PowerApps is a low code / rapid application development product from Microsoft that allows users to quickly build apps.
$20
per month per user
TeamDesk
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
TeamDesk is a low-code development platform for online database creation. Business owners or managers can build a unique web database solution without any programming to facilitate working with data, organize routine work and create an accessible data source for teams.
Power Apps is ideal for scenarios that are neither too complex nor too large. It is easy to begin development in Power Apps, as it is one of the best tools for low-code development. Power Apps can be implemented for complex scenarios as well, provided there is strong knowledge of the tool and ample time for planning. Our applications benefit from Power Apps' cross-platform support, making it easy to use on any device, including desktops, laptops, and mobile devices.
Teamdesk is perfect for any operational tracking requirements for companies small or large, and any situation where you need to integrate with other systems since it can be set up to do that flexibly via its API and Webhooks. For example, you could track contacts, time and expense, projects and tasks, schedules, web leads, check-ins, order entry, quotes and invoices, support ticketing, and use the more advanced features to integrate with other systems to pull in currency exchange rates, various lists of data from other databases, send faxes, send bulk emails and so on. It does not do offline storage, so it would not be appropriate for a situation that offline work.
Power Apps has formats that are pre-built that don't require any coding which makes it easier to achieve your vision. This does become a challenge if your App needs don't fit into that format.
We deal with a ton of data so the fact that you can connect to any data source in addition to their pre-stablished data connections makes the process a breeze.
The online learning resources and tutorials are helpful as well for those who are tech savvy.
Provide a very good, customizable user management system.
Gives a lot of flexibility to customize database to your needs without requiring coding skills. Even allows to customize interface if you can code in html.
Provides unlimited space and records.
Gives an opportunity to have a database on EU servers to comply with GDPR
Offers very good pricing options comparing to competitors (Salesforce, Quickbase, etc.) and offers unlimited space.
Gives an opportunity to share your ideas how to improve the platform, many of which are being implemented
Customers service if very helpful and friendly. All my questions were answered within a couple hours.
Sometimes the cost of solutions is greater than the benefit. Licensing is expensive relative to the scope of some business user-created personal or team-level solutions.
While there is a starter-kit for Governance, it is complicated to stand up and requires dedicated resources to provide on-going governance operations. Many organizations are not going to be able to dedicate resources to governance and this causes the sprawl, solution duplication, silos, unneeded and unplanned licensing expenses, and a general "wild wild west" environment.
There needs to be better direction and best practices given around Power Platform Environment utilization and optimization.
The accessibility to the platform and ease for business partners to independantly create solutions is both a benefit and a negative. When the business outcome needed is a good fit for PowerApps it is a quick win, but when not a good fit it becomes a frustration for the business partner attempting to make the platform do something it is not well-suited for. The business partner entangles tech teams in the effort which drains resources and provides a lack-luster solution. All of this to say, it would be beneficial to have some tools that business partners could leverage to determine\understand if the type of business outcome they need is well suited to PowerApps or not.
The only down side that I see, is that you have to be willing to spend some time creating your database. You start with a blank canvas and all the tools you need to design a custom database. But, you have to take the time to do it. If you take that time, it is well worth it.
PowerApps is a great solution and I have spent the last year familiarizing myself with the platform and building custom applications to complete a whole range of tasks such as asset management, custom invoice generation, and item restriction tracking. We as a company have barely begun to scratch the surface of what can be achieved with PowerApps.
The community forums are extremely responsive to questions asked, there is a good body of online documentation and many community posts to draw from. Although the platform has changed, which means some of the posts are out of date and the solutions provided aren't relevant. Of relevance, I read over 400 articles plus documentation to get this first app built in SharePoint, move it to SQL and make it work exactly the way it should.
1. PowerApps functionality comes with E1 over E3 License without adding extra costs 2. For Nintex you pay (at the beginning) for each workflow, so my intention would be, to do no workflows to prevent additional costs, but I want a platform with a fair price that allows me to create workflows without thinking about the price for each workflow and we use only some workflow and relative easy workflows and forms as a medium-sized company. 3. PowerApps provides a lot of functionality without needing to invest in premium features directly.
Quickbase is a good product which I have been using for 5 years (powerful, nice interface) but - not so powerful as TeamDesk - started to move toward large companies (>50 people) - more expensive than TeamDesk Zoho was not as flexible as TeamDesk Caspio was not as powerful as TeamDesk
The per user cost is significantly lower than any prior option we have tried. The time spent getting things set up was time well spent for the overall long-term savings.
