Power Platform Weekly - Issue #166
Welcome to Power Platform Weekly!
Last week an inline action bar for Power Apps canvas apps was introduced. Perform authoring tasks inline on the canvas and use Copilot directly from there.
Power Fx in desktop flows was highlighted.
The March 2024 update of Power Automate for desktop was presented.
Have a great week and thanks for reading!
📰 Articles
How to add intelligence into Power Automate flows with Dataverse AI functions?
🦸🏻♀️ Recently, Manish Solanki came across Dataverse AI functions that have been newly introduced by Microsoft. The documentation for leveraging these functions from canvas app is very well, but is not as great for cloud flows.
Part 4: Generating social media posts with AI in Customer Insights Journeys - The Art of Customer Insights
🦸🏻♀️ Pauline Kolde looks at how marketing can benefit from further AI use cases. After all, the list of possibilities is endless. But one major added value is the creation of content and texts with AI.
Copilot Studio, Azure AI Studio or both?
🦸🏻♀️ Carsten Groth wants to address a recurring myth: the division of developers into ‚low-code‘ and ‚pro-code‘ categories. When will we stop pigeonholing people based on assumptions? Didn’t study computer science? That doesn’t mean you can’t be a developer. Never used Visual Studio Code or other coding IDEs? That doesn’t preclude you from being a professional developer.
Other articles
🦸🏻♀️ How to create a responsive pop-up using traditional containers by Hardit Bhatia
🦸🏻♀️ Find Dynamics 365 data in Outlook using mentions by Dian Taylor
🦸🏻♀️ Send Scheduling by Kelly Simpson
🦸🏻♀️ Add Power Apps to Dynamics 365 Human Resources by Ana Inés Urrutia
🦸🏻♀️ Power Automate - How to Test your Flows by David Wyatt
👩💻 How to use private Microsoft Custom API’s within Power Automate by Thomas Dayman
🧭 Salesforce vs Microsoft Dynamics by Jakob Örneberg
🦸🏻♀️ Troubleshooting privilege related problems in security roles by Tuomas Anto
🦸🏻♀️ Power Pages Iframes by Angeliki Patsiavou
📺 Videos
🎙️ Podcasts
RunAsRadio Podcast
👩💻 What do you know about large language models? While at NDC in London, Richard sat down with Dr. Jodie Burchell to discuss how machine learning has reached this new technological milestone. Jodie talks about different types of machine learning and how large language models fit into the landscape. The conversation explores where LLMs come from, what they are good at, and what they should not be used for. They are not intelligent and certainly not a panacea for work - but they can be valuable when used correctly!
MS Teams Insider Podcast
🧭 MVP Kevin McDonnell, Copilot Strategy and Modern Workplace AI Lead, Avanade, and MVP Tom Arbuthnot dive deep into Copilot! They discuss its various applications, potential for transforming modern workplaces.
Low-Code Approach Podcast
🦸🏻♀️ Ever wonder where to get started or what you can do with Microsoft Copilot Studio? Henry Jammes from the Power CAT team (not real cats, thanks Ken) joins the podcast to discuss what organizations can do with Microsoft Copilot Studio, extensibility and plugins, and how data is used in Microsoft Copilot Studio.
📅 Events & Webinars
Power Platform 24 Conference March 2024
(📅 March 20, 2024)
Join Power Platform enthusiasts from around the world for a full day of sessions about Microsoft Business Applications. No matter where you are in the world, this is in your time-zone. Times listed by each session are in your user local time as set by your browser or machine settings.
ColorCloud
(📅 April 18-19, 2024)
The most colorful Microsoft Business Applications conference is coming to Hamburg in April 2024!
Like artists working with broad color palettes, ColorCloud covers all Business Applications from Microsoft with German and English content.
Microsoft 365 Conference 2024
(📅 April 30 - May 2, 2024)
The Microsoft 365 Conference has become one of the most important in-person gatherings of the Microsoft 365 community anywhere on Earth.
European Collaboration Summit
(📅 May 14-16, 2024)
With 2,500+ attendees, the European Collaboration Summit is the largest conference in the world focused on Microsoft 365 and Power Platform.
DynamicsMinds
(📅 May 27-29, 2024)
An awesome Dynamics 365 and Power Platform Community Conference. Where brilliant minds meet, mingle & share.
European Power Platform Conference 2024
(📅 June 11-13, 2024)
The 3rd European Power Platform Conference (EPPC) will take place in Brussels, Belgium, June 11-13, 2024 at Square. The European Power Platform Conference brings together the Microsoft Power Platform Community for 3 invaluable days of in-person learning, connections and inspiration.
Microsoft Power Platform Conference 2024
(📅 September 18-20, 2024)
Be inspired by Microsoft senior thought leaders, the product experts, and engineers behind the Power Platform. You’ll also learn from Microsoft MVPs who are dedicated to bridging the gap between humanity and technology. MPPC is the perfect place to connect with folks from around the world who are eager to share their insights and knowledge on how the Power Platform & Dynamics 365 can transform your business.
Scottish Summit 2024
(📅 October 18-19, 2024)
Scottish Summit 2024 is coming to you from P&J Live, Aberdeen's state-of-the-art event complex. This is going to be the biggest Scottish Summit to date, spanning 3 days. The Scottish Summit 2024 is gearing up to be the Fall spotlight of the Microsoft community calendar! It will have an exhilarating three days packed with over 100 sessions, workshops, and panel discussions that will leave you briming with knowledge and inspiration.
💙 Out of the Blue
Introducing Power Fx in desktop flows: Empowering Makers with low-code capabilities
🦸🏻♀️👩💻🚀 Power Fx, a low-code language inspired by Excel formulas, that brings logic expressions to Microsoft Power Platform, is now available in Desktop Flows! This blog by James Papadimitriou explains how Power Fx has been integrated into desktop flows, empowering makers with a versatile and accessible tool for creating automation without the need for extensive coding.
March 2024 update of Power Automate for desktop
🦸🏻♀️👩💻🚀 Yiannis Mavridis announces that the March 2024 update of Power Automate for desktop (version 2.42) has been released, introducing new features and updates including a revamped variable picker, a new function picker, and IntelliSense capabilities for Power Fx enabled desktop flows. Additionally, the update also includes support for minimum execution logs for cloud-initiated runs, the ability to sign in with your current Windows account when running flows via the Run URL, and a new Excel action to clear cells.
Introducing inline actions
🦸🏻♀️👩💻🚀 This blog by Tasha Scott introduces inline actions for Power Apps canvas apps, which allow users to perform common authoring tasks directly on the canvas. These actions reduce cognitive load and mouse travel, while also providing access to Copilot for assistance.
Improved image mode in Power BI add-in for PowerPoint
🤵🏻🦸🏻♀️👩💻 Maya Shenhav announces improvements to the image mode in the Power BI add-in for PowerPoint based on user feedback. These changes provide users with greater control over data presentation and accessibility in their presentations.
Important update coming to Power BI Premium licensing
🦸🏻♀️🧭👩💻🚀 Kim Manis’ blog announces that Power BI Premium per capacity SKUs will be retired, and customers will need to transition to Microsoft Fabric capacity by January 1, 2025. Microsoft Fabric offers more flexibility in SKU size, pay-as-you-go billing options, access to Azure-only features, and is eligible for Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment.
💡 Suggest content
Do you have a blog, YouTube channel or podcast that you want us to track or do you know someone creating great content or community tools you think we should be aware of? Let us know about it!
We usually include links to content or tools updates announcements from the past week. If you see a really great blog post or video, let us know one way or another!
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🕺 About the “Persona icons”
🤵🏻 Business User
🦸🏻♀️ Maker
🧭 Decision Maker
👩💻 Developer / Architect
🚀 Admin / Center of Excellence
🛠️ Tools
📅 Events & Webinars