In this chapter, I’ll start with an introduction to what the prerequisites are to begin automating with Power Automate. In addition, we’ll explain a fundamental concept in Power Automate: environments. Then, we’ll illustrate how you can create your first automation using templates, starting from blank. Finally, we’ll end this chapter by explaining the Power Automate mobile app and its use cases.
Know Before You Start
Before creating your first Power Automate flow, there are two prerequisites. First, since Power Automate is a Microsoft 365 service, you must have a Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) account before using Power Automate. Second, you must have a license/plan assigned to you. If you don’t have a Power Automate license/plan given to you and you are part of an organization, I recommend you ask your IT administrator(s) for a license.
How would you know if you have a Power Automate license? Well, that’s simple. Go to the Microsoft Office home page. Log in with your Microsoft 365 account credentials. On the Microsoft 365 landing page (home), open the waffle menu (top-left corner):
If you don’t see Power Automate under the apps section:
In the search field, search for “Power Automate”:
If you didn’t find Power Automate ...
Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month, and much more.
O’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.
Julian F.
Head of Cybersecurity
I wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.
Addison B.
Field Engineer
I’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.
Amir M.
Data Platform Tech Lead
I'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.
O’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.
