Building business applications have never been easier with Microsoft PowerApps
For those of you not familiar with Microsoft PowerApps, it is essentially a platform that can be used to build web-based applications without having to write code in Visual Studio. You don't need to be a developer, and the platform allows you to drag and drop controls onto a canvas to build out a custom business app that can solve many business problems.
Adding functionality is used through a low-code approach which is similar to building Microsoft Excel functions. Depending on the data source you can choose many out of the box connectors such as SharePoint, Excel, SQL, Common Data Service and many other data sources.
Sometimes the hardest part about understanding tools such as PowerApps is knowing what types of business problems can be solved by using them. To fully understand the “power” of PowerApps it's best to give you an overview of one of the business apps that we built for one of our clients using this powerful tool.
Image 1: The Scanner app allows salespeople to scan product barcodes to easily check stock levels. Salespeople can create estimates while walking around the sales floor and quickly submit them to Dynamics GP to create a sales order to complete the sale.
This is a retail client that needed to streamline customer orders on their sales floor. Using Microsoft PowerApps, Emergence created a Scanner App using the scanner functionality to empower their salespeople. Using the Scanner App on a tablet the salespeople can efficiently check product stock levels and scan products to build the sales order while walking around the sales floor with the the customer. When the customer is happy with their order the salesperson can send this order to Microsoft Dynamics GP to complete the sales transaction.
Other examples of PowerApps that solve business problems:
Expense Reporting and Reimbursement App
Using this app employees can scan and submit expenses from their mobile phones from anywhere. Expense reports are routed to managers for their approval. Managers get to view all expenses for their project team. Team Members can only see their expense submissions. Expense submitters are notified via email when an expense is approved or rejected by the manager. This app can be connected to back-end accounting and payroll applications for payment.
Field Service Cost Estimate App
Using this app field service technicians or salespeople can provide accurate, onsite labor and material estimates to your customers from a tablet or phone. User-defined fields and a custom sample catalog make it easy to deliver quick, custom estimates.
We have given you just a few examples of various PowerApps and hopefully it has gotten you excited and given you ideas for a PowerApp that could solve a business problem in your company. Ready to make Microsoft PowerApps a part of your strategy? Contact Emergence today!
About the Author
Cerrie Allan
Cerrie is a Senior Consultant at Emergence specializing in Microsoft Dynamics Development. She is a Certified Microsoft Dynamics CRM and GP Developer and has been implementing Microsoft Dynamics systems for over 14 years. Cerrie has extensive experience creating custom integrations between GP, CRM, and NAV.
