Like data silos, automation islands can creep up unbeknown. That usually happens when different business units implement their own automation initiatives. The consequences are a lack of quality, higher costs, and a patchwork of RPA tools across the enterprise. Fortunately, there’s a growing push among businesses that recognize the problem to consolidate automation under a single, cohesive platform.
Microsoft Power Automate, has emerged as the premier choice for unifying automation efforts, as it provides an intelligent, scalable solution that brings together robotic process automation (RPA), digital process automation (DPA), Intelligent Document Processing (IDP), and AI-driven capabilities—all within the Microsoft ecosystem.
Power Automate—Powerful Alone, Transformative Together
Automation experts love Microsoft Power Automate for its flexibility. While several tools in the market allow you to automate the work process, only Microsoft Power Automate integrates with the rest of the Microsoft ecosystem organically. Want to automate a manual paper-based process? Design a responsive app? Share data and insights with everyone in an easy-to-use visualization? With Power Automate, it’s never been easier or felt more integrated. And since it’s included in most Office 365 licenses, it can all be done in-house without relying on external software development. If you still need to connect to external software and services, you can do so through connectors, custom APIs, and data gateways. What that means is you can connect your favorite automation tool to Salesforce, DocuSign, Google Drive, and many other solutions you may be currently using.
With Microsoft Power Automate, you can:
• Discover: Identify company-wide bottlenecks and inefficiencies in workflows using the process advisor.
• Create: Build cloud flows, desktop flows, or business process flows to scale seamlessly and bridge legacy and modern systems.
• Enhance: Use AI Builder to make automated workflows even more intelligent.
• Integrate: Work with Power Virtual Agents to build interactive chatbots that can be used as a part of applications or as a standalone with other programs or services, making data movement across applications a breeze.
You can use its low-code capabilities not only for automation but many other scenarios as well. For example, with Power BI, you can use low-code capabilities to build dashboards and reports to analyze the data of what’s going on inside your business. With Power Apps, you can build rich web or mobile applications, and in doing so, you can create tailored experiences unique to your organization.
While these different pieces are independently valuable, together, they can integrate in a very powerful way.
Integration and Connectivity—Where Power Automate Excels
Most organizations already use some form of automation software. But as automation expands across departments and processes, disconnected workflows— “automation islands”—can spring up, creating systems that don’t talk to each other and may even compete for the same resources.
This is where Power Automate shines: by connecting effortlessly to hundreds of applications, services, and data sources, both Microsoft and non-Microsoft alike. Whether it’s integrating with SharePoint for document management, Excel for data analysis, or external CRMs or ERPs, Power Automate—with over 400 pre-built connectors and templates— unifies them all. That means you can design workflows across systems and functions, and move data without friction.
Instead of simply automating isolated tasks, Power Automate reimagines how work gets done, empowering you to build intelligent, end-to-end workflows that are responsive, adaptable, and collaborative.
Why it matters
- Fewer Silos: By linking disparate systems, Power Automate breaks down barriers to data sharing and collaboration. Information becomes more accessible to the right people at the right time.
- Unified Workflows: Anyone can automate complex processes that stretch across departments and platforms, ensuring consistent execution and smoother handoffs.
The Gateway to AI
Microsoft Power Automate now also comes with an AI-powered Copilot that makes building workflows easier than ever. Instead of writing code or dragging and dropping components, you can just describe the process you want to automate, and Copilot builds it for you.
It’s all powered by OpenAI Codex, the same tech behind ChatGPT. Power Automate has gone from custom code to low-code tools, and now to natural language authoring where people and AI work together to build applications.
Think of it as a smart assistant that understands what you’re trying to do and helps you build on the fly. Whether you’re automating a routine task or connecting multiple systems, Copilot makes it faster, simpler, and a lot more intuitive.
The best part? It’s built directly into Power Automate, so teams can tap Microsoft’s powerful AI capabilities with little effort and spend more time focusing on customers and business outcomes.
Build
When setting up workflows with Power Automate, Copilot automatically generates parts of your application or makes suggestions to improve it based on best practices and your objectives.
Run
AI Builder, integrated within Power Automate can extract data from form documents, tapping into unstructured and semi-structured data.
Analyze
Using Power BI, AI extends the platform’s data analysis capabilities, using machine learning models to unlock more insights from the data collected by your apps. Then, it introduces an AI Copilot to help analyze and visualize this data.
Ready to Get Started?
Whether you’re building a custom app, automating processes, or delivering actionable insights, OZ Digital Consulting has the expertise, resources, and proven success to help you drive long-term success with automation and AI. Our Microsoft-certified experts and MVPs will help you streamline processes, enhance customer engagement, and strengthen security—all within a unified platform. Let our team of Microsoft-certified experts and MVPs help you unlock the full potential of the Power Platform.
Ready to transform your business? Connect with our experts today.
