Power Apps

Power apps are highly recommended for developing basic web applications as the learning curve is shorter. All resources to build a web app are available online, and the cost of development is almost 0 as the license comes bundled with Microsoft 365. unless the paid connectors are used, a web app can be easily developed with a very low budget.

If you have a need to quickly develop apps, PowerApps can be good. If you have a simple project and don't have an experienced developer available, PowerApps can be good. If you have a complex project that needs a lot of customization, PowerApps is probably not the way to go. Another way to say it: PowerApps has simultaneously impressed and depressed. It's impossible to recommend for every development scenario, but probably worth exploring when needs are conservative and skills and budget are at a premium.

I don't know of an area PowerApps would not be suited for. It is extremely powerful and when connected to the common data service becomes more powerful. I have seen it used in libraries to track books and attendants down. I have seen it used to track bus routes and or broken down buses. I have used it as a calculator, with a large number of formulas that drive it, that becomes simple and easy to use on desktop and on mobile. If you have a need to present or gather information of any kind, PowerApps can likely solve your issue.

We had a layoff where the employee who was responsible for data integrity was let go. Their job was to make sure all new products, projects etc. had a naming scheme that fell in with our business rules. When they were let go we were able to create a PowerApp(s) that helped take some of their tasks and pass it on to the user with feature-rich data entry screen that interfaced with our ERP's data source. I'm not saying this will replace people in the workforce but it helps alleviate some of the burdens a scenario like this might create.

PowerApps is well suited for "quick-wins" and fast prototypes of business solutions. It also is beneficial for situations where business partners and developers work together - it allows the business folks to provide a "quick-and-dirty" prototype which is then fleshed-out by developers that are trained experts on the platform. The interactive and easy to understand representation of the solution allows business partners to "see" the solution and add, remove, or correct aspects of it themselves. It provides a common view and understanding of the actual solution across business units and tech teams.

PowerApps, being a low-code\no-code platform is not well suited for business processes that require many complex computations or large amounts of custom code - such as solutions that are better architected as Web Site or "full-blown" desktop solutions. There are solutions that are just not easy or quick to accomplish in a low-code\no-code platform. Enterprise Architects should know the difference, however business partners often try to create a solution and only when stuck because it becomes too complex do they engage a tech team for assistance - at which point there are sunk-costs involved and hinderences to re-platforming the solution.