In this activity, we started to learn about automation within the Power Platform and set the stage for the remainder of this course.

We learned that by automating actions that would normally be completed by users manually, we can help our users be more productive. By using business rules, classic workflows, Microsoft Flow, and business process flow, we can build automation that helps ensure consistency and helps users focus on their primary goals.

We covered using business rules, which you can use to build automation that packages up common tasks and allows them to be enforced. Rules are created using a visual editor and business rules can also be used to set default values as well as perform basic formulas on an entity’s data for use in the rule.

These rules are all created without code that could need to be maintained by expensive developer resources.

We then discussed how classic workflows offer automation with or without direct user interaction. Workflows contain triggers that could determine a record’s participation in the workflow and then set the actions to be taken as a result of that workflow running.

We looked at Microsoft Flow, which helps you create automation between apps and services that can synchronise files, get notifications, process approvals and more.

Finally, we took an overview look at business process flows. These offer users a guided experience for data entry following a defined path on a record. Unlike the other processes mentioned here, business process flows are represented by both a process definition and a custom entity for each business process flow.

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Can you think of a real-world example of where automation has been implemented into a business process?

Use the discussion section below and let us know your thoughts. Try to respond to at least one other post and once you’re happy with your contribution, click the Mark as Complete button to check the Step off, then you can move to the next step which is our first knowledge check.