Microsoft Power Automate is one of the apps in the Power Platform suite of applications.
It is used to create to automate numerous routine processes such as sending automatic emails when a new item is added to a SharePoint List, move data between different applications and send email notifications when an action is triggered.
Microsoft Power Automate helps improve productivity by allowing the users to automate manual tasks using pre-built connectors.
This automation can help save time, energy and resources.
What is Power Automate ?
Power Automate is a workflow automation process that is used to program repetitive manual tasks.
They are used in process improvements to eliminate bottle necks, reduce manual labor and optimize the process.
Power Automate is an application that is built to enable the end users to create workflow applications with little or no code.
It comes preinstalled with numerous templates that can be used to create quick and efficient workflows.
These templates can also be customized to fit in with your unique requirements.
But why do you need a workflow application ?
Workflows can help optimize your business processes by automating repeatable business tasks, minimizing errors and improving efficiency.
Power Automate also has Robotic Process Automation (RPA) functionalities that are called UI Flows, which can be used to automate routine tasks.
Are there different types of workflows ?
There are 5 different types of workflows in Microsoft Automate and they include the following:
- Instant Workflows: these types of workflows are used to run repetitive tasks by pushing a button. An example of this are Approval workflows.
- Automated Workflow: these types of workflows are triggered by an event. And example of such a workflow is “Send an email when an item is added to a SharePoint List”.
- Scheduled Flows: these types of workflows are triggered by intervals. They are scheduled to happen at certain times in a day or a day in a week or a day in a month. An example of this is “Send an email to my Outlook account at 8:00 a.m. every day”
- Business Process Flows: these types of workflows are used to guide the end users on how they should achieve a particular task.
- User Interface Flows: This type of workflow is used to create robotic process automations (RPA’s) that can be used to automate numerous manual tasks. They can be used to mimic the user’s movements such as clicks, keyboard input and the retrieval of text.