Power Apps

Build apps in hours—not months—that easily connect to data, use Excel-like expressions to add logic, and run on the web, iOS, and Android devices.

Power Apps Features for Developers: Top 10 Highlights

Evelyn Dennis

Power Apps is constantly evolving to provide developers with powerful tools to enhance productivity and improve app performance. In this blog, we’ll explore the top 10 features introduced in 2024 that every Power Apps developer should know about. From simplifying formula creation to enabling seamless collaboration, these updates are designed to streamline your development process.

1. Comment-Generated Formulas

This feature simplifies PowerFx formula creation by allowing developers to input natural language prompts. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced developer, this feature reduces complexity and boosts productivity.

For example, you can input: ‘Filter the gallery to show items where the status is Active.’ Power Apps will automatically generate the corresponding formula: ‘Filter(GalleryItems, Status = “Active”)‘.

Availability: December 2024 (2024 Release Wave 2)

Reference: What’s new in Power Apps: October 2024 Feature Update – Microsoft Power Platform Blog

Power Apps Features for Developers

2. Real-Time Co-Authoring

Collaborating on canvas apps has never been easier! With real-time co-authoring, multiple makers can now edit an app simultaneously, just like in Microsoft Word or PowerPoint. This feature significantly speeds up development and fosters better teamwork.

Example: If you and a colleague are working on a canvas app, you’ll both be able to see each other’s changes in real-time, making collaboration seamless and efficient.

Availability: June 2024 (2024 Release Wave 1)

Reference: Work together in real time to create canvas apps | Microsoft Learn

3. Customizable Offline Profiles

Optimize your offline-enabled apps by selecting specific columns for each table. This reduces unnecessary data load, ensuring a smoother and more efficient experience for users, even when they’re offline.

Example: A field agent app that only needs a subset of columns can be customized to download only the essential data, reducing load time and improving offline performance.

Availability: December 2024 (2024 Release Wave 2)

Reference: Select columns downloaded on mobile devices | Microsoft Learn

4. Code View for Canvas App Functionality

Power Apps introduces a Code View that allows developers to inspect, share, and copy control code easily using a YAML-based format. This feature is invaluable for understanding app functionality at a granular level.

Example: To view the code for a specific control, right-click on it in the tree view and select ‘View Code (Preview)’. This makes it easy to share and modify control code.

Availability: October 2024 (2024 Release Wave 2)

Reference: Use code view for canvas app controls (preview) – Power Apps | Microsoft Learn

Visuals:

  • To view the code for a control, right-click the control in the tree view or directly on the screen, and then select View Code (Preview).

To add a new control from the copied code, right-click on the screen where you want to place the new control, and then select Paste Code (Preview).

5. WYSIWYG Data Modeling with Copilot

Create tables and relationships visually with Copilot’s WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) data modeling feature. Copilot generates Entity Relationship Diagrams (ERDs), making complex data modeling easier and more intuitive.

Settings:

  1. Open Power Apps
  2. Invoke Copilot
  3. Create a Table
    1. Prompt
    1. Define Relationship
  4. Visualize Relationships
  5. Refine and Update

Example: With a few clicks, you can generate an ERD that visually represents your data tables and their relationships, making the process of creating and managing data models faster and simpler.

Availability: June 2024 (2024 Release Wave 1)

Reference: Visualize and work with complex data using copilot | Microsoft Learn

Visuals:

Describe the solution requirements.

The copilot will generate the ERD (Entity Relationship Diagram) based on the requirements

An AI-generated table containing sample data.

Drag and drop the entities to establish a relationship.

6. Seamless Pipeline Setup

Setting up deployment pipelines is now faster than ever. In less than 60 seconds, you can automate solution transitions between development, testing, and production environments, ensuring smoother releases and better version control.

Example: Set up a pipeline to automate your app’s deployment from development to production, reducing the risk of human error and ensuring smoother transitions.

Availability: June 2024 (2024 Release Wave 1)

Reference: Set up pipelines in Power Platform – Power Platform | Microsoft Learn

7. Canvas App Insights with Monitor

Monitor your app’s performance and get actionable insights to improve its functionality with the new Monitor tool. This feature helps identify issues and recommends improvements, ensuring a better user experience.

Example: After deploying an app, use the Monitor tool to check performance metrics and receive recommendations to optimize the app’s responsiveness.

Availability: December 2024 (2024 Release Wave 2)

Reference: Get valuable insights and recommendations for your canvas app using Monitor | Microsoft Learn

8. GitHub ALM Integration

With GitHub integration, Power Apps now supports Application Lifecycle Management (ALM), enabling developers to implement version control, continuous integration (CI), and continuous deployment (CD) workflows.

Example: By linking your Power Apps project to a GitHub repository, you can manage source code, automate deployments, and monitor testing processes in one unified platform.

Setting Up ALM in Power Apps with GitHub

  1. Create a GitHub Repository
  2. Install Power Platform Build Tools
  3. Export Solutions from Power Apps
  4. Set Up a CI/CD Pipeline
  5. Configure GitHub Actions
  6. Automate Testing
  7. Monitor and Maintain

Availability: September 2024 (2024 Release Wave 1)

Reference: Available GitHub Actions for Microsoft Power Platform development – Power Platform | Microsoft Learn

9. Smart Paste in Model-Driven Apps

Streamline data entry in model-driven apps with the new Smart Paste feature. This feature automatically suggests inputs based on the content copied to your clipboard, saving time and reducing manual entry errors.

Example: If you copy a list of addresses into your clipboard, Smart Paste will automatically fill out the corresponding fields in your model-driven app, making data entry faster and more accurate.

Availability: September 2024 (2024 Release Wave 1)

Reference: Use Copilot’s form fill assistance feature in model-driven apps – Power Apps | Microsoft Learn

Visuals:

The Smart Paste feature suggests inputs for the fields in the form by analyzing the copied text and the form structure.

To accept all suggestions on the open tab of the form, on the notification bar, select Accept all suggestions.

10. SQL Server Procedure Integration

You can now call SQL Server stored procedures directly in PowerFx without relying on Power Automate, simplifying the app development process and improving performance.

Example: The following PowerFx formula demonstrates how to call a stored procedure: ClearCollect(ResultCollection, SQLConnection.spMyStoredProcedure(param1: TextInput1.Text).ResultSets.Table1).

Availability: September 2024 (2024 Release Wave 1)

Reference: Call SQL Server stored procedures directly in Power Fx (Preview) – Microsoft Power Platform Blog

Example:

ClearCollect(
    ResultCollection,
    SQLConnection.spMyStoredProcedure(
        param1: TextInput1.Text
    ).ResultSets.Table1
)

Select the stored procedure, as shown in the image below.

Below is an example of reference code that you can use in the Power Fx formula bar

Conclusion

The 2024 Power Apps features offer developers powerful tools to improve efficiency, collaboration, and app performance. These updates, including real-time co-authoring, enhanced offline capabilities, and better integration with GitHub and SQL Server, will significantly streamline your development process and improve your app’s functionality.

Stay ahead of the curve by exploring these features today. For detailed guides and video tutorials, visit Microsoft Learn or watch the latest demo videos on Sysfore’s YouTube channel.

Low Code Application Tools

HABY JOSEPH
Low Code Application tools

Companies that are ahead of the game

Businesses are increasingly relying on the latest technological advancements in order to stay competitive. Low code application tools, which allow for rapid development of mobile and web applications without coding, can be a significant asset for companies looking to leverage technology as a way of streamlining their processes and increasing efficiency and are increasingly relying on the latest low-code application tools to build and deploy applications that can scale with their needs.

Many businesses are adopting low code application tools that allow non-technical or business users. These tools enable them to develop software without writing any lines of code. The result is a rapid development process that can be tailored for specific needs and scaled quickly as needed. Low code application tools can be a great way for businesses of all sizes, from startups to enterprises, to get started with developing custom apps without having an in-house team of coders. This is why low code application tools have become so popular in recent years.

Every day business needs change, but it is impossible to change the infrastructure and platform used for creating applications. It is not easy to find a solution that allows you to quickly build new applications without changing the current infrastructure. But thanks to the low code development, this problem can be solved. Low code application development technology allows creating a new application without writing a single line of code. It allows creating fully-functional applications in a  short time.

Low code application development platforms have the following features: .

Tools for Visual Modeling – creating simple and nice user interface(UI) 

Not all app builders are created equal. Low-code platforms enable you to create a working app in less time than it would take to do it yourself. And since data drawn on a visual model is readable by anyone, no coding skills are necessary. 

Application lifecycle management 

A low-code development platform helps your team build better software faster. Low-code services remove the need for boilerplate code that is cumbersome and time consuming to write, enabling less technical employees to build better apps in less time with superior support.  

Security 

It is important to look closely into the security features of any low-code solution you are considering  
in order to protect your apps and overall platform. Does such platform integrate well with your existing enterprise security, provide multi-factor authentication and role based access? 

Scalability 

Low-code systems should be versatile.  It should be able to support your business as it grows, allowing you to hire more staff and work faster but still have oversight over every aspect of the project from conception to delivery. So it should easily allow you to adapt to any given change in your business process as per your dynamic growth. 

Cross-platform compatibility 

Cross-platform compatibility is a useful feature of low-code platforms. In addition to the ability to use the low-code platform on any device running major operational systems, its cross-platform compatibility allows users to build apps that can also run on all core platforms and devices.   

Monitoring and Reporting 

Any app that can keep track of complex and involved processes or activities like marketing can easily be monitored using low-code. By monitoring such activities closely, app developers can recognize areas in need of improvement to make sure the business is running smoothly. 

Functionality out-of-the-box 

The ability to build apps out of the box is not an advantage of low-code systems alone though. There are a number of development tools available where you can just select an action, and the action will be built for you automatically – so there’s no need to code that part yourself. 

Interfaces with drag-and-drop 

Every citizen developer and professional developer relies on the convenience drag-and-drop features provide during application creation. In fact, the low-code development platform that you will be working with today has a lot of features to make your job much easier including the option to take advantage of drag-and-drop capabilities! 

Code / Module Reusability  

One of the features that software development platforms can’t deliver out of the box is a large number of pre-built, customizable modules and functionalities. These commonly shared functionalities are essential to building more than one application, which is why it’s important for a low-code platform to allow for these ready-made elements to be freely chopped up, rearranged, or even repurposed. 

Integration with existing Applications  

A key feature for large organization is to extend their traditional web applications or ERP system or CRM to all the users for more business scenarios and improvements. Low code platform should support quick integration using APIs or connectors in a standard manner. 

Low Code is the first visual programming language that lets you build software without writing any code. So, You don’t need to code your next web app.

Why Businesses are choosing Low Code No Code Solution 

Business process management is no longer a time consuming and painful task. With the help of Low Code Process Automation Platform, you can automate your business processes from start to finish. 

It can save you hours on end by automatically processing data for your customers, employees, and partners. Your employees will be able to execute tasks without doing repetitive tasks which can improve their morale and productivity. It also removes the need for manual updates to spreadsheets or databases which could increase your company’s efficiency. 

The Low Code No Code platform is a tool for building and deploying apps on any device or cloud environment. It’s a great option for businesses of all sizes, from startups to enterprise organizations. With the platform you are able to easily create web applications with drag-and-drop functionality and prebuilt app templates that can be customized in minutes with no programming required! The intuitive interface makes it easy to build your own custom app in minutes, so you’re up and running quickly and effortlessly. 

When you look at the evolution of application development, it is clear that low code rapid application development is the future. Low code development gives organizations opportunities to create robust applications that are easy to manage and maintain, without having to learn how to code. 

Example Use Cases 

Employee Onboarding 

A very useful onboarding task app is one which might provide an employee a list of contacts they need to connect with, along with links to policy documents, company directory information and various content. These sort of apps can be highly effective ways to make sure new employees know who they need to reach out to for various things as soon as they’re on board! 

Applications for Servicing Requests 

A platform that offers many different resources for businesses to reach out to customers in various ways. It helps users build interactive tools meant for businesses to use and share with others via the cloud or through mobile. The solution also provides businesses with an on-demand app store which features links, scripts, apps and other solutions. 

Supply chain management 

Sometimes users enjoy ordering goods through mobile apps, but it’s important that their business is also managed more easily. By using a supply chain management portal on the iPad or iPhone, businesses can quickly share information between departments, track inventory and communicate with customers in real time. 

SaaS App Development 

The traditional way of doing things can be a bit tiresome at times. Imagine having to continually go through the same processes (performing some of the same tasks) over and over again. How much time would you save if there was a quicker way? A low-code technology makes it easier to reduce time spent correcting bugs, automating repetitive tasks and implementing features in the first place! 

App for Budget Request and Approval 

Low-code enables professionals to build, connect and productionize their own business applications from scratch with very little technical assistance. Its cloud-native architecture allows the software to increase or decrease in size based on the needs of the organization. 

IoT enabled Integration  

IoT enables business solutions to move faster internally and enhance customer engagement. Current challenges in the consumer goods industry can be quickly addressed with IoT-enabled products and expertly-designed mobile apps like the ones we create for our clients. 

Regulatory Compliance 

In order to comply with laws, many businesses must enact internal rules and regulations (ESG, CSR etc..). Low-code development reduces the amount of paperwork businesses have to fill in. An important perk to being a business owner is that you get to spend some more time away from the office while still making sure your company remains entirely legal. 

Low code is the best way to build fast enterprise-grade applications. 

Low code is a robust alternative to traditional, rigid, and time-consuming software development methods. It offers its users point-and-click configuration for their apps, which is why it can be leveraged by developers with minimal programming skills. Low code is also beneficial for enterprises because of its role in accelerating the entire application development process. 

Listing a few Enterprise Low Code No Code Platforms  

The benefits of using low code process automation platform are endless, but one thing is for sure – it will change the way you do business forever! 

ESG Compliance Tool Sustainability Reporting

HABY JOSEPH
ESG Compliance Software Application

What is an ESG Compliance Tool?

ESG compliance toolis an Enterprise software tool accessible over the internet to Manage, Track and Report the ESG goals of any organization. This application helps organizations in collecting the data that is related to the BRSR report. The data that is collected is used by the application to generate a report which is in the format that is given by SEBI, and this report can be submitted to SEBI. ESG management can be complex, time consuming and expensive. That is why we offer a sustainability tool designed specifically for the needs of your company, so you are not stuck in spreadsheets or email chains all day long!

What are the Benefits of an ESG Tool?

This application helps in quick and organized collection of data across different departments in an organization for the yearly tedious task of data collection. 
The tool has built in an approval hierarchy which can be configured so that every data that is submitted can be approved before it goes to be generated in the report.  

Data collection will become more fun and entertaining when using the tool than it is now, when paper usage is still in use. 
The ESG app helps in providing quick insights regarding the total data that has been entered, which would not be possible using the paper/excel based data collection.

All the data that has been collected through the years can be viewed at any point of time in the ESG Tool. 
There is surety in the data stored as access to these data can be defined based on the roles/users. 
The application keeps track of all the data that is changed and modified at a given point of time. 

ESG Compliance Software Application

ESG Importance and what Data Can Be Analyzed with an ESG Platform? 

Investors, companies and banks alike are more closely examining the impact of ESG factors as climate change appears to be growing more imminent and social injustice issues have been pushed increasingly into the limelight. 

Just recently there has been an emphasized focus on sustainable matters: especially since the younger generations of today are labeled as “sustainable natives.” These people have brought sustainability to the forefront of the economy and will continue to do so. We, the investors, have no choice but to be more aware and look for investments that comply with ESG criteria; otherwise, we risk not only our money but also having to look at ourselves in the mirror every morning and ask ourselves if it was worth it. 

Independently both shareholders and investors look at overall numbers to make sure organizational goals are aligned toward a sustainable and long-term growth. While caring about social issues as much as financial ones, each player must also be aware of their individual pressures in terms of generating revenue for the company’s growth. 

Business data that an ESG Compliance tool can analyze include: -Environmental metrics – including carbon emissions, water usage efficiency and recycling rates -Social metrics – including employee turnover rates and diversity statistics -Governance metrics – 
ESG platforms are a great way to analyze many types of data. These include:

  • Environmental Impact  
  • Social Responsibility  
  • Governance  
  • Corporate Citizenship 
  • Sustainability Reporting  
  • Compliance with Laws and Regulations 
  • Financial data  
  • Sales and marketing data  
  • Customer service and support data  
  • Human resource management or HRM data  
  • Product development, engineering, and manufacturing (PDEM) data
    and many more reports generated!
ESG-Compliance-App-Various-Departments

How Does an ESG Platform Work? 

ESG Platforms are designed to help companies manage their environmental, social, and governance risks. This blog will go over the basics of what an ESG platform is and how it works.  

There are many diverse types of ESG platforms, but all have a few things in common:  

  • they provide reporting on sustainability performance,  
  • tools for managing risk,  
  • data analytics capabilities for understanding trends in the marketplace,  
  • and collaboration with stakeholders.  

ESG platforms work by providing information that helps organizations make more informed decisions about their business practices. They do this through various ways such as providing data or insight into specific markets or industries; connecting with other relevant stakeholders; guiding decision-making processes; helping identify potential opportunities for improvement; and creating transparency around sustainability performance. The ESG compliance app works on the PowerApps platform. Only users who are authenticated and have access to the application in the Power Platform Environment can work on the application. 

ESG Compliance Software Application

What are the Different Components of an ESG Compliance Tool?

The ESG Compliance Tool comprises of 4 components (Department Users, Department HODs, Corporate Affairs and Management) which works together for seamless UX. 
The Department Users part of the tool is where the data is collected. These collections of data will happen across different departments, and once collected, will be submitted for review. 
The Department HODs part of the application is where the data submitted is reviewed. This data is only the data that belongs to one department and can be sent back for further corrections. This process can happen multiple times until satisfactory data is submitted. Corporate Affairs and Management are the key stakeholders who would be using the application as Data providers and Approvers. 

The management section is used to review all the answers that are submitted by the people using the Approver section. This data can be sent back/verified based on what the user feels. This section also allows a user to generate reports that contain the data in a report format and allows a user to export their data into multiple report formats.
The Management Application can manage the reporting data collation and control access across the departments. The admin Management controls the users and the departments that exist in the system. 

ESG Compliance Software Application
ESG Compliance Software Application

The Moral Obligation of an ESG Strategy for a Company 

It is important to think about how your company is going to be affected by the world around you. ESG strategy can help a business anticipate and plan for any potential risks, such as climate change or increased regulation. ESG stands for environmental, social, and governance factors that are related to sustainability. One of the most important aspects of an ESG strategy is understanding what your company does well in terms of these three factors. For example, if a company has a powerful reputation for its fair treatment of employees, then it would have an advantage over another company with lower scores on this metric. It is also essential for companies to monitor external developments that could affect their operations – such as new regulations or changes in consumer behavior due to technological advances. 

Today, investors want companies to give the highest importance to these. New investments and growth of a corporation are to be focused on the sustainable goals which are defined. Every business must have a plan for sustainable development to get investments from investors. The investors will look at the vision and mission for the future of the organization. 

ESG Compliance Software Application Future 

Karinne Chapel, Chief ESG Data and Digital Officer at BNP Paribas Corporate and Institutional Banking, agrees that these initiatives are beneficial for the environmental community because it is a collaborative effort to improve transparency and awareness about what everyone can do to mitigate the dangers of climate change. 

Much like in previous years, according to the Global Sustainability Report 2019, published by the G&A institute a year ago, it was found that corporate sustainability reporting has increased over time. For instance, 65% of the companies participating in Russell 1000 index published sustainability reports in various years of research and only 60% did so in 2018. The percentage of largest 500 companies by market cap referring to sustainability issues has increased from 86% in 2018 to 90% in 2019. 

ESG Compliance Software Application
ESG Compliance Software Screens

ESG Compliance and Management Dashboard 

ESG compliance Dashboard is a cutting-edge data visualization and reporting tool to monitor the ESG key performance indicators in real time to present the correlation between the complex environmental, social and governance issues. 

The purpose of the ESG dashboard is to assist businesses during large-scale ESG compliance procedures, explore and increase internal as well as external ESG activities to enhance the effect in the extended term. This allows management to see the progress across the organization on a variety of topics, such as environmental sustainability and employee satisfaction, that have been defined. The goals can be monitored and based on that the improvement could be efficiently measured. ESG stakeholders and senior pros need a dynamic yet easy-to-use ESG dashboard to aid and help them range through the complicated processes involved with ESG assets and legislation.  

Sysfore ESG application is built on the latest Microsoft Power platform tools like Power Apps, Power Automate and Power BI. This helps it more easily to configure and manage the ever-changing landscape of ESG parameters and helps the organization to scale as required. 

ESG Compliance Software Application

Conclusion: Why Every Business Should Care About ESG Management 

ESG is a hot topic for businesses. It can be difficult to understand, but it’s important to know what ESG stands for and how it impacts your business. Environmental Social Governance are the three pillars of ESG management. These encompass all aspects of environmental protection, social equity, and corporate governance. When you invest in these areas, you not only help protect the environment but also promote sustainable development practices that will benefit everyone involved in your company. There are many benefits to investing in ESG management including: -Earning public trust -Increasing employee engagement -Lowering operational costs. 

So why wait! Register now > ESG Compliance software app enquiry
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