Introduction to the Microsoft Business Application Platform
In a world ever faster, companies need tools that allow them to implement what they ask for rapidly reducing the lowest possible cost.
Along with Dynamics 365, Microsoft released their Business Application Platform that can be used to build sophisticated business apps (Line of Business) using PowerApps which can be automated using Flow, while data can be stored and managed using Common Data Service (CDS) and using PowerBI you can view and analyze the data collected, without coding.
The philosophy behind these services is the ability for Power Users who understand their business to be able to build and deliver solutions quickly without writing code, and for Developers the ability to easily extend the functionality for users and take advantage of a set full of rich services, leveraging the power of the Azure platform.
What is PowerApps?
“PowerApps is a service for building and using custom business apps that connect to your data and work across the web and mobile — without the time and expense of custom software development”
PowerApps comes with a visual designer (two versions: Web based and Desktop) to easily create apps for your mobile or tablet device. If you familiar with PowerPoint and Excel, you can build a mobile app with PowerApp.
With Microsoft PowerApps you able to:
- Rapid creation of Mobile Apps and Web Apps using CRUD APIs for cloud and on-premises (using On-Premises Data Gateway) services
- Easily build Mobile Apps and Web for your business that integrates Single Sign-On (SSO) to corporate data and services
- Easy way to share Apps to others within the organization
What is Microsoft Flow?
“Microsoft Flow is a service for automating workflow across the growing number of apps and SaaS services that business users rely o.”
Microsoft Flow is an iSaaS (Integration Software as a Service) product where citizen integrators can setup automated workflows between multiple apps and services.
Flow comes with a Web visual designer with many templates for common scenarios and the flow team continues to build new templates.
You can also create flows from scratch connecting multiple services such as Common Data Service, SharePoint, Dynamics 365, Slack, and Twitter to name a few.
With Microsoft Flow you able to:
- Turn repetitive tasks into multistep workflows
- Make decisions in your workflow, like running an action only when certain conditions are met
- Connect securely to on-premises data (using On-Premises Data Gateway) and cloud based services
- Prevent sensitive data from leaving your company using built-in or customized data loss prevention policies
What is PowerBI?
“Power BI is a business analytics service provided by Microsoft. It provides interactive visualizations with self-service business intelligence capabilities, where end users can create reports and dashboards by themselves, without having to depend on any information technology staff or database administrator”
With PowerBI you are able to:
- Create visualization of your whole business on one dashboard
- Create stunning interactive reports
- Create stunning interactive reports
- Easily embed BI and analytics in your app
What is Common Data Service?
“The Common Data Service allows you to securely store and manage data within a set of standard and custom entities. An entity is a set of fields used to store data similarly to a table within a database”
The Common Data Service allows you to securely store and manage data within a set of standard and custom entities.
An entity is a set of fields used to store data similarly to a table within a database.
After your data is stored you can use PowerApps and Flow to build rich applications using your data.
With Common Data Service you are able to:
- Create custom entities
- Import data into standard or custom entities
- Add custom fields to standard entities
- Using standard and custom entities into an app that you’re developing as a data source
- Secure your data within your organization using role-based security
