My Journey Through the Microsoft Power-Up Program

Microsoft Power Up program is a 12-week hands-on course that aims to empower participants with the knowledge they need to excel in low-code application development and provide solutions for businesses and organizations. These solutions include creating websites, automating repetitive tasks, deploying virtual agents, data analysis, and visualization. Each week covers a particular component of the power platform and ends with a live Q&A session with the instructors. Upon completing the program, graduates will be prepared to take the relevant Power Platform certifications and advance their careers in low-code application development.

I had never considered myself a core techie, I can be best described as being at the fringe of tech, because I usually try to keep up with the latest trends but I was always shy of coding. When I read a post about the Microsoft Power Up Program on Twitter, I was intrigued because I couldn’t believe it was free and that the program covers the entire Power Up ecosystem including peripheral components like the Dataverse and Connectors. The lessons were designed to take a participant from beginner to intermediate level.

I was a little nervous about it at first because I didn’t have any programming experience, and I didn’t know if I could keep up, but the lessons were easy to follow. Microsoft gave us access to all the premium services in the power platform, plus the hands-on lab manuals were very comprehensive and easy to replicate.

We were given real-world problems to solve, and we had to use the Platform to build solutions. This helped me to learn the material and to see how it could be used in a practical way.

Another thing I appreciated was the community. We had a forum where we could ask questions and get help from other learners.

After 12 weeks, I was able to build my own app for the final app challenge, and I had a better understanding of how the platform could be used to solve business problems. I was also more confident in my ability to learn new technologies.

Here is a brief discussion of each Power App:

• Power Apps: Power Apps is a tool that allows you to build custom apps without writing code. You can use it to create apps for your own organization or for your clients.
• Power BI: Power BI is a tool that allows you to clean, analyze, visualize, and model data. You can use Power BI to create reports and dashboards that enable you to derive more insights from your data.
• Power Automate lets users create automated workflows between applications and services. It creates a sequence of processes that may perform repetitive tasks such as making appointments, recording data, sending emails, etc.
• Microsoft Power Virtual Agents is a no-code AI chatbot development platform that enables anyone to create powerful, engaging, and personalized conversational bots that can answer questions, resolve issues, and serve as customer service representatives.
• Microsoft Power Pages is a low-code platform that allows you to create and publish beautiful, responsive websites without writing any code. Power Pages also includes features for managing your website, such as adding security and monitoring traffic.
• The Dataverse allows organizations to securely store and manage data used by their applications. The data is stored in tables.
• Data connectors act as the bridge between data sources and your app or workflow. Connectors also include a series of actions that simplify the process of working with those data sources. For example, the Office 365 Outlook connector has prebuilt actions for working with mailboxes, such as downloading attachments, sending emails, managing events, and more.

Real-World Applications for Microsoft Power App Platform

In Governance

• Manage disaster relief efforts. The Power Platform can be used to build applications that help governments manage disaster relief efforts. These applications can be used to track the needs of survivors, coordinate the delivery of aid, and track the progress of recovery efforts.
• Improve transparency and accountability. The Power Platform can be used to build applications that make government data more accessible and transparent. This information can be used by citizens to hold their government accountable and to make informed decisions about their elected officials.

For Businesses

• Automate customer service tasks. The Power Platform can be used to automate customer service tasks, such as responding to emails and resolving complaints. This can free up staff time so they can focus on other tasks, such as providing more personalized customer service.
• Improve supply chain management. The Power Platform can be used to improve supply chain management by tracking inventory levels, managing orders, and forecasting demand. This can help businesses to reduce costs and improve efficiency.

In Public Health

• Track and manage chronic diseases. The Power Platform can be used to create apps and workflows to track and manage chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. These apps can help patients track their symptoms, medications, and appointments. They can also help doctors and nurses monitor patients’ progress and provide personalized care.
• Public health education. The Power Platform can be used to create apps to educate the public about public health issues. These apps can provide information about healthy eating, exercise, and other preventive measures. They can also help people find healthcare providers and resources.

Looking for new career growth opportunities? Then I strongly recommend this program for you. Program participants will also be awarded vouchers to register for Microsoft Power Platform certification exams.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to reach out through my Twitter profile and I’m looking forward to hearing your comments as well!