Power Automate: workflows for Microsoft 365
Power Automate is Microsoft's no-code automation platform. It builds workflows between Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Excel and hundreds of external services. In companies on Microsoft 365 it cuts repetitive work.
- Made by
- Microsoft
- Price
- Basic with M365, premium is paid
- Type
- No-code automation
- Desktop RPA
- Available
What is Power Automate?
Every flow starts with a trigger (a new e-mail, a form response, a file) followed by steps: an approval, writing to a sheet, a Teams message. Connectors are ready-made integrations; premium connectors need a separate licence.
A typical marketing and sales example: a website enquiry is written to the CRM, the manager gets a Teams notification, and if there is no reply in 24 hours the team lead is told.
What Power Automate makes possible
Automated workflows
With triggers and steps.
Approval processes
Budget and content approvals.
Teams and Outlook
Notifications and reminders.
Excel and SharePoint
Collecting and updating data.
Desktop RPA
Click automation in legacy systems.
Power BI link
Reacting to report events.
What Power Automate works with
- Open the guide
Power BI
Microsoft's BI platform. Corporate reporting and data models.
- Open the guide
Mailchimp
E-mail marketing, audience segments and automation.
- Open the guide
Google Apps Script
Automation for Google Workspace with JavaScript.
My experience
Projects where I used Power Automate:
- [Project: brand, what I built, result %]
- [Project: brand, what I built, result %]
Power Automate resources
Questions about Power Automate
Is Power Automate free?
Core features come with a Microsoft 365 licence. Premium connectors and RPA are paid separately.
How is it different from Zapier?
Power Automate goes deeper into the Microsoft ecosystem and suits corporate governance. Zapier is simpler across many different SaaS tools.
What happens when a flow fails?
Every run is kept in the history. I recommend setting up failure alerts and retry rules.