PowerApps has taken by storm. PowerApps are accessed via web browsers and device-based apps.

Why PowerApps? 

You don’t need programming experience to create an app with PowerApps. This sets it apart from other methods of mobile app development such as programming an iOS app, which requires profound knowledge of Objective-C or Swift programming.

What Can You Achieve with PowerApps?

You can use PowerApps in many areas in your organisation. Most importantly this includes creating interfaces and forms for existing, internal company data. But entirely new development projects can also be created using PowerApps. Here you can draw on a broad array of components for the interface, including input fields for text, numbers, images and barcode scans, as well as buttons, diagrams or file previews.

These can be positioned anywhere you like or integrated within lists and gallery views and are placed and linked on the screens defined by you. This enables a direct connection between the components and your data.

One of the most familiar uses of PowerApps is in SharePoint forms. If, in the past, you’ve adjusted input and editing forms in SharePoint using InfoPath or Nintex Forms, you will now be pleased to get your hands on a worthy successor. Unlike with InfoPath, these modifications run immediately on mobile devices as well, among other things. Get Power BI Consultant Australia

Canvas-Apps vs Model Driven Apps

At the moment you can create two types of apps that differ in terms of their underlying data. The most frequent applications are so-called “Canvas-Apps”. In them, you have a free choice of the necessary screens and controls, which you position on your interface (like painting a picture). You then have connections to services and gateways to add data to the controls.

“Model Driven Apps” are another kind of PowerApp. In this case, the models determine the appearance of the application. Here, the term model means your defined representation of business processes and data. The data created in these applications can be placed in a data storage system created by Microsoft, known as the Common Data Services.

In most cases PowerApps do not lead insular lives. Instead they use existing data and data sources from within the company. This starts with information about the organization , such as “Who is my manager” and continues along to information in proprietary databases and files from SharePoint.

PowerApps is organized using Connectors that allow you to link to any number of services. A Connector defines the interface to a service and which data can be processed by this service. The SharePoint Connector, for instance, allows you to extract information from lists, edit list entries and add new ones once you have entered the source page. In addition, files from document libraries can be read and stored. The Connector can work with SharePoint Online or alternatively the SharePoint Server within your company. SharePoint Consultant Australia

More than 125 Connectors are currently available, classified as Standard and Premium. You are only entitled to use Premium Connectors if you have licensed at least one PowerApps Plan 1 for your users.

But even the Standard Connectors provide all the important options for working with data from Microsoft products like Exchange, SharePoint, Teams or Dynamics.

As a Microsoft Gold certified partner, we have extensive experience in delivering PowerApps based solutions. For more information, please contact us from enquiries@prometix.com.au