough as most people don't check their emails regularly. Most users expect that the notification should be such which catches their attention depending on the importance of alert. Most technologies provide that now but this feature was unavailable even in recent past.
Many users expect mobile access to the information and applications now a days without having to worry about data security. This allows them to take actions that don't need to wait for long. It also allows business people to get information then they need it.
Most company owners travel internationally to visit customers. During such time, they want to have access to information. They certainly can carry the information with them but what if they need to have some information which they did not foresee they would need.
Digital Transformation or Paperless Office: Since COVID, most organizations have understood the value of going paperless as it allows them to function without location being a constraint. If you have not done so far, it is still not too late. Paperless office is not about moving your data to cloud but changing the existing processes to ensure that paper generation activity is reduced if not completely eliminated.
Digitized information with meta data allows for easier access, faster sharing and quick review. With modern tools, one can also know the access and changes to the object. All of this meets certain business need to access information which is fast, secure and complete.
Most businesses that have processes that produced digitized objects tend to standardize on workflows as well as monitored access rights.
Easy access which is secure, allows a modern organization to be lot more productive and responsive to customer and market needs.
Organizations that go paperless also think for ways to generate timely data. This ensures that the business is generating as and when needed. TIme lags which tend to make information inaccurate or obsolete, is not a problem for such organizations.
Data Integration & Visualization: Many organizations tend to have data in silos which don't know how to talk to each other. This results in the information not being derived from such data islands.
In the past, collating such data was hard and fraught with problems. Modern tools have solved this problem. Platforms like Power BI can connect to multitude of data sources in real time and generate visuals that are very each to understand as well as show trends, if any.
Historically, it was not unheard of for any organization to have 6 or 7 Excels which they could not afford to lose or be tampered with. That always resulted in multiple versions of the same file floating around. Then knowing which version is the latest one, was another headache. Everyone who owned a copy, claimed theirs to be the latest greatest. Then the organizational hierarchy would decide who was right. This hardly seems right and sensible. Why not use latest collaboration tools to enter and maintain data across the whole organization. What if this whole process took less than a week to put together?