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What is Power Automate?

Power Automate is Microsoft's tool for automating workflows with flows, entirely without code. See what you can automate and what is included in M365.

In short

Power Automate is Microsoft's tool for automating workflows across systems, without writing code.

A flow consists of a trigger and a series of actions: When an email with an attachment arrives, the file is saved to SharePoint and a message is posted in Teams; when a form is submitted, a case is created and an approval is sent to the right manager.

Power Automate is part of the Microsoft Power Platform together with Power Apps and Power BI and connects to several hundred services: all of Microsoft 365, but also finance systems, CRM and external web services. A base licence comes with most Microsoft 365 subscriptions, while premium connectors and RPA features require an add-on licence.

For small and medium-sized businesses, the gain typically lies in the many small, manual routines: approvals, reminders, data transfers and document handling. MI Support IT helps Danish businesses find and build the flows that save the most hours.

Back to the glossary

What is Power Automate?

Power Automate is Microsoft's platform for automating workflows using so-called flows: "When X happens, do Y and Z." The tool is built so that ordinary employees (not just developers) can set up automation with a visual editor, and it is part of the Microsoft Power Platform together with Power Apps and Power BI. Flows can connect several hundred services, from Outlook, Teams and SharePoint to finance systems and external APIs.

What can you automate?

The best candidates are routines that are frequent, rule-based and tedious. Concrete examples from everyday SMB life:

  • Approvals: Purchase requests, holiday requests or contracts are automatically sent to the right manager, with reminders until answered.
  • Document handling: Attachments from specific senders are automatically saved in the right SharePoint folder with correct naming.
  • Onboarding: A new employee in the HR system triggers the creation of tasks, a welcome email and equipment ordering.
  • Customer enquiries: Website forms become cases in your system with a notification in the right Teams channel.
  • Reminders and deadlines: Contracts, certificates or agreements approaching expiry trigger automatic notifications in good time.

The rule of thumb: If an employee performs the same click-work more than a couple of times a week, it is a flow candidate.

Power Automate vs. Power Apps

The two are often confused, but each solves its own task: Power Automate automates processes: things that happen in the background without a screen. Power Apps builds apps: user interfaces where employees enter and view data. In practice they work together: A Power App to register a purchase request, a flow to send it for approval and archive the result. If the task also needs to mimic mouse clicks in older applications without integrations, that is where the RPA part of Power Automate (Desktop) comes in.

Licensing: what is included in M365?

Most Microsoft 365 subscriptions include Power Automate with standard connectors, which is enough to automate across Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive and Forms. Premium connectors (for example SQL, many finance systems and external APIs), attended/unattended RPA and higher run limits require a Power Automate Premium licence per user or a per-process licence. Current prices are available from Microsoft. Start by clarifying what your current licences can already do: Many businesses pay by hand for what they already own in the package.

How MI Support IT can help

MI Support IT helps you spot the automation gains, build robust flows and keep track of the licences, as part of our Microsoft Power Platform advisory. Contact us if your employees spend hours on tasks a robot could handle in seconds.

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