Power Automate

What is Power Automate?

Power Automate (formerly Microsoft Flow) is a workflow automation platform included in Microsoft 365. It lets you build automated processes — called flows — that connect apps, move data, send notifications, and trigger actions based on events, without writing code.

A flow can be as simple as "when I receive an email with an attachment, save the attachment to SharePoint" or as complex as a multi-stage approval process that routes requests through different approvers based on the amount involved.

The types of flows that deliver the most value

The highest-value automation categories for most businesses:

• Approval workflows — route requests (leave, purchase orders, contracts) through defined approvers with automatic notifications and audit trails
• Data collection and processing — automatically collect form responses, process them, and update records in other systems
• Notifications and alerts — send Teams messages or emails when specific events occur in SharePoint, Dynamics, or external systems
• File management — automatically organise, rename, or move files based on content or metadata
• System integration — connect Microsoft 365 to external systems like accounting software, CRMs, or industry-specific platforms

What Power Automate connects to

Power Automate has over 1,000 connectors — pre-built integrations with Microsoft products and third-party services. Microsoft 365 apps (SharePoint, Teams, Outlook, Forms, Planner) are deeply integrated. Common external connectors include Salesforce, ServiceNow, Xero, DocuSign, and hundreds of others.

For services without a native connector, Power Automate can call any REST API — which means it can integrate with almost any modern web service, including custom-built systems.

Licensing: what's included and what costs extra

Basic Power Automate capabilities are included in Microsoft 365 Business licences. This covers standard connectors and a reasonable number of flow runs per month — sufficient for most simple automation scenarios.

Premium connectors (including some third-party integrations and the ability to connect to on-premises data sources) require a Power Automate Premium licence per user. High-volume or business-critical flows may also benefit from a per-flow licence, which provides dedicated capacity.

Governance and security considerations

Power Automate flows run under the identity of the user who created them — which means a flow can access any data that user has permission to access. This is powerful but requires governance: flows that access sensitive data should be reviewed, and data loss prevention policies should be configured to prevent flows from sending sensitive data to unauthorised external services.

Microsoft's Power Platform admin centre provides visibility into all flows in your organisation, including who created them and what connectors they use.

Where to start

The best starting point is identifying a manual, repetitive process that involves moving information between systems or waiting for approvals. Approval workflows and automated notifications are typically the quickest wins — they're straightforward to build and deliver immediate time savings.

I.T.S Canberra builds and deploys Power Automate workflows for Canberra businesses, from simple approval flows to complex multi-system integrations that connect Microsoft 365 to your line-of-business applications.