The Impact of Power Platforms: Revolutionising Digital Innovation
Low-code development is rapidly reshaping how enterprises drive digital innovation, allowing teams to deliver solutions at a pace that traditional methods simply can't match.
Microsoft Power Apps stands at the forefront of this shift. According to Forrester’s Total Economic Impact of Microsoft Power Apps report, early adopters of Power Apps have seen a staggering 188% return on investment.
Accelerating Development and Cutting Costs
Forrester’s study observed faster development cycles, reduced costs, and overall improved efficiency within organisations using Power Apps, with development timelines reduced by an astonishing 74%.
In a world where agility and rapid innovation are critical, the ability to create bespoke applications without heavy coding is no longer a luxury - it's a necessity. Enterprises embracing platforms like Power Apps are experiencing streamlined workflows, faster iterations, and more adaptable solutions, enabling them to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving market.
Gartner's Endorsement: Power Platform’s Market Dominance
Elsewhere, the latest Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms report recognised Microsoft’s Power Platform’s strong integration with other enterprise tools and its scalability for large organisations. The Gartner report, typically published annually, evaluates and ranks vendors that provide platforms enabling rapid application development through minimal hand-coding, focusing on enterprise-scale solutions. It assesses vendors based on their ability to execute and completeness of vision, naming Microsoft as a leader in five consecutive reports.
Empowering Innovation on a Massive Scale
"Microsoft Power Apps is enabling developers of all kinds to innovate and create solutions faster,” concludes the Gartner report, “while giving organisations the governance tools to enable transformation on a massive scale."
The platform’s ability to integrate seamlessly with Microsoft services like SharePoint, Dynamics 365, and Azure has been instrumental in its widespread implementation, enabling enhanced workflows and data unification across large-scale IT environments.
Flexibility and Scalability: The True Value
While the figures are impressive, the real value lies in the flexibility and scalability of Power Platform solutions. It empowers IT teams to develop custom apps and automations without heavy reliance on traditional software development cycles. This shift allows for rapid prototyping and iterative improvements, aligning with agile methodologies that are becoming the norm in many enterprise environments.
The Importance of a “Centre of Excellence”
For all engagements, we strongly recommend establishing a Centre of Excellence (CoE). A CoE enables your organisation to manage ongoing development, maintain visibility into solutions deployed across departments, and ensure adherence to security and governance policies. A successful CoE involves cross-departmental collaboration, typically including stakeholders from Procurement, Networks, Security, and Data teams, ensuring that the impact of new applications is thoroughly evaluated before deployment.
The Basics of a CoE
A well-structured CoE provides:
- A highly visible, central hub where best practices, knowledge, and expertise converge.
- Documented processes that place people and communication at the forefront, ensuring that every stakeholder is aligned.
- Quality standards that guarantee uniformity from the outset, ensuring long-term consistency across solutions.
- Governance policies that help prevent redundancy by ensuring different departments don’t develop overlapping solutions.
CoE Outcomes: Maximising Efficiency and Consistency
The benefits of a CoE are significant:
- It prevents duplication of effort by identifying and consolidating similar tasks, ensuring that the best solutions are deployed across the organisation.
- Shared knowledge leads to reusable templates and solutions, accelerating development times and reducing redundant work.
- A central repository of documentation reduces the risk of unintended consequences when downstream systems or processes are updated.
For senior IT leaders, establishing a CoE isn't just a recommendation - it's an essential strategy for managing digital transformation at scale. The CoE becomes a critical driver in ensuring that the Power Platform’s flexibility doesn’t lead to unchecked proliferation of disparate solutions that could introduce security risks or inefficiencies.
Leveraging APPtechnology’s Expertise
APPtechnology has helped numerous clients successfully build bespoke solutions using Power Platforms. Our approach focuses not only on technical implementation but also on ensuring that solutions are fully aligned with your organisational goals and governance standards.
Power Platform Use Cases in Enterprise IT: Unlocking Limitless Possibilities
Power Platform is not just about low-code app development - it's a game-changer that opens up limitless possibilities across the enterprise. From automating complex workflows to supercharging data analytics with real-time insights, this technology allows businesses to unlock untapped potential and innovate like never before.
Whether it's streamlining operations, improving decision-making with integrated Power BI, or enhancing collaboration across teams, the scope for transforming everyday tasks into powerful digital solutions is only beginning to be realised.
Transforming IT Operations with Power Platform
Enterprise IT departments can leverage the Power Platform for process automation, reporting, and even as part of a data governance strategy. For instance, Power Automate can streamline workflows by connecting different services, ensuring data consistency across the organisation. Similarly, Power BI enhances decision-making by providing real-time insights through data visualisation, integrated with existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems.
Speak to an Expert
Contact us today to discover how we can assist your organisation in building a scalable, governed, and impactful Power Platform strategy. Fill in the form on our Contact page or email sales@apptechnology.co.uk and a Director will be in touch to discuss your Microsoft Power Platform priorities.