As the digital landscape evolves, businesses face the ongoing challenge of navigating an intricate web of data and processes. Achieving operational agility and collaborative efficiency has become paramount. Enterprises need solutions that can streamline operations, improve productivity, and gain insights from data. After all, an ineffective system of tools can lead to workflow inefficiencies, reduced collaboration, and an inability for the business to reach its full potential.
One transformative avenue that promises to revolutionise your business operations is the strategic integration of PowerApps in SharePoint. So, in this article, we will help you understand PowerApps SharePoint integration and how their combined capability can help transform your business.
Understanding SharePoint and PowerApps
Are you looking for specific SharePoint requirements?
SharePoint is Microsoft’s popular web-based content management and collaboration solution for Microsoft 365. It provides intranet portals, document management, workflows, cloud storage, security controls, enterprise search, and more on a flexible platform. Companies use SharePoint to create information hubs where departments can share, govern, and find company data.
PowerApps, on the other hand, is a low-code development platform that enables building custom web and mobile apps for business needs like data capture, workflow automation, and data analysis. The intuitive drag-and-drop functionality allows businesses to create apps connected to familiar data sources. These apps can then be shared and accessed on the web or mobile devices anywhere.
SharePoint, PowerApps and their combined might
The true power lies in the seamless integration of SharePoint and PowerApps. As a content platform, SharePoint lends itself to custom solutions built using PowerApps. On the other hand, PowerApps extends SharePoint’s out-of-the-box functionality to provide simple yet powerful solutions complemented by a user-friendly interface.
Some examples of everyday use cases leveraging the integration of SharePoint and PowerApps include:
- Automating business processes like approvals, requests, asset management, etc.
- Building inventory/knowledge management systems
- Creating interactive dashboards for data insights
- Making data collection and updating tools for the field workforce
- Building training tools, help desk or other self-service portals, and many more.
Therefore, with SharePoint providing a robust content foundation and PowerApps enabling custom app capability – the two form an excellent combination for delivering various business solutions.
Common integration scenarios
a) SharePoint – PowerApps integration
1. Creating custom forms for SharePoint lists:
You can effortlessly design custom forms for SharePoint lists using PowerApps. This capability becomes invaluable for collecting data in specific formats, implementing additional validation, or introducing business logic to enhance the data collection process.
2. Streamlining workflows across SharePoint and external systems:
Leverage PowerApps to seamlessly automate workflows between SharePoint and various systems like CRM, ERP, and email platforms. This integration optimises business processes and enhances overall operational efficiency.
3. Developing custom apps tailored for SharePoint
PowerApps is a robust development tool for building applications dedicated to SharePoint environments. This capability proves beneficial when creating solutions that precisely match specific business requirements or when integrating SharePoint with external systems beyond the capabilities of standard solutions.
b) PowerApps – SharePoint integration
1. Creating a custom form for a SharePoint list of employee vacation requests
You can harness the capabilities of PowerApps to create customised forms for SharePoint lists, such as for employee vacation requests. These forms may include additional fields like manager approval or vacation reasons and validation rules to ensure accurate data entry.
2. Automating workflows between SharePoint sales leads and a CRM system
Optimise business processes by automating workflows between SharePoint sales leads and CRM systems using PowerApps. This could involve automatically generating new lead records in the CRM system when additions are made to the SharePoint list and real-time updates to CRM records based on changes in the SharePoint list.
3. Building a custom SharePoint document approval app
Expedite document approval processes by developing a specialised app with PowerApps. This app may feature a comprehensive list of pending documents, offer document viewing capabilities, and allow for seamless approval or rejection. Additionally, it can automate email notifications to users upon document approval or rejection.
How to perform PowerApps SharePoint integration?
The good news is that PowerApps & SharePoint are both Microsoft products and natively integrate well. Here’s a step-by-step guide to doing it.
1. Access PowerApps
Navigate to https://powerapps.microsoft.com in your web browser and log in with your Microsoft 365 or PowerApps login credentials.
2. Build a new app
From the left navigation menu in PowerApps, click “Apps” then “Create an app.” Select your new app’s “Canvas” or “Model-driven” option based on your specific needs. Canvas apps provide more flexibility for custom UI design, while model-driven apps enable robust data modelling capabilities.
3. Design the app
Use PowerApps built-in controls and features to design your app’s user interface and experience as required.
4. Connect to SharePoint data
To integrate SharePoint data, click “Data” in the left menu and select “Add data.” From the list of available connectors, choose the “SharePoint” connector.
5. Link to SharePoint site
When prompted, enter the URL for the SharePoint site you want to connect to or select it from available sites. Click “Connect” to establish the link between PowerApps and the SharePoint site.
6. Choose a SharePoint list
After connecting to the SharePoint site, you will see available lists and libraries to select from. Choose the SharePoint list or library containing the data you want to use in your PowerApp.
7. Create a data source
Once you select a SharePoint list or library, a data source will automatically be generated in your PowerApp. If desired, you can rename the data source for clarity.
8. Use SharePoint data
With the SharePoint data source created, you can now use that data in your PowerApp.
Add controls like galleries, forms, and labels to display or manipulate the SharePoint data.
9. Customise the data display
Customise how the SharePoint data displays in your app by configuring controls and layouts.
Use formulas to filter, sort, or transform the SharePoint data as required.
10. Publish and share the app
Once you have integrated the SharePoint data and customised the app, you can publish and share it with others in your organisation.
By following these steps, you can seamlessly integrate SharePoint and PowerApps, enabling the development of robust business applications that harness SharePoint’s collaborative data features. This integration proves especially advantageous for building personalised tools, dashboards, and workflows to optimise business processes.
PowerApps - SharePoint integration benefits for a business
Integrating SharePoint with PowerApps brings forth a multitude of benefits for businesses. Some of the key advantages include:
1. Enhanced user experience: Custom apps built with PowerApps provide a modern and intuitive interface for interacting with SharePoint data, leading to improved user satisfaction and productivity.
2. Increased efficiency: Businesses can significantly improve operational efficiency by automating repetitive tasks and streamlining processes, thereby saving time and resources.
3. Flexibility and scalability: The flexibility of PowerApps allows businesses to adapt and scale their solutions to meet evolving business needs, ensuring long-term relevance and value.
4. Cost-effective solution: The rapid development capabilities of PowerApps result in cost savings compared to traditional custom development, making it an attractive option for businesses of all sizes.
5. Enhanced collaboration: Businesses can facilitate seamless teamwork and information sharing by combining SharePoint’s collaboration features with the custom applications created in PowerApps.
6. Streamlined Workflows: Leveraging PowerApps to create custom workflows that integrate with SharePoint data can help automate and optimise business processes. This results in improved efficiency and reduced manual errors.
Conclusion
Many businesses need help finding an appropriate solution when faced with a challenge. Developing a dedicated app would be an obvious choice, but implementing it takes a long time. Microsoft recognised this issue and created PowerApps, enabling organisations to build custom solutions rapidly.
SharePoint and PowerApps form an enterprise-grade combination that can fuel the digital transformation. They check all the essential boxes – providing a secure collaboration platform and rapidly deployable custom apps for workflow automation and data insights while remaining simple and agile.
If you want to leverage SharePoint and PowerApps integration to improve your business, Neologix can help. Our team of skilled SharePoint developers have the expertise to seamlessly tailor these integrated solutions to meet your unique business requirements.
For a personalised consultation on SharePoint – PowerApps integration, feel free to contact us at info@neologix.ae or +971-521043226.
