What is Power Automate? A plain-English guide

If you’re already using Microsoft 365, there’s a good chance you already have access to one of Microsoft’s most useful productivity tools without realising it. Microsoft Power Automate is its workflow automation tool, part of the Microsoft Power Platform.

Whether it’s automatically approving expenses, sending notifications, processing invoices or onboarding new employees, Power Automate handles the repetitive jobs that slow you down, allowing you to focus on more valuable work instead.

It connects the applications you already use and automates repetitive tasks through “flows”, helping your teams save time, reduce manual work and improve consistency. And all without needing to write code for most everyday automations.

What is Microsoft Power Automate?

At its simplest, Power Automate is a tool that allows different applications and services to work together automatically. It does this through flows. A flow is simply a sequence of automated steps that happen when something triggers them. Three terms to familiarise yourself with here:

• Trigger: the event that starts the automation.
• Action: the task that Power Automate performs.
• Connector: the link that allows Power Automate to communicate with another application or service.

So how does this work in practice? Imagine a customer emails your business with a completed application form attached. Instead of someone downloading the attachment manually, saving it into SharePoint, notifying the relevant department and updating a spreadsheet, Power Automate can do all those tasks automatically.

The email arriving becomes the trigger. Saving the document into SharePoint is one action, and sending a Microsoft Teams notification to the correct colleague is another. The connectors allow Outlook, SharePoint and Teams to work together behind the scenes.

That means that a task that might previously have taken several minutes of manual work now happens in seconds, without anyone needing to remember the process.

What can Power Automate do?

Almost every department has repetitive administrative processes that can be automated. Here are some common Power Automate examples.

Approvals and sign-offs

Approval processes often create unnecessary delays. Instead of sending emails back and forth, Power Automate can automatically route requests to the correct manager, notify them in Teams, collect their response and inform the requester once a decision has been made.

Invoice processing

Finance teams spend considerable time moving invoices between inboxes, folders and accounting systems. Power Automate can automatically save incoming invoices, notify the right people, trigger approval workflows and prepare information for processing, reducing manual administration while creating a consistent audit trail.

New starter onboarding

Joining a new organisation often involves dozens of repetitive tasks. When HR confirms a new employee’s start date, Power Automate can automatically notify IT, create onboarding tasks, schedule induction meetings, update checklists and remind managers when actions are outstanding.

Customer notifications

Keeping customers informed builds confidence, but sending manual updates takes time. Power Automate can automatically send confirmation emails, delivery updates, appointment reminders or follow-up messages based on activity in your business systems.

Report distribution

Many organisations still spend hours every week downloading reports and emailing them to managers. Power Automate can generate regular reports automatically, distribute them to the right people and even post summaries into Microsoft Teams channels.

Moving information between systems

Power Automate can synchronise data between connected systems automatically, reducing duplication and helping maintain consistent records. This might only save individual employees a few minutes, but this soon adds up across your whole organisation.

Cloud flows and desktop flows explained

Power Automate includes two main types of automation, each designed for different situations. Cloud flows connect modern services. Desktop flows automate older software that still plays an important role within many organisations. Let’s look at each in more detail.

Cloud flows

Cloud flows automate work between online services such as Outlook, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, Dynamics 365 and many other cloud applications. If your process involves modern business software that already communicates over the internet, a cloud flow is usually the right approach. For most Microsoft 365 organisations, cloud flows will handle the majority of day-to-day automation requirements.

Desktop flows

Power Automate Desktop is designed for older applications that can’t easily integrate with cloud services. For example, if an older finance application has no modern integration options, a desktop flow can still open the application, enter information and complete repetitive tasks automatically.

Instead of connecting through modern software interfaces, desktop flows use Robotic Process Automation (RPA). RPA records and reproduces the clicks, keyboard inputs and mouse movements that a person would normally perform. This makes it possible to automate legacy software that would otherwise require manual interaction.

Is Power Automate included with Microsoft 365?

At the time of writing, a useful level of Power Automate capability is included with many Microsoft 365 subscriptions. This allows you to begin automating everyday processes using standard connectors and cloud flows without investing in additional software. More advanced scenarios, such as premium connectors, RPA and enterprise-scale automation, require additional Power Automate licences.

Exactly what’s included depends on your Microsoft licensing, and Microsoft’s entitlements change over time. Rather than trying to navigate the licensing options yourself, drop us a line and we can help you understand what you already have and whether or not you actually need additional licences.

Getting started with Power Automate

There is no need to build your first flow from scratch. Microsoft provides hundreds of Power Automate templates covering common business processes, from approval workflows and document management to notifications and data collection. Using a template is often the quickest way to understand how to use Power Automate.

Rather than designing every step yourself, you begin with a proven workflow and customise it to suit your organisation. Start with one repetitive process that frustrates your team. Perhaps it’s approving holiday requests, distributing weekly reports or notifying colleagues when new customer enquiries arrive. Build one flow. Measure how much time it saves. Learn what works. Then move on to the next process.

Power Automate and AI

Automation is becoming even easier thanks to artificial intelligence, because Microsoft Copilot can now help build Power Automate flows from a plain-English description. Instead of manually selecting every trigger and action, you can simply describe what you want to happen and Copilot generates a draft flow for you to review and refine.

It’s another example of how AI is making automation more accessible to everyday users, rather than just developers. If you’re exploring Microsoft’s AI tools more broadly, see our guide comparing Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT, or speak to us about how AI fits into your wider Microsoft 365 strategy.

Keeping your flows under control

One successful flow quickly becomes five. Five turns into twenty. And before long, different departments in your business are building automations independently, with little visibility over who owns them or how they work. That’s why governance is important in ensuring your automations remain reliable as your organisation grows. A few simple practices make a big difference:

• Give every flow a clear business owner
• Document what each flow does and which systems it connects
• Record who can edit it
• Review flows regularly to remove those that are no longer needed
• Ensure critical business processes aren’t dependent on a single employee’s personal knowledge, which could make things difficult if they leave the business

Putting sensible governance in place from the beginning helps you enjoy the benefits of automation without creating unnecessary complexity later.

Start automating with confidence

Power Automate is one of the most valuable tools available to Microsoft 365 organisations, yet many businesses are only using a fraction of its capabilities. Whether you want to reduce manual administration, improve consistency or free your people to focus on higher-value work, automation can often deliver measurable benefits surprisingly quickly.

At Managed247, we help businesses make the most of Microsoft 365, from licensing and cloud services to automation, AI and process improvement. If you’re wondering where Power Automate could make the biggest impact in your organisation, get in touch to discuss how we can help you automate processes safely and effectively.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is Power Automate used for?

  Power Automate is used to automate repetitive business processes between applications and services. Common examples include approval workflows, invoice processing, onboarding new employees, customer notifications, report distribution and moving information between systems automatically. The aim is to reduce manual work, improve consistency and save time.

• Is Power Automate free with Microsoft 365?

  At the time of writing, many Microsoft 365 subscriptions include a useful level of Power Automate functionality. More advanced capabilities, including premium connectors and desktop automation through Robotic Process Automation (RPA), require additional licences. Because Microsoft’s licensing changes over time, it’s worth checking your current entitlements with us.

• What is a flow in Power Automate?

  A flow is an automated workflow that performs one or more actions when a specific event occurs. For example, when an email arrives with an attachment, a flow could automatically save the file to SharePoint and notify the relevant team in Microsoft Teams. Flows are the building blocks of Power Automate.

• What is the difference between cloud flows and desktop flows?

  Cloud flows automate tasks between online services such as Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Teams and other cloud applications. Desktop flows use Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to interact with older desktop software by reproducing mouse clicks and keyboard actions. Cloud flows are ideal for modern applications, while desktop flows help automate legacy systems.

• Power Automate vs Zapier: which should we use?

  Both platforms automate workflows, but they serve slightly different audiences. Zapier is an excellent choice for organisations using a broad mix of non-Microsoft cloud applications. If your business already relies heavily on Microsoft 365, however, Power Automate is the more natural fit because it integrates closely with Microsoft’s ecosystem, security model and productivity tools.

• Do we need a developer to use Power Automate?

  Not usually, no. Most everyday Power Automate flows can be created using templates and a visual, no-code interface. More complex automations may benefit from technical expertise, but many organisations begin automating business processes without involving software developers. Starting with simple templates is often the fastest route to success.