Start by understanding the purpose of your Power App.

What problem are you trying to solve?

Who is the target audience?

Research and choose the right template for your Power App. Microsoft offers a variety of templates to choose from. Including those for data entry, inventory management, and task management.

Customise the template to fit your specific needs. This includes adding your own data, customising the layout, and adding new features.

Utilise SEO keywords and long-tail keywords in the title. And throughout the content of your Power App to ensure that it is easily discoverable.

To ensure the app is functioning correctly and that all features are working as intended.

Finally, share your Power App with your target audience. and gather feedback to make any necessary improvements.

Optimise the app for better performance and make sure it's mobile friendly

To improve your app's visibility.

A write a blog article to share your experiences. Explain your process. The benefits of your Power App. The importance of embedded SEO keywords and long-tail keywords.

If you are experiencing errors and becoming frustrated.

There are a few things you can do to help alleviate the frustration:

Take some time to relax and engage in an activity that you enjoy. 

Remember, it's important to stay calm and not let frustration get the better of you. With patience, persistence, and the right approach, you will be able to overcome any errors.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can revolutionise the back office.

The way businesses handle their invoicing and accounts processes. One of the ways AI can do this is by using natural language processing (NLP). To extract invoice descriptions and add the data to accounts software.

The system can also be configured to automatically match invoices with purchase orders. Ensuring that all invoices are accounted for and reducing the risk of errors.

AI-powered invoice processing can also be integrated with other systems. Such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. To provide a more comprehensive view of a business's financial data.

Overall, the use of AI to extract invoice descriptions and add the data to accounts software.

Can help businesses streamline their invoicing and accounting processes. Leading to increased efficiency and cost savings.

The fourth industrial revolution has truely arrived.

What is the Power Platform?

If you have Office 365, you already have access to the Power Platform. The platform includes Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power BI. With these apps, you can create custom apps. Automate workflows, and create data visualisations.

These are low code/no code tools. Offering you unlimited possibilities for creating custom business apps. Without the expense of large-scale development projects.

Advantages of building your own app.

• You design and own the app.
• No third-party software offering features and capabilities you never use. Not to mention integration issues.
• No third-party recurring monthly or yearly software costs.
  

Microsoft Power Apps for Service Request

Microsoft PowerApps for Expense & Purchase Approval

Managing budgets, expenses, and purchase approvals is a tedious job at the best of times. Not to mention report generation.

The process can involve multiple submissions and processes.

Using PowerApps, a user can submit expenses or purposed purchases. For approval with valid proofs.

The manager can approve or reject the request and add comments if required. The requester is updated on the status of the request through notifications. The app can be integrated with Power BI reports and any existing HR system.

What is AI Builder?

AI Builder is a feature within the Power Platform that allows users to create custom AI models.

Without the need for specialised coding knowledge. Members of staff can leverage pre-built templates. Then using their own data to train models to perform tasks. Such as

• Image recognition.
• Text classification.
• Form processing. 
• Sentiment analysis.
• Predictive maintenance
  

AI models can be integrated into Power Apps and Power Automate workflows.

Microsoft PowerApps for Employee Onboarding

A growing business is generally constantly struggling with day-to-day things. For example the demands of onboarding new employees. The process is time-consuming and prone to errors. As a business increases in size. It becomes increasingly difficult.

To ensure all new members of staff are successful in their new roles. They must have acess to the information and resources they need.

A noteworthy feature of Microsoft PowerApps. Is its ability to seamlessly integrate with data stored in other Office applications. Like Outlook, tasks, and calendars. Using PowerApps, an employee onboarding app can be built to pull together resources.

Like policy guides, team member contacts, and forms. On to a single platform so that employees have a hassle-free onboarding experience. This also simplifies the role of the HR onboarding for new hires. 

And more.

• Job application.
  
• Complying with HR regulations.
• Time sheets (automate the process of tracking employee time).
  
• Time sheets for third-party. For example Food & Beverage Audits contractor.
  
• Sick leave.
  
• Time Off, holiday requests.
  
• Performance Review and goals.
  
• Offboarding (a process that completes the end of a professional relationship between an employee and the company they work for).
  

Operational continuity

The recent pandemic illustrated the importance of tracking employee health. Their well-being, grievance handling, and employee collaboration, all can be managed remotely.

Microsoft PowerApps for Inventory Management

The Power Platform is an effective real time inventory and asset management tool. An app can keep track of your inventory and assets. Can also help you automate and or review the process of re-ordering and tracking inventory. Plus generate mangement reports.

There are Microsoft customer case studies. Where organisations have replaced a six-figure a year 3rd party tool with a custom Power App. 

For the hospitality industry effective inventory, and checklist management is crucial. Hotels to restaurants, keeping track of inventory. Can be a time-consuming and error-prone task.

But with Microsoft PowerApps. Businesses in the hospitality industry can streamline their inventory management processes. And gain greater control over their inventory. 

For example this can help businesses quickly identify shrinkage.

And more.

Fictional cases for using Microsoft Power Apps audits.

Hotel Manager

As the manager of a busy hotel, I was constantly struggling to keep track of all the different aspects of the business. From finances to customer satisfaction, there was always so much data to analyse and so little time to do it. That's when I discovered Microsoft Power Apps.

But what really made the biggest difference for me was the collaboration feature. I was able to share data with my team and work together to make improvements to the business.

Thanks to Power Apps, I no longer feel overwhelmed by the data. I have the insights I need. To make informed decisions and improve the overall performance of my hotel. It's a game-changer!

HouseKeeper

As a housekeeper at a large hotel. My days were always filled with endless tasks and never enough time to complete them all. One of my biggest challenges was the daily room audit. The old way of doing it was time-consuming and prone to errors. But that all changed when our hotel started using Microsoft Power Apps for our room audits.

With the help of customisable forms and automated data validation. I was able to quickly and easily complete my room audits. And the real-time data visualization allowed me to quickly spot any issues.

Thanks to Power Apps, my days as a housekeeper has become more manageable. Less stressful and I feel more productive. It's amazing how much of a difference technology can make in our daily lives!

Restaurateur story of woo

Once upon a time, there was a small restaurant called "The Power Apps Kitchen". The owners were very passionate about serving delicious food to their customers. But they were always concerned about maintaining the highest levels of food hygiene. They knew that a single mistake could lead to a devastating loss of reputation. And potentially harm their customers.

The app was incredibly user-friendly. And allowed the chefs and staff to quickly and easily input data. Such as the temperature of refrigerators. The cleanliness of kitchen surfaces. The expiration dates of ingredients.

The owners were overjoyed with the results. Not only were they able to ensure that their food hygiene practices were always up to par. But they were also able to save time and money by reducing the number of audits they had to conduct manually.

The customers were also happy. Because they knew that the restaurant was taking their safety seriously. They could enjoy their meals with peace of mind. Knowing that the food they were eating was prepared in a clean and safe environment.

The hospitality industry is a vital part of the global economy.

For businesses in this sector. It's essential to have efficient and effective methods for tracking and analysing data. 

One powerful tool for achieving this goal is Microsoft Power Apps. Power Apps can be used to create custom, user-friendly audit applications.

Requirements

Microsoft Office 365 E3 licence. Alternatively, you can purchase services separately. Recommendation purchase MS O365 E3 licence.

Who Can Benefit from Microsoft Power Apps in the Hospitality Industry?

Businesses of all sizes in the hospitality industry. Hotels, resorts, and restaurants, can benefit from using Power Apps for auditing. The ability to create custom audit applications tailored to specific needs. This means businesses can quickly and easily track and analyse data. Related to operations, finances, and customer satisfaction.

What Are the Key Features of Power Apps for Auditing in the Hospitality Industry?

Automated data validation and error checking. Real-time data visualisation and reporting. Integration with other Microsoft Office 365 applications. Ability to share data and collaborate with team members.

When Should You Use Power Apps for Auditing in the Hospitality Industry?

Businesses in the hospitality industry should consider using Power Apps for auditing. At any time they want to improve their data tracking and analysis processes. Whether you are looking to streamline operations. Improve customer satisfaction, or gain a better understanding of your financial performance. Power Apps can help.

Where Can You Find More Information? About Power Apps for Auditing in the Hospitality Industry?

Microsoft's official website and online documentation provide more information about Power Apps. Including tutorials and case studies. These resources can help you get started with creating custom audit applications.

Apps for a specific use Cloud Hound courses.

Why Should You Use Power Apps for Auditing in the Hospitality Industry?

Using Power Apps for auditing. In the hospitality industry can bring significant benefits, including:

How Can You Get Started with Power Apps for Auditing in the Hospitality Industry?

Getting started with Power Apps for auditing in the hospitality industry is easy.

First, visit the Microsoft website and sign up for a free trial of Power Apps.

Next, explore the tutorials.

Case studies available.

To learn more about how to create custom audit applications Cloud Hound.

Finally, start experimenting. With the various features and tools available. To create a custom audit application tailored to your specific needs.

Free for logged in users

Microsoft lists and Power Automate

Creating website forms can be challenging to setup. In the past Microsoft offered InfoPath. Personally, I used JotForm for websites. For a while, Microsoft did not offer an InfoPath alternative. Then Microsoft released Microsoft Forms. Initially for the education sector only. Business customers successfully reached out to Microsoft. Requesting ‘Forms’ to be released for business customers.

Scenario

You have a website where you want to add a form. You need form submissions to be automatically posted. To a SharePoint list or Excel or Common Data Service (CDS, Dynamics CRM). You may possibly want to use the data to produce Power BI reports.

Requirements

Microsoft Office 365 E3 license. Alternatively, you can purchase services separately. Recommendation purchase MS O365 E3 license.

Objective

In this article, you are going to learn how to add a MS Event Feedback Survey Form. To a WordPress website (the above form). How to use Power Automate to automatically pass form data to populate a SharePoint list.

Part One - Create a Form and SharePoint List.

Setup Time: 30 minutes

Setup Overview: These setup instructions walk through the steps required to configure. A ‘Microsoft Form. A Microsoft SharePoint Online (SPO) List.’ The lab exercise for PAF365: Power Automate Bootcamp.

Log in to Office 365. Click the square dots. Top left corner and choose ‘Forms’. If you do not see ‘Forms’ click ‘Explore all your apps’ and choose ‘Forms’ see below.

You can create your own form. Just choose ‘New Form.’

In the new pop up window. Click ‘Untitled form.’ Name your form ‘Event Feedback Survey.’ For description type. ‘Gauge areas of success and improvement for your event. By collecting customer input around time, location, content, speakers, and so on.’

Next click ‘+ Add New’ button and in the revealed options click ‘Add all.’ This tutorial will use defaults. If you prefer you can, of course, add your own questions.

Should you choose to you can add a ‘Form theme’ (1) or simply click ‘Preview’ (2) to view your form.

Forms can be previewed either as a desktop form (1) or a mobile view (2). To view the previous screen, click ‘Back’ (3).

To add the form to a website page you need iframe code. Click the ‘Share’ button (1) and click the angle brackets icon (2). Click the ‘Copy’ button (3).

Note: Text 'Only people in my organisation can respond.' Click the drop down to select 'Anyone with a link can respond.'

Create or edit a webpage or blog post. 

How you add the iframe code is dependent upon your WordPress editor. Assuming you are using WordPress default editor. Then click the code block icon to add your iframe code see image below.

Next test your form. Either preview or publish to test your form. Answer the questions and click the ‘Submit’ button. We require some test data.

Return to your ‘Forms’ default window. You should see your form under ‘My forms.’ At the bottom, you should see the number of ‘Responses’. You should see one response.

Click on the form. At the top of the form. You should see two tabs. ‘Questions’ and ‘Responses.’ The next to ‘Responses’ is the number ‘One’ in your case see the image below. Click the ‘Responses’ tab.

Take a little time to view the results. Then click ‘Open in Excel.’

The Excel workbook will download to your device. Open the Excel workbook see below.

The reason for creating an Excel workbook. We can create a list using the spreadsheet. Microsoft has published an ‘easy how to create a list based on a spreadsheet’. Certainly, easier to create an automated SharePoint Online (SPO) list. Then manually create an SPO list. 

Open SharePoint. Click the square shape dots (1) then click lists. If you do not see lists. Click ‘Explore all your apps’ bottom of the screen and choose ‘Lists’ see the image below.

In the popup window click ‘From Excel.’

In the updated popup windows. Click ‘Upload file.’ If ‘Table1’ is not automatically set up click the drop-down and choose table one. You should see your question data see the image below and click the next button.

All being well you should see your SPO list.

Congratulations.

Part Two – build a Power Automate Flow.

Setup Time: 30 minutes

Setup Overview: These setup instructions walk through the steps required to configure. A ‘Power Automate Flow’ the lab exercise for PAF365: Power Automate Bootcamp.

Your next step is to automate the collection of website visitor questionnaire submissions. To your SharePoint list. Once you have collected a reasonable number of questionnaire responses. You could choose to use Power BI to carry out an analysis. You may want to send an automated thank you email to those who completed the form. But that capability is for a future article.

Viewing the ‘Lists’ window you will see ‘Automate’ click and select ‘Create a flow.’

Scroll down the ‘Flow’ options and pop out the window to click ‘See more templates.’

Power Automate opens. In the search box. Type ‘Forms’ (1) and press enter on your keyboard then click ‘Record form responses in SharePoint.’

A new window opens. Confirm you are logged in to MS Forms & MS SharePoint. If not, simply click to do so (1). Then click the ‘Continue’ button (2).

Power Automate opens the ‘Flow.’

1. For ‘Form id’ you need to add the ‘Form’ name. Click the drop- down and select.

For ‘Get response details’ add ‘Form id’ (2) by clicking the drop-down and choosing your form. For ‘Response Id’ (2) place the mouse cursor in the box and choose ‘List of response notifications Response Id’ (3).

The next step ‘Get user profile (2)’you can miss[1]. If the form is used for organisational purposes only and users are Office 365 users, this step can capture user details for example email.

[1] If there is demand a future tutorial will show you how to add email input to your ‘Form’ and ‘Flow’ and send a thank you email to the person submitting the form.

Note: Users do not need to add an email address. Useful if you wish to send an automated thank-you email or follow-up information.

If your form is to be used for a public website. Then you wish to capture email addresses you will need to add form user input for email[1].

[1] General Data Protection Regulation

‘Get user profile (2)’ cannot be applied to capture user details.

If the form has an email input, it will appear in the next step ‘Create item’.

‘Create item’ you need to specify. A SharePoint ‘Site Address’ the ‘List Name.’ All other inputs follow the same steps as previously. Place your mouse cursor in the box (1), locate the input from the submenu (2) click to add.

Note: Assuming you did not add ‘Get user profile (2)’ you will not have options for ‘Email’ and ‘Name.’

5. Save your Flow. And run ‘Flow checker.’

6. To test your ‘Flow’ you need some data. Return to your Form and answer your questions.

7. Return to your ‘List.’ You should see your data.

Note: To make three list entries more descriptive I have renamed the columns.

If your flow didn’t succeed click the ‘Start’ title to learn where your flow 'Test failed.'

Do not worry if your ‘Flow’ failed it is a good learning opportunity. Review this tutorial to identify where you may have made an error.

Congratulations on completing this tutorial.

Download a pdf version of this article.

Note: The above illustrates a desktop test. Using a phone or tablet you would use the camera to capture the receipt. 

AI receipt scanning...

Microsoft PowerApps has released a fantastic app to help you submit expense reports. All too often receipts are misplaced. Or quite rightly, more urgent tasks take priority. Assuming receipts are found you may be able to submit them at a later date. If the accounts department allows.

I am not going to show you how to build a receipt processing app. Microsoft has produced an excellent training module click here…

Unfortunately, the training module does not really explain. How to send receipt data from PowerApps to Power Automate (Flow) and then on to your data storage of choice.

This article will show you how to code PowerApp submit button to send receipt data to Power Automate. Then forward the data to One Drive for Business, Excel spreadsheet.

Assuming you are not in the US you might notice currency is in dollars. You can code this to show the currency of your choice. Personally, I do not think it is worth the effort. Excel is the data’s destination and uses spreadsheet functionality this can be easily amended.

So, add a button and name the button text ‘Submit.’

Build the flow

You can either initiate a ‘Power Automate’ from Power Apps, the ‘Action’ menu. Alternatively, open Power Automate in a new browser tab.

On the left click ‘Create’ (1) and along the top, you have options to start from blank. Choose ‘Instant Flow’ (2).

A new window appears. Name your flow. For example ‘Expenses.’ Then click the radio button. On the left choose ‘PowerApps.’ Next click ‘Create.’ You should see the below.

We need to add a ‘Compose’ data operation. Click the ‘New Step’ button.

In the search box type ‘compose.’ Below you should see ‘Compose Data Operations’ click to select.

Place your mouse cursor in the ‘Inputs’ box and on the right sub-menu choose ‘Ask In Power Apps.’

See the beneath.

If you are new to Power Automate. You might be surprised to learn at this stage, we need to ‘Save’ the flow and return to PowerApps. We need to implement this step to be able to generate a JSON scheme.

1. Select the button.
2. Choose Action from the menu.
3. From the ribbon menu select ‘Power Automate.’
4. Select the ‘Expenses’ the ‘Power Automate’ you just created.
5. Complete the button ‘OnSelect’ code see below

Next, we need to add a receipt. Click the ‘Play’ button and a new window opens.  

Click the receipt button(1). You need to have previously scanned a receipt and saved the receipt to wherever you choose. Navigate to the saved scan(2), click to select the scanned receipt, and click open (3).

You should see a circle spinning while it processes the receipt. Once complete you should see your table populated. Click the ‘Submit’ button.

Close the window to return to your app development screen. Assuming all went well you should not see any red circles with white cross.

Return to your ‘Power Automate’ flow and you should see the below ‘Succeeded.’

Congratulations.

Complete the flow

Click the title (1 - above) and your Flow will open a new view (see below).

Place your mouse cursor in the ‘Outputs’ (1) box. Hold down the keyboard ‘Ctrl’ key and press ‘A’ to select all. Still holding down the ‘Ctrl’ key press ‘C’ key. Open Notepad or Notepad ++ and place your mouse cursor in the Notepad then press ‘Ctrl’ and ‘P’ keys. You should see something like the one below.

Next you need to edit your flow.

Click the Edit icon top right.

Your next step is to add ‘Parse JSON.’ Click new step and type ‘Parse JSON.’

Expand ‘Parse Json’ to add inputs. Place your mouse cursor in the ‘Content’ (1) box and from the sub-menu on the right and click ‘Outputs’ (2).

Next, we need to generate a ‘Schema’ and click the Generate from sample button (3).

Return to your Notepad and copy the code you pasted earlier. Then click the ‘Done’ button.

Next click ‘+New step’ button and type in the search ‘Apply to Each’ (1) and select (2).

Place your mouse cursor. In the ‘Select an output.' From previous steps (1). Scroll down to the ‘Compose’ section. Select ‘Output’ (2) from the right-hand submenu.

Next click ‘Add an action’ and select ‘Excel Online (Business)’. I am assuming. You have implemented the Get started with receipt processing in AI Builder exercise. If not and you wish to add your receipt data. To ‘One Drive for business – Excel’ then you need to add an Excel workbook (instructions here).

Next, you need to select ‘Excel Online Business’ see above. Then choose ‘Add a row into a table.’

Next for ‘Locations' click the drop-down and choose ‘OneDrive for Business.’

For ‘Document Library’ in the drop-down choose ‘OneDrive.’

‘File’ you need to navigate to where your file is stored.

‘Table’ in the drop-down select your table.

Note: Red asterisk *. You must provide inputs.

When you have added the Excel table you should be asked to add the following.

1. Name
2. Price
3. Quantity
4. Total Price

See the illustration below.

Click the ‘Save’ button.

If you wish, click the ‘Test’ flow. If you are not familiar with test methodology move on to the next step.

Return to ‘PowerApps’ and select ‘Submit’ button. In the ‘OnSelect’ function box add the code below.

Test PowerApp automated workflow using receipt processor

Next test your app.

Click the 'Submit' button. 

You should see the below.

Congratulations. Well deserved. 

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank @Mr-Dang-MSFT and @JoeF-MSFT at Microsoft Power Apps community support.

Initially, I was making my solution far too complicated.

Ideally whenever possible in my experience the simpler things are the better.

MS PowerApps - Solve business problems with receipt processing PDF 

If you have not heard of web scrapping, it is the term used to extract data from websites. You may have visited a website and they kindly provide data tables for you to download. On other occasions, you may have thought. As you manually copied and pasted the data into your database or spreadsheet there must be a better way.

Warning: Before extracting any data, check you won't be breaking any copyright infringement rules. 

Fortunately, there is an array of software tools available. 

Sequentum (desktop or server) aimed at the enterprise market. Pricing you need to contact Sequentum. I have no experience with this software. The fact they will not provide pricing on their website suggests it is not for everyone. 

Dexio is a suite of software to meet all your extraction transform, load (ETL) needs. Again, frightened to provide pricing and I have no experience of using Dexio. 

UniPath provides robotic (algorithm) automation  process software. An example job candidate submits their resume, a robot automates resume data extraction. Most end-users should be able to use this software. 

Web Scraper is a free browser extension with paid options. To collect web data, it has a point and clicks interface. They call this a scraper. Once you have configured a scraper and ran your scraper you can download the data in CSV format. 

To use either R or Python you would have to invest time learning how. Without question R and Python are the most robust solutions but not for everyone. 

Web scraping with Power BI, Power Query

As an example, let’s suppose I wanted to extract data from Amazon. I seek books to do with ‘collect combine and transform data.’ I require the book title. Author, the number of reviews, average rating and published date.

Open Microsoft Power BI. Click the Get Data icon to reveal the drop-down and select web. 

You should see the next window. Click ‘Add Table Using Examples.’

You should see the example window below. 

Tip: Maximise the window.

In the top half of the window you should be able to scroll through the list to view the available books.

In the bottom half of the window. On the left you should see a table with one column. Named ‘column 1.’ Double click the ‘column 1.’ Rename the column to ‘Title.’ Below the title row click the empty row. Type the first few letters of the book title. In this case ‘Learn Microsoft PowerApps.’ You should not need to type as many letters. Before the title becomes obvious to you. Click book title to add to the column. Add the next book title. On rare occasions you may need to add another book title. To have the column fully populate with webpage book titles.

On the right next to ‘Title’ column is a thin column with an asterisk. Click to add another column. Name the column ‘Author.’ Repeat the previous steps you did to add book title but this time author name. Repeat the same steps to add ‘Average Rating’ and ‘Release Date.’ 

You should find the table rows self-populate. 

Once you completed click ‘OK.’ 

Power BI should open with the table populated. If you do not see the table. On the left hand of the screen you should see three icons. Click the table icon see below. 

You can now manipulate the data to suit your needs see below. 

Conclusion

Power Query offers you a lot of flexibility and for many Power Query is all they will ever need. 

This article is a webinar review. The webinar featured John Rymer Vice President/Principal Analyst at Forrester Research and Charles Lamanna Corporate Vice President for Low Code Application Platform (LCAP) at Microsoft presentation.

You can view the video here... If you want to learn more about low code platform it's well worth watching. 

Below are the webnair slides.

It's possible you may have come across the terms ‘low code’, ‘citizen developer’ and think marketing hype. 

If you are inquisitive enough to wonder what low code application development is?

• Why companies should consider low code platform.
• How such platforms foster collaboration between the business and developers.
• How to govern a low code app development in your organisation then read on. 

Let us begin by defining low code development. 

The development approach uses products and or cloud services. Developers use visual tools, code libraires. Drag, and drop screen design, declarative techniques instead of programming. 

The business model is available to all at low or no cost as a self-service low code platform. At least to begin with. Costs generally rise in proportion to the business value of the platform.

Such platforms move away from writing lines of code to invoke commands held in libraries. To something that is more like workflow or processed diagramming approach.

To achieve this many organisations placed tremendous emphasis upon innovation. Particularly Customer software, mobile applications. 

Demand for developers far exceeded availability. 

Besides cash strapped organisations needed faster development cycle at a lower cost. A low code platform bridges the gap between developers and user contribution. Software that users build is more likely to solve business challenges. As users generally know what is really going on in the business.

Besides no organisation. Has all the development talents they need to deliver the software they need. 

Interestingly Forrester carried out developer research (2018-19 - see PowerPoint slides). Half of all developers are using or plan to use low-code platforms. Intriguingly all sectors appear to utilise low code platforms.

Reasons they gave to improve effectiveness and drive their costs down.

It is all about speed and flexibility throughout the business.

There is an assumption, developers will want to shy away from the low-code platform.

Forrester research suggests. Half the developer community has adopted or has plans to use low code.

The research indicated an interesting drop-in developers saying no plans to use low code platform (PowerPoint slide12). 

Why  adopt a low-code platform? 

Initially the primary motivation. Speed of development and implementation. These days that is a given.

Today the answer is front line employees can build and deliver apps. Removes having to wait for central IT app development and implementation.

The result more, faster cheaper software. Fewer employees are resistant to using apps. Because employees use apps on their phones and may be involved in building apps.

Research suggests quantitative benefits, for low-code, 70% less cost.

Apply a tradional software budget to low code app and you get almost three times as many apps.

A low code app produces 362% return on investment over 3 years. 

Many organisations have core backbone legacy bespoke software.

To update or replace such software. Would necessitate considerable budget not to mention business continuity problems. 

An example of mismanaged IT project implementation TSB IT meltdown. 

Using connectors low-code platforms can utilise legacy software. And allow business users, customers to have modern app capabilities and interface. For example, apps with machine learning, conversational bots. 

Often a question is raised does low code apps result in shadow IT?

Shadow IT refers to unmanaged tools like Access, Excel. The issue with these tools. Data is held on the device and management might not know what employees are doing with these tools. Employees often print reports. Management input the figures into their spreadsheets. Possible transposition errors. Not to mention unnecessary duplicate workflows.

A minimal code platform is managed and not held on the device. Data can be analysed without having to request data from employees.

Minimal code should not mean no IT involvement.

Successful innovation requires collaboration. 

• IT knows how to keep things secure.
  

• Comply with governance, compliance, integrations, and scalability.

Low code governance

Implementing traditional governance rules upon low-code development is likely to stifle innovation.

PowerPoint slide 29 illustrates a low code governance model. 

Essentially, it is a fine balance between IT and business developers interests. No silver bullets. 

How to get started.

Low code platforms pricing is a negligible or free (at least to start) so you can experiment before committing. Read the small print. Some providers are not as up front as they should be with regards to costs. Think about the type of apps you are wanting to build (look at PowerPoint slide 34). Some low code platforms might fit one or two requirements.

Case studies

Predictive modelling seeks to answer the question. 

“Based on known past behaviour, what is the most likely thing to happen in the future?

How is predictive modelling helpful?

Predictive modelling applies statistics to predict outcomes. It is a process that uses data mining and probability to forecast outcomes.

Models are made up of several predictors.

These are variables that are likely to influence future events. For example when and where a crime is likely to occur.

The BBC Horizon documentary ‘The Age of Big Data’ is good example. Unfortunately, no longer available on BBC i-player but you can view the program on Vimeo. 

Modelling can be applied to any type of unknown event, regardless of when it occurred. For example, predictive models are often used to detect crimes and identify suspects. Before the crime has taken place. 

Predictive modelling example applied to marketing.

Predictive modelling also called predictive analytics. Analytics is used by marketers to take the trial and error out of their marketing campaigns. Models seek to predict which actions and strategies are more likely to succeed.

Predictive analytics forecasts outcomes by pairing historical data with analytical algorithms. Businesses use software to track marketing efforts. Such as calls, clicks, web leads and more. The data is collected and added to the model.

The model seeks to account for various elements of a marketing campaign. Such as demographics time and location. Marketers can adjust different variables. For example when and where they are running their ads. Based on these adjustments the software generates predicted outcomes. Findings allowing marketers to see how campaign changes can impact their marketing outcomes. 

Predictive modelling gives marketers an advantage.

By forecasting data driven outcomes exposing blind spots and highlighting potential revenue streams. Marketers can feel just a little more confident about their latest campaign strategy.