As we continue our \u201cTeams as a Platform\u201d blog series, we\u2019ll discuss situations where \u201cout of the box\u201d (OOB) capabilities and third-party applications don\u2019t meet the needs of an organization. We\u2019ll specifically focus on customization, which can help companies create what they need to get their work done effectively and efficiently.<\/p>\n
No matter your industry, size or capabilities, adding customizations can help your company streamline processes, simplify workflows and ease employees’ use. Advances made in the Power Platform<\/a> and the intuitive integrations with Microsoft Teams<\/a> have unique features that can benefit many organizations.<\/strong><\/p>\n Microsoft Power Platform helps users accelerate their development with low-code tools<\/a> to analyze data using Power BI<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 which turns data into insights, builds custom apps using Power Apps, automates processes using Power Automate, and creates intelligent bots using Power Virtual Agents more quickly than ever.<\/p>\n Through the App Developer Portal, Microsoft has improved integration with Power Platform to let users do the following:<\/strong><\/p>\n Throughout the rest of this blog, we\u2019ll look at how different elements of Power Platform integrate with Teams and how you can benefit from these integrations.<\/p>\n Using Power Automate to complement your Microsoft Teams platform allows you to streamline your processes and limit the amount of time you spend on more menial tasks. Here are a few ways you can use Power Automate within Teams.<\/p>\n The screenshot below depicts the Power Automate start screen within Teams. Numerous templates across many categories appear to get you started and inspired or allow you to create your own project from scratch.<\/strong><\/p>\n Examples of Power Automate integrated applications include:<\/p>\n Here are a few other Power Automate applications you can use as a starting point \u2014 all provided by Microsoft and surfaced through Microsoft Teams:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The built-in, low-code data platform for Teams and Dataverse for Teams backs new capabilities to build apps, bots and workflows. Unlike the Dataverse within Power Platform<\/a>, Microsoft offers Dataverse for Teams at no additional licensing cost.<\/p>\n Microsoft Dataverse for Teams provides relational data storage, rich data types, enterprise-grade governance, and one-click solution deployment.<\/strong> Microsoft built this tool on top of Microsoft Dataverse. Users can find and install custom, ready-to-use solutions from the Teams app store that showcase common scenarios across industries. You can adapt custom solutions to your organization to meet branding and other requirements.<\/p>\n Power Apps is a suite of services, connectors and apps, and a data platform that provides a rapid development environment to create custom apps to meet your business\u2019s needs. Using Power Apps, you can quickly build custom business apps that connect to your data stored either in the underlying data platform (Microsoft Dataverse) or various online and on-premises data sources (such as SharePoint, Microsoft 365<\/a>, Dynamics 365<\/a> or SQL Server).<\/p>\n You can use Power Apps in five scenarios with Teams, which we explain in the chart below.<\/strong><\/p>\n Power BI allows users across the organization to access, visualize and analyze data that helps them make better decisions. By placing data feeds directly into Microsoft Teams, the end user stays \u201cin the flow\u201d of their work instead of being forced to switch to another application.<\/p>\n Additionally, this integration automatically configures various reports and visualizations in Team channels and tabs, so the end user doesn\u2019t have to search for different Power BI reports and apps repeatedly. Power BI integration points are numerous and include the following:<\/strong><\/p>\n Power Virtual Agents (PVA) allows an organization or its end users to create \u201cchatbots\u201d to answer questions posed by employees or team members across the organization within Microsoft Teams. Chatbots within Teams allow users to request information, get answers to frequently asked questions and even act on someone\u2019s behalf.<\/strong> Below is an example of a custom bot for entering into a daily timesheet.<\/p>\n Users can build bots by leveraging a guided, no-code graphical interface using Power Virtual Agents<\/a> (PVA). This allows the simple creation of digital assistants within Teams and gives you the ability to make them available to colleagues.<\/p>\n You can access the PVA app through the Teams app store, allowing you to build, author, test and publish your bot straight into Microsoft Teams. You might want to build a PVA chatbot in Microsoft Teams for the following scenarios:<\/strong><\/p>\n The Power Virtual Agents app in Microsoft Teams makes it easy to fulfill any scenario, especially within an organization. If you’re looking to create a chatbot you can share externally, such as one that interacts with customers outside your organization, see the Power Virtual Agents web app version of this topic.<\/strong><\/p>\n With Power Virtual Agents in Microsoft Teams, you can:<\/p>\n Integrating Power Platform into Microsoft Teams opens up a whole world of functionality for you and your teams. From seamlessly sharing dashboards to no-code bot creation, users can deliver with speed without ever leaving Teams.<\/strong><\/p>\n In our next and final blog of this series, we\u2019ll look back at using Teams as a truly comprehensive, all-in-one digital work hub, building a Knowledge Management (KM) solution and expanding Teams to automate processes. Then, we\u2019ll discuss how each of these avenues comes together to provide you with an all-encompassing workplace solution.<\/p>\n\n \n
Power Automate Helps With Efficiency<\/h2>\n
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![\"Power](\"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Screen-Shot-2022-03-31-at-1.48.55-PM-1024x564.png\")
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Dataverse for Teams is Microsoft\u2019s Low-Code Data Platform<\/h2>\n
Power Apps Speed Up Development<\/h2>\n
![\"Teams](\"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Teams-As-A-Platform-Part-3-3_31_22.png-1024x582.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nPower BI Helps Analyze Data<\/h2>\n
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Power Virtual Agents Can Answer Employee\u2019s Questions<\/h2>\n
![\"Chat](\"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Screen-Shot-2022-03-31-at-1.49.30-PM.png\")
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Conclusion<\/h2>\n