What is Power Platform?
Microsoft Power Platform is a collection of tools for building business applications, automating work, creating reports, developing web portals, and building AI assistants. You can use one tool for a specific need or combine several around a larger process.
The useful starting point is the work itself: What information do people need? What happens next? Where do delays or repeated tasks occur? The tools are selected around those answers.
Power Apps: give people a place to do the work
Power Apps is used to build business applications that collect, display, and update information. An application can connect to sources such as Dataverse, SharePoint, or other supported systems.
Example: A team records equipment requests in an application. Each request has the item needed, an owner, a status, and any information required for review. People can update the record without passing a spreadsheet around.
Consider it when: Your process needs a consistent form, shared records, or a screen designed around the tasks people perform.
Power Automate: move the process forward
Power Automate connects steps between applications and services. A workflow can respond to an event, run on a schedule, or start when a person requests it.
Example: When an equipment request is submitted, a workflow sends it to the appropriate reviewer, records the decision, and notifies the requester. The approval rules and exception handling are designed for the process.
Consider it when: People repeatedly send reminders, move information between systems, chase decisions, or perform the same sequence of steps.
Power BI: make information easier to understand
Power BI connects to data and presents it through reports and visualizations. It helps people explore information, compare activity, and see what needs attention.
Example: A manager reviews open requests, requests awaiting a decision, and activity by department. Filters let them examine the information relevant to their work.
Consider it when: Reporting requires repeated manual consolidation, or useful information is difficult to find. Agree the measures, data quality, refresh needs, and audience before building.
Power Pages: provide a web portal
Power Pages is used to build business websites and portals connected to Dataverse. Depending on the design, people can access public information or sign in to view and interact with information available to them.
Example: A customer submits a service request and returns to check its progress. Access rules determine which records that customer can see.
Consider it when: Customers, partners, or other audiences need a browser-based way to interact with your process. Sign-in, permissions, and licensing must fit the audience.
Copilot Studio: build an assistant with a defined purpose
Copilot Studio is used to create AI agents—often described as business assistants—that answer questions and perform configured actions using connected knowledge and tools.
Example: A person asks how to request equipment. An assistant can reference an approved guide and help start the agreed process. Questions it cannot handle can be directed to a person through a configured support route.
Consider it when: People need help finding information or navigating repeatable tasks. Sources, permissions, actions, evaluation, and human handoff need deliberate design. AI answers still need appropriate checking.
Dataverse: organize the information behind the process
Dataverse is Microsoft’s cloud data service. It stores business information in tables, supports relationships between records, and provides security controls.
For the equipment example, it could hold requests, departments, and related records. Power Apps can give staff an interface, while a portal and workflows work with the relevant information. Dataverse is not required for every Power Platform solution; the data source should fit the project.
How the pieces could work together
Imagine a service request moving through a small business:
1. A customer submits a request through a Power Pages portal.
2. Dataverse stores the request.
3. Staff use a Power Apps application to manage it.
4. Power Automate routes a review and sends an update.
5. Power BI reports on activity and outstanding work.
6. A Copilot Studio assistant could help people find guidance or navigate the request process.
This is an illustrative combination, not a completed client project. You do not need all six components. A focused workflow or application may be enough.
Can it work with the software you already use?
Often, existing tools can remain part of the solution. Connections may use available connectors, APIs, or custom development. The specific system, available access, licensing, and data requirements determine what is feasible.
A connection also needs clear ownership: which system holds the authoritative record, what happens if a step fails, and who maintains it. Solvency Studio scopes those details and coordinates specialist input where the project needs it.
What about cost and setup?
Power Platform is not a single license that automatically covers every use. Costs depend on the products, users, audiences, connections, capacity, and usage involved. Having Microsoft 365 does not mean every proposed solution is already covered.
Software and operating costs are separate from Solvency Studio’s service fees. A project should also account for access controls, testing, training, ownership, and support. These are discussed before the scope is agreed.
Start with one process
You do not need to choose a Microsoft product before talking with us. Start with these questions:
• What are people trying to get done?
• Where is information collected and stored today?
• Which steps involve repeated entry, waiting, or follow-up?
• Who needs to see, change, or approve the information?
• What would a useful improvement look like?
Tell us what you would like to make easier. We’ll help identify an approach around your work, existing systems, and priorities.