Item: Microsoft Power Automate
Rating: 8
Author: Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Microsoft Power Automate

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We utilize a custom SharePoint list and Power App form for system and network Change Requests, and we use Microsoft Power Automate to track requests and approvals.
We also use Microsoft Power Automate to copy data between systems to keep data matching and up to date.
We also have a corporate Thank You system, that allows anyone to "submit" a Thank You or kudos to others in the company for a job well done.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Multiple connectors for various systems
Approval process with built-in approval buttons within an Outlook email
Built in connections to email and Teams notifications
Dynamically references data in Entra

Cons

Sometimes referencing data from other sources can get rather complex
Functions are powerful but also have a bit of a learning curve

Most Important Features

Automating business processes
Dynamically using info in Entra, such as a user's manager
Teams and email notifications
Approval processes

Return on Investment

Copying data between disparate systems has helped keep our data in sync and has bridged functionality gaps between tools
Automating business processes and even automatically filling in specific field values based off other data has sped up work and improved data accuracy
Effectively using Microsoft Power Automate as a system feature has allowed us to create some powerful business apps for our users

Implementation Rating

There's a bit of a learning curve, but Microsoft has tons of free resources out there to help get you started. Licensing is cheap, basically free to get started. Depending on the M365 licenses you already have, you might be able to run dozens or even hundreds of flows without any extra cost. And there are many pre-built flows that you can use as a good starting place when creating your own.

Alternatives Considered

SharePoint Designer (discontinued), Nintex Process Platform and TIBCO Integration (including BusinessWorks and Flogo)

SharePoint Designer was discontinued and was limited in functionality, being as old as it was. Nintex was powerful, but at the time we were using it, it was primarilly tied to SharePoint, and we wanted to do more outside of SharePoint as well. And Tibco Integration (Scribe) was great for data processing between systems, but it was limited for additional business processes that we wanted to accomplish that was more user-based.

Key Insights

Do you think Microsoft Power Automate delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Microsoft Power Automate's feature set?

Yes

Did Microsoft Power Automate live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Microsoft Power Automate go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Microsoft Power Automate again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Power Apps, NetSuite ERP, Boomi, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

Likelihood to Recommend

Approval workflows are a no-brainer. The notifications to Teams or email are easy to set up. And the built-in approval buttons within an email make responding simple.
Really, the workflow engine is very powerful. As long as you can logically define and map out the process, Microsoft Power Automate can help.
Troubleshooting a flow when building it isn't always the simplest, but I will say it has gotten better over time.

Comments

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Automate Business Process with Microsoft Power Automate

Software Version

Modules Used