MFCF Support for Microsoft Power Platform

Background

Power Platform tools are included with an M365 A3 license.

Use Power Automate to automate business processes (send emails, assign approvals, update data sources, etc.).  Use Power BI to create reports from various data sources.

People with little programming experience can start automating processes.  Knowledge of software development concepts is not necessary but helps.

Service Details

MFCF provides limited support for those who use Microsoft Power Platform tools. 

MFCF staff are not experts in all the features available but can help with getting started and establishing good practices for creating and managing flows and reports. We will assist with the most commonly used features.

MFCF will assist in setting up Power BI workspace permissions.

Resources for getting started

See how to use Power Automate to automate business processes.

Power BI is a reporting tool for presenting information from multiple data sources and is in widespread use at the University.  The Data Requests group in IST can help with setting up a workspace for reports and with creating a schedule for data refresh

Use Microsoft Learn and LinkedIn Learning to develop skills in Power Platform tools.

Use AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT, CoPilot) to get background information and samples.

MFCF recommended practices

  • use meaningful names for flows/reports/apps because they are stored in a University wide environment

  • add at least one co-owner to the flow so they can act as a back up

  • export finished flows as a backup zip file, and store in a shared location (e.g. Sharepoint) so others can maintain it

    • export after major changes to keep a revision history

  • consider using generic account(s), shared mailboxes, or exchange-only service accounts in connectors

    • personal accounts aren’t exposed

    • think about who the email should come from

    • requires provisioning an A3 license for the generic account(s) used

Optional practices

  • create a developer environment to build flows in a protected environment before putting it in the shared environment

    • use the export and import capabilities to migrate between environments

Service Information
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Service Details
Who can use this service: How to request this service:

Submit a request in RT.