There is much excitement in the world about AI & the Microsoft Copilots, but I ask you not to overlook the power (yes deliberate, and highly amusing, play on words - no need to thank me) of the Power Platform tooling and how much time and money that can save you, especially when combined with AI tooling.
Will Low Code/ No Code, Citizen Dev really take off? Should you be looking at it? Well, yes. There you go, you have an answer, but there are a few things you need to know/ do, to make it work.
Governance - Many of the organisations we speak to, love the idea of Citizen Dev. They are aware that the bulk of their users will be aware of the bulk of the stinky old processes, or time wasting tasks, but do they trust their users to automate, those processes? Well, no! Not in general. So you need to look at the deploying a Centre of Excellence to ensure good governance over flows and automations.
Research - As the bulk of the users are aware of the bulk of the stinky old processes and time wasting tasks, you need to engage them actively. Take the time to find out where the time is killing your company. If you are in Senior Leadership, the likelihood is that you will look at what causes you pain, and that is fine, but if you are one person losing time, how does that compare to having a whole team of people losing time? Maybe Senior Leadership issues are not the place to start. So, ask those in the know.
Education - Don't expect users to pick up, let's call it, LCNCCDandtherest, and just start automating it. You will need to train users up and educate the business. It is far simpler than coding, yes, but it is unlikely to be intuitive to those who have never done this kind of thing before. There are approximately 1800+ connectors in Power Automate, so train people, the investment in time will not be wasted. Even if a user is unable to code something themselves, they will have a strong comprehension of what 'can' be done.. then someone else can create the flow or app.
Business Change - Lastly, this is a real big way in which we work. Copilots, Gen AI and the tooling such as Power Platform are going to make some of the most significant impacts on the way organisations operate, probably since the introduction of email in to mainstream corporate use in the 80s/90s.
You won't regret it!!
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