Digital transformation with dataverse: Become a citizen developer and lead the digital transformation wave with Microsoft Teams and Power Platform

By Aaron Brooke

Microsoft Dataverse for Teams is a low-code data platform built into Microsoft Teams that allows anybody to create and deploy apps, processes, and intelligent chatbots utilizing Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power Virtual Agents (PVA).

You will be able to construct apps using step-by-step instructions for building up Teams, generating tables to hold data, and leveraging the data for your digital solutions without having to learn any coding languages. You'll be able to create your first app with Dataverse for Teams in under an hour if you follow the ideas in the book. You will learn how to use Power Automate and Power Virtual Agents to automate repetitive processes and create alerts.
As you gain experience constructing these digital solutions, you'll be able to tell when it's time to upgrade from Dataverse for Teams to Dataverse, which includes more advanced features. Finally, you will learn about the administration and governance aspects of Microsoft Dataverse for Teams and PowerApps, as well as the license needs.

By the end of the book, you will have acquired the skills necessary to build and implement an enterprise-grade digital solution. The readers will be prepared to lead a digital revolution in your organization.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BPB Online LLP
• Release date: Mar 3, 2021
• ISBN: 9788194334453

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Introduction to Digital Transformation

This book will assist you in grasping the concept of digital transformation and why it is so crucial to each of us. It will also introduce you to a low-code/no-code platform integrated into Microsoft Teams, as well as assist you in developing proficiency in resolving difficulties faced by your organization in its digital transformation path. This book is for anyone who wants to build apps, bots, and workflows to assist their organization to automate a lot of tedious operations, whether they’re a student, a teacher, an entrepreneur, a doctor, or even a volunteer at a non-profit organization.

As you work your way through the first few chapters of this book, you’ll notice that you can design really powerful digital solutions for your company using very fundamental abilities like formula creation and a basic concept of how you want your displays to look.

In this chapter, we’ll take a quick look at the current trends that are affecting our personal and professional lives (that is, the consumer and corporate worlds), and how each of us has to be prepared to take advantage of these technological advancements, particularly in our professional jobs.

This chapter also begins to expose you to Power Platform and Microsoft Dataverse for Teams, which not only allow you to build apps, bots, and flows with minimal training, but also help you speed your organization’s digital transformation. Microsoft Dataverse for Teams offers enterprise-grade governance and security, as well as rich data storage for all types of data. You’ll be able to download apps and install them with a single click, similar to how you’d download an app from an app store to your smartphone.

Structure

The following topics will be covered in this chapter:

Understanding the digital transformation

Organizational digital evolution Microsoft Power Platform

Understanding the digital transformation

On the wave of the third industrial revolution, the twentieth century belonged to organizations that adopted rapid mechanization and industrialization. The necessity for countries and organizations to benefit from this wave of industrialization was heightened by the World Wars. The evolution of personal computing, the growing reach of the internet and the dot.com wave, and the introduction of smartphones were all waves that followed and defined the progress of digital and automation experiences. All of these developments aided organizations and people in redefining the limits of what may be accomplished in a short period.

While it may have met some of the short-term objectives of digital reach and automation, the desire for a complete transformation of corporate processes and efficiency is growing at an unprecedented rate.

Here’s a timeline of key moments in the history of digital technology, as well as how these advancements have enhanced automation levels in numerous facets of our lives:

Figure 1.1: Evolution of digital experience

In terms of the consumer digital experience, the last ten years have witnessed a huge increase in mobile computing and hardware shrinking in size to become personal wearables. The growing market for mobile computing devices is the best example of this. Even though the global economy has contracted as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, mobile phones will still account for more than 80% of the overall device market in 2020.

The wearables sector, where personal healthcare data from millions of customers will be monetized over the coming years, is set to accelerate consumer digital development. The smartwatch sector has already exploded, with Apple commanding a sizable piece of the market. Amazon has also unveiled the Halo Band, which is designed to assist customers to improve their health and well-being.

While there is plenty to examine and evaluate in the consumer digital evolution sector, we will concentrate on the digital evolution and transformation that is taking place in businesses and organizations for the purposes of this book.

Organizational digital evolution

Organizations have understood the value of data, which has been dubbed the new oil. Through social media and Internet of Things (IoT) devices that are being wired to every living and non-living thing in the world, data is flowing in terabytes and petabytes each second. To provide you with some ideas, below are some of the most common circumstances in which businesses use social media:

Monitoring Twitter streams for mentions and sentiment analysis, such as negative tweet reactions, as well as promising to fix personal grievances

Customers who like and support the organization’s brand will receive discounts and incentives.

Using geography, age, social status, likes, search history, and other factors to identify and target a social group of clients for particular advertising.

Using professional networking sites like LinkedIn feeds or Twitter advertisements to influence senior IT leaders and decision-makers while also generating leads for your business software or professional services

This highlights how, with the introduction of social media, marketing and customer service operations have evolved, allowing firms to better their branding as well as their client reach.

Organizations must be prepared to use the power of digital evolution to their advantage as it continues. As a result of digital evolution, technology does not remain static and continues to evolve.

At this point, it’s critical to comprehend the digital transformation process in-depth, which we’ll go over in the next part, as well as why it’s critical for all businesses to not only survive but to thrive in the ever-changing world of technology.

Transformation to the digital age

The term digital transformation refers to the practice of employing technological breakthroughs to continuously review and:

Employees should be empowered.

Product and service transformation

Streamline your processes.

Exceed the expectations of customers.

Figure 1.2: Pillars of digital transformation

There are various definitions on the internet, but the one provided here captures the heart of what businesses hope to achieve through their digital transformation efforts. Each of the pillars that make up the foundation of any digital transformation is vital in its own right, and no one is more important than the others. However, depending on the maturity of the organization and market conditions, the firm’s leaders may need to prioritize one of the pillars over the other. Energizing and empowering your employees to engage, lead, and accelerate this digital change at the grassroots level is one of the most difficult and critical aspects of any digital transition. Let’s take a closer look at how this mission’s personnel can be empowered.

Employees should be empowered

How can an organization’s workers be empowered to drive and accelerate the digital transformation process? Employees are empowered when they are directly involved in the digital transformation and are treated as equal partners in celebrating successes and analyzing failures.

A frontline worker or information worker would provide a set of requirements to a business analyst, who would then draught hundreds of pages of Business Requirements Documents (BRDs). These BRDs would then be passed on to the Information Technology (IT) department, which would use them to create the next set of LOB applications or a new version of an existing one.

LOB apps are produced by third-party vendors or purchased from them, and their objective is to answer common business problems within an organization or industry. HR talent management apps, finance invoice approval or tax calculation apps, and all-employee expense reporting apps are all examples. Before the application is ready for consumption, numerous sub-phases of planning, design, development, and testing will occur during the construction process. It is already too late by the time the program is ready for production use, because the next version, as well as most of the underlying assumptions and concepts, such as the number of users, scenarios, stakeholders, and business goals, will have changed or evolved.

This failure comes at a high cost, and it is clear that the rate of change suffers greatly as a result.

Another factor worth mentioning is that millennials currently make up a considerable fraction of the workforce, and this number is expected to rise in the future years. What exactly does this imply? This group is far more ambitious and technologically proficient, and they will use technology in both their professional and personal life. We know that a majority of this new workforce is motivated to spend less time doing physical, labor-intensive, repetitive work and wants to focus more on delivering value to the organization in much more meaningful ways as part of our daily interactions with this youthful and rising workforce.

This is a good condition for businesses to be in. For businesses to tap into this large workforce and employ them to revolutionize their operations, they must have the proper strategy and invest in the right technology.

Furthermore, there is a greater demand on everyone, including students, to learn to code (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/27/technology/education-partovi-computer-science-coding-apple-microsoft.html). Learning to code has obvious advantages, such as enhancing our creative and problem-solving ability, as well as increasing our professional progression chances. However, it must be denied that not everyone is born with the ability to code well and enjoys doing so.

It cannot be argued that some of the most innovative minds in technology have not always been the best or greatest coders, but they have always been driven by a desire to create and make a difference, with Steve Jobs serving as an excellent example. This book will be extremely useful for innovators who don’t want to spend a lot of time learning to code in a new language before implementing their ideas.

Without formal knowledge of coding, anyone can build an app and automate it; this is where the promise of Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Dataverse for Teams’ new low-code/no-code platform comes into play.

This allows technology to meet people where they are rather than requiring them to go through a lengthy learning curve to learn to write in a certain language before deciding to address a business problem. Thus, whether they are an information worker within an organization, a teacher in an elementary school, an analyst in an investment bank, a health professional in a hospital, a volunteer at a non-profit organization, or whoever, we will empower everyone to build low-code/no-code applications and other digital solutions to make a difference. As you begin to put your thoughts into action in the next chapters, you will begin to appreciate this claim.

In the meantime, let’s look at the final three pillars of digital transformation.

Products and services are being transformed

The instance of Netflix, the online streaming behemoth that we are all familiar with today, is a great example of how and why businesses and services require digital transformation. Netflix began as a mail-order DVD rental and sales service in 1997 but has now evolved into a subscription-based streaming service that also produces and distributes its content. While Netflix has grown to become one of the most well-known entertainment corporations, many of its competitors, which began in the similar business of renting out DVDs and VHS tapes, have since gone out of business.

With the introduction of broadband, Netflix was able to take advantage of technological advancements, such as increased internet streaming speed, which allowed consumers to stop measuring their internet speeds in kbps (during the dial-up era) and instead measure them in Mbps and even Gbps, with some ISPs using fiber optics. Netflix saw an opportunity to change its business model and become a streaming service. There are countless examples of firms that have used technological breakthroughs to transform their products or services.

The failure of other businesses and organizations to adapt their products and offerings is the most important reason for their demise. It’s also inspiring to observe how some other companies, and even entire sectors, have sprung up as a result of doing the exact opposite. Their existence is based on digital technology, and they are constantly evaluating and transforming their offerings. This may be seen in the ride-sharing sector (such as Uber and Ola) and home-sharing services (such as Airbnb and Vrbo). More instances may be found in industries where products and services are undergoing a digital transformation, such as in-home fitness, gaming, and educational and professional development.

Subscription-based items and services are increasingly being delivered to your home, either physically or virtually over the internet.

While there have been some significant changes in companies that sell services, organizations that sell products have achieved significant progress. Most products available these days, ranging from home appliances like a connected refrigerator or a smart TV to domestic and fighter aircraft, are all capable of generating enough telemetry to self-diagnose faults, thanks to the emergence of IoT devices. This changes the product from a problem or defect to one that can self-diagnose and fix these problems.

When it comes to the reliability and serviceability of these products, this helps organizations build trust with their customers. Many appliance manufacturers receive telemetry signals from IoT devices installed in them and can detect signals that tell them it’s time to replace the air filter or water filter in a smart refrigerator, and then provide value-added services like sending replacement filters for a monthly subscription fee.

We’ve seen how the benefits of digital evolution may be used to transform products and services to provide a superb customer experience and become an industry leader. We’ve also seen businesses carve out a brand-new niche market.

Next, consider how digital transformation is applied to an organization’s backbone - it’s business operations, which enable the company to deliver its products and services to customers on time and in the desired quality.

Streamline your processes

Operations refer to all of the processes and activities that take place within an organization to assist it in delivering products or