Power Automate is Microsoft's workflow automation tool, part of the Power Platform suite. It lets businesses automate repetitive tasks and connect different applications and services together, such as automatically saving email attachments to SharePoint, routing approval requests, or syncing data between systems, without writing custom integration code.
How Power Automate works
A Power Automate flow consists of a trigger, such as a new email arriving or a record being created in Business Central, followed by a sequence of automated actions. Flows are built visually using a library of pre-built connectors for Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, third-party services and custom APIs. Power Automate also includes desktop flows, which use robotic process automation to interact with legacy applications that lack a modern integration point.
How UK businesses use Power Automate
- A finance team automates a flow that routes expense claims above a set amount to a manager for approval, removing the need for manual email chasing.
- An HR team builds a flow that creates a new starter checklist in Microsoft Teams automatically whenever a new employee record is created in Business Central.
- A sales team automates lead notifications, sending a Teams message to the relevant account manager whenever a new lead is captured on the website.
- An operations team uses a desktop flow to extract data from a legacy supplier portal each morning and load it into Business Central automatically.
How Advantage implements Power Automate
Advantage builds Power Automate workflows that connect Business Central, Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365 to remove manual, repetitive tasks from day-to-day operations. We also establish governance and monitoring so that critical business flows remain reliable and supportable as automation use grows.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a cloud flow and a desktop flow in Power Automate?
Cloud flows run in Microsoft's cloud and connect to online services such as Dynamics 365, SharePoint and Outlook. Desktop flows use robotic process automation to interact with legacy desktop applications and websites that lack a modern API, automating tasks a person would otherwise complete manually on screen.
Can Power Automate connect to Business Central?
Yes. Business Central has a standard Power Automate connector that allows flows to trigger on Business Central events, such as a new sales order, and to read or write Business Central data as part of a workflow.
Does Power Automate require coding knowledge?
No. Most Power Automate flows are built visually using a trigger and a sequence of actions, with no code required. More advanced scenarios can use expressions and custom connectors, which benefit from technical input, but the majority of common business workflows can be built without writing code.
