Learning Microsoft Power Automate

Preface

This book will show you how to use Microsoft Power Automate to automate repetitive, manual, and time-consuming tasks. You’re about to take your first steps on a journey that will change the way you handle information every day. But, like all journeys, we need to start at the beginning. That means we need to understand what Power Automate is and how it fits into the broader Microsoft ecosystem. If you already know the basics, please feel free to skip ahead to the next section.

Power Automate, which was originally called Flow, is a cloud-based application that can be used to create workflows. These cloud-based workflows (flows) can use connectors to access information stored in a variety of systems. If a connector does not exist but an API does, then you can create your own custom connector. If an API doesn’t exist, then you can use a desktop flow to interact with the data. The result is a workflow engine that works with almost any information source, whether that system is designed by Microsoft or a third party.

Here are just a few examples of the kinds of everyday tasks that Power Automate can transform:

• Automating the collection and processing of information

• Managing the approval of documents and data

• Sending automatic reminders for past-due tasks

• Archiving emails and attachments in an indexable system

• Automating interactive computer tasks that are normally done manually

• Visualizing a staged process consisting of multiple steps

Power Automate is one of five ...