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Archive for August, 2021

Build superpower apps, with no code-Power apps

Posted on August 24th, 2021 by admin@mismo2023

PowerApps is a tool that allows you to create custom apps, leveraging many of the features of the Office 365 and Microsoft platforms. Apps can be accessed via mobile devices or via the browser.

What sets PowerApps apart from other offerings is that while it can be used by developers, it can also be used by non-technical employees such as business analysts. This means that it is quite possible for a PowerApps power user to create a custom app. Just like its Microsoft cousin Flow, PowerApps is successfully bringing the power of process automation to a non-technical audience.

Features

PowerApps comes with features and tools to help create apps that don’t require any coding. These include:

  • a library of sample apps that you can work from as a starting point and then customise
  • a library of over 200 connectors to integrate data and systems including those across the Office 365 universe
  • an easy drag and drop interface for the creation of apps
  • close integration with other Office 365 and Dynamics tools
  • good support structures, including an active PowerApps community

Canvas and model-driven apps

There are two ways to develop PowerApps – via the canvas approach or the model-driven approach.  The canvas approach is a bit like working from a blank canvas where you connect data sources, add workflows and create interfaces for your app using the drag and drop interface, potentially relying on the library of standard connectors.

Leveraging the connected world of Office 365 allows you to even create canvas apps within other tools such as SharePoint as the starting point.  Using the canvas approach also gives you complete control over an app you’re creating from scratch.

How to Build an App with Microsoft PowerApps

The simplest way to build a PowerApps app is to start from the data source. This is part one in a three-part process:

1. For this example, we’ll start from a SharePoint list that stores some data:

2. Next, we’ll select the “Create an app” option in the PowerApps menu:

3. This takes us to the PowerApps Studio where we’ll find a fully functional canvas app generated by the system:

Keep in mind that these are just the default choices. They hide a much wider set of available options, configurations, and architectural choices that PowerApps provides. Without further ado, let’s take a more in-depth look!

Step 1: Select Your PowerApps Environment

There are four tools or environments that you can work within PowerApps, and they each have their own capabilities and roles.

PowerApps Website

The website is where you’ll begin your PowerApps service journey. This is where you will be able to create a new app and to manage existing ones.

Here’s a small snapshot of some of the templates that might give you some useful ideas for the app:

PowerApps Studio

Here you’ll be able to design and adapt apps that you create to your specific business needs!

PowerApps Studio contains three panes and a ribbon that help make app creation feel similar to creating a slide deck in PowerPoint. 

PowerApps Mobile App

This handy mobile app is available on both phones (iOS, Android) and tablets (Windows 10). No matter the platform, the app provides a runtime environment where you’ll be able to execute all of your PowerApps apps. This includes the ones that were shared with you as well as the ones you designed and coded yourself.

PowerApps Admin Center

Admin.powerapps.com gives you the power to create and manage environments, DLP (Data Loss Prevention) strategies and user roles. You can get a list of user licenses in the tenant.

Step 2: Select Your PowerApps Application Type

There are two main types of apps you can create with PowerApps:

  • Canvas apps
  • Model-driven apps

Step 3: Select Your Storage Type

Power Platform and specifically PowerApps target a world where data is king and the foundation of any business process. Thus, choosing the correct data sources is very impactful when it comes to designing an app.

Data are stored in a data source and you import them into your app by creating a connection.

Be aware that the choice of data sources will have an impact on the licenses needed to create and execute your app. If you choose or need a Premium source (like Salesforce or Common Data Service) you’ll need a PowerApps P1 or P2 license.

Let us know your questions in the comment section below. Contact us for more information!

Thanks for reading.

Why do you need a Modern Workplace – M365?

Posted on August 11th, 2021 by admin@mismo2023

Microsoft 365, a world of enhanced productivity and collaboration that drives a team to achieve more together, is a complete workplace solution that provides all the apps and services a team requires to do more.

Moving forward from the times when you had to arrange services for email, internal chat or collaboration, apps for the office and the operating system for the normal functioning of a user and on top of it, the management and security tools to keep track of all the workplace service landscape. With the incoming of Microsoft 365, all of it comes under one umbrella for the seamless connectivity of all the smaller pieces that make up the workplace.

The term workplace is used to refer to a physical space where we went and got busy doing our assigned task, adding value to our organization. But there is a big shift in that definition as far as today’s work culture is concerned. the workplace is now an always-connected environment that provides access to all the tools and resources that an employee might need to get his work done.

Basically, it is a location-agnostic event that can happen at any time of day using any connected device. The digital workplace is all about how technology is transforming the type of work employees perform, as well as where and how work gets done.

If we were to list out of the benefits that a modern workplace enriches the users with, it would be as follows:

  1. Creation and Co-authoring
  2. Emailing and Internal Collaboration
  3. Ever-availability on Cloud
  4. A fully configurable Intranet
  5. Device and Application Management
  6. Protection Against Cyberthreats etc.

Now, why would you consider M365 as your modern workplace solution?

  1. Work from Home:

We are becoming more and more mobile in our working style. Unlike before, we no longer have to be present at the office premises to start the work or to deliver the given assignments. With the increasing popularity of working from home, users need one solution that can enable them to be productive and collaborative anywhere.

  • Work on any Device:

Depending on a single device to get the work done creates a lot of liability. In any event where the accessibility to the device is disrupted our working gets disrupted in turn. Microsoft 365 easily solves that problem by keeping your work online and accessible with complete security from any device. Just login on any device using your credentials and you are all set with all the required tools.

  • Undisrupted work continuity:

There have been numerous incidents wherein we or one of our teammates could not work for reasons not attributed to him or her such as the device being stolen, physically damaged or attacked by cybercriminals. Microsoft 365 comes up as an absolute answer to all such highly probably scenarios. Getting ready to face any of these showstoppers is an investment with multifold returns.

We at Mismo Systems, encourage our customers to give away the responsibility of fluid workplace functioning, management and security of all devices and data. Mismo Systems supports businesses to do more to grow more without the worries of day-to-day operations. Let’s all achieve more with the modernization of our workplace! Call us to know more