Power Apps: Introduction for End Users

Course Outline

An introduction to Microsoft PowerApps
Let’s get started with an introduction to Microsoft PowerApps. Traditionally building customized solutions for a business involved using a coding language to build an application from scratch. Typically, these solutions could often only be used within the business, making external use of the application a large hurdle to overcome. With PowerApps we can now not only easily build solutions, but we can also share them with users in our business. Deployment takes seconds and you could by testing your own app on your phone in no time. This module will overview the features of PowerApps, its benefits to a business, and the variety of ways you can build and access your apps on different devices.

Topics Covered
What is PowerApps?
The benefits of apps
How to get to PowerApps
Canvas Apps and Model-Driven Apps
License Options and Costs

Getting started with PowerApps
To begin our journey through the PowerApps product, we will begin by looking at some of the templates that are available to view and edit. Microsoft’s templates are a good starting point to discover what the product is capable of and how it can be achieved. We will also take the chance to have a tour of the editor so that students are familiar with the interface that they will be using over the two-day course. We will then build our first app from a static data source, showing students how to test their changes in the app instantly without the need to publish. We will also discuss how to configure your app's settings and how to access the app once it has been saved and shared.

Topics Covered
Discover PowerApps with templates
Building a new app with a data source
Add, edit and remove controls
Testing an app
App settings
Publish and share an app
Mobile app

Branding and Media
In our next module, we will look at the options available to designers that allow them to implement their business branding. Not only will this deal with the aesthetics of your app, it will also introduce time-saving tips to help keep your branding consistent. We will also be discussing how to embed media into your app which can be useful if you are planning on an app that might promote video content.

Topics Covered
Linking control properties
Backgrounds
Colors and transparency
Duplicating screens
Copying the look and feel
Using images
Embed and play audio and video

PowerApp Controls
So far in the course, we would have covered the basics of adding, editing, and removing controls from our applications. The drive behind this module is to provide more depth on the categories of controls that can be used on a form. Your instructor will take you through each control and discuss its purpose and configuration. Tackling the wide selection of controls will help students recognize when to use the right control.

Topics Covered
Labels
Buttons
Text inputs
Controls
Galleries
Data tables
Forms
Media
Charts
Icons

Data Sources and Logic
To help maintain and view essential business information, organizations often have a diverse selection of locations to keep different types of data. This could range from databases to file storage locations. PowerApps offers connections to a wide selection of data sources. We will show students to build their PowerApps to bring in data from a variety of sources as well as how they can utilize the common data source, a storage location unique to PowerApps.

Topics Covered
Working with files
Databases
Filter, sort, and search formulas
If and Select
Accessing on-premises sources
The common data source
Sharing data sources

Model-Driven Apps
Module one to five discussed how to work with the original type of PowerApp known as a Canvas App, Microsoft has now introduced a second type of app known as a model-driven app. Model-driven apps involve a different development process to canvas apps. We will review this development process during this module.
Model-Driven apps can be quicker to build than canvas apps, but they are less customizable and typically have a higher cost, knowing which type of app to use is not always a simple decision, we will show you the pros and cons of each.

Topics Covered
What is a model-driven app?
Where will my data be stored?
How do create a model-driven app
Canvas vs model-driven summary
Mobile App

PowerApps Integration
PowerApps is designed to easily connect to other business systems to read and update information. In this module, we will discuss some simple ways to integrate PowerApps with key Office 365 systems including Teams, SharePoint Online and Flow. The result is the ability to use a combination of systems to create solutions for a variety of business requirements.

Topics Covered
Start a Flow from a PowerApp
Embed PowerApps in Teams
Embed PowerApps in SharePoint Online

Administration and Maintenance
In our last module for Microsoft PowerApps, we will be looking at how a business can manage its existing apps. This could be using analytics to discover usage trends. We will discover how to export and import apps, so they can be reused in other locations. Finally, we will discuss how Office 365 administrators can shape the PowerApps experience with high-level settings that help ensure data segregation and security.

Topics Covered
Maintaining an app
View analytics
Export and import apps
Office 365 administration for PowerApps
Environments
Data policies
Data integration