You know the best part about Monday? Going to bed at the end of a long, harsh, caffeine fueled work day with eager anticipation of waking up ready for another iteration of #TechTuesday!
Here at S-FX.com, we are only happy to sate your technological cravings with another bit of interesting information to consider in both your business, and your life. This week’s topic? A new release from Microsoft in the world of automation by the designations of “
Flow” and “
Power Apps”. Let’s jump right in.
Just Go With The Flow
You may recall last week a discussion about a nifty software suite called Zapier, an automation tool that can automatically perform certain coded tasks for you based on criteria set by the user in an in depth schema of code writing and programming. Flow is Microsoft’s take on that very same concept, geared toward the more common power user. The term “Flow” actually refers to something all too familiar in any line of work; Work Flow. This utility is geared directly at businesses looking to automate a lot of day to day activity and communication, and actually has the very nifty bonus of being directly integrated into Microsoft’s Office 365 Suite.
So you may be asking yourself, what makes Flow more useful than Zapier, a free service? Well, to start with, being released by Microsoft directly means that the integration into its core services, such as Word, Excel, Publisher, OneNote, OneDrive, etc. will be much more intuitive and natural, with a bit easier methods to utilize these services in your automation. The service is also backed by the fantastic techs over at Microsoft’s support team, whom can provide advice and diagnostics for any issues you might encounter, or tweaking those small tasks to work just right. Couple this in with the release of Microsoft Power Apps, which allows users to create tasks with a more simplistic ease, while not sacrificing the complexity of the system, you have a pretty strong contender for your time management.
I’ve Got The Power!
I keep throwing around this phrase, Power Apps, and it just doesn’t really mean a thing without an explanation, right? Power Apps is another major component of Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 suite alongside Flow that is directed at making workflow automation more available to the common user. It allows you to design both automated tasks, and full-fledged applications for use individually, or with flow, entirely on your own without a lick of coding knowledge! These applications can be as simple or complex as you may like, and are designed using their proprietary visual designer, a tool that lays out the application like an intuitive map and assists you in getting all the right pieces fit together, or letting you go wild with your imagination. Power Apps, much like Flow, is available both as a Windows based application, and on both Android and iOS as well, meaning you can even design and utilize these applications on the go.
Microsoft is set to have a joint release of both Flow and Power Apps on November 1
st of this year, so, well, today. They will be included as a part of Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 program, as well as all Office 365 Enterprise, Business Premium and Essentials subscriptions.
