Microsoft announced a fresh surge of updates, marking the debut wave for the Microsoft Power Platform 2024 Release Wave 1. With a plethora of intriguing updates on the horizon, time is of the essence to catch up before their arrival. Users need to understand these innovative features and functionalities that deployed on April 1, 2024.

Notable updates for Power Apps

Presently, sharing an app entails a complex process involving the creation of new security roles and definition of permissions. Microsoft tackled this challenge by crafting a simplified sharing experience, mirroring the user-friendliness of other Microsoft 365 products. This enhancement empowers makers to effortlessly share their tables and apps without grappling with the intricacies of their security model.

Microsoft is poised to roll out the update that is aimed at streamlining this app-sharing process. It is anticipated that Microsoft will introduce a unified experience. This will allow users to share the entire application along with its requisite components, such as security groups, all from one central location. This functionality will be akin to the Power Automate editor in Canvas Apps. While specifics of the impending changes remain uncertain, there is optimism that they will improve users’ comprehension of the interdependencies among Power Apps and Power Automate components, in tandem with Dataverse and security protocols.

Power Automate updates within the Microsoft Power Platform

Much like Power Apps, Power Automate is built to integrate Copilot functionalities across cloud products, desktop applications, and process mining. Cloud flows leverage artificial intelligence (AI) so users can focus solely on essential tasks while automating the rest. This can be done through natural language and no or little code. Desktop flows offer automation for Windows desktop applications, providing a simplified deployment and user-focused interface within the Power Platform. This empowers business users to create more robust automations efficiently, troubleshoot problems, and find solutions with ease, ensuring an enjoyable and seamless experience.

Power Automate’s process mining enhancements utilize AI to extract insights and offer out-of-the-box templates for quick implementation. These range from data ingestion to pre-defined custom reports. Integration with Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management further enhances these capabilities. These advancements enable companies to realize the full potential of their information and expedite their journeys towards operational greatness.

Dynamics 365 Sales

In the release wave spotlight, Copilot shines brightly, and the Sales application within Dynamics 365 Sales is no exception. A myriad of features are tailored in Dynamics 365 Sales to streamline sellers’ routines and enhance productivity. With AI support, sales teams can efficiently derive actionable insights, swiftly access information, and allocate more time to high-impact endeavors.

AI-generated Account Summary

Juggling multiple accounts simultaneously can be challenging to handle. Thankfully, the new Account Summary feature simplifies access to crucial customer data. This includes purchasing behavior, related opportunities, leads, and marketing campaigns. This feature saves salespeople considerable time when researching an account, eliminating the need to sift through scattered information.

Copilot content recommendations

For a busy salesperson, swiftly accessing the right information can pose a significant challenge, particularly during preparations for meetings or while on sales calls. This new Copilot feature addresses this by presenting users with the relevant document precisely when they need it.

These recommendations seamlessly integrate into the workflow, keeping users focused and eliminating the need to spend time switching between different platforms or locations.

Dynamics 365 Customer Service

Microsoft will persist in enabling Dynamics 365 Customer Service agents to operate with greater efficiency by leveraging Copilot, which includes features like response verification filtering, diagnostic tools for both admins and agents, and usability enhancements for multi-session apps. Furthermore, the platform is refining the voice channel and enhancing the accuracy and prioritization of unified routing assignments.

Real-time segments

Marketers now have the ability to generate and utilize segments that dynamically update in real-time for customer targeting. This opens fresh opportunities for businesses, enabling them to engage with customers instantly, precisely when the opportunity arises. For instance, users can send a personalized offer to a customer the moment they meet the qualifying criteria.

Microsoft Power Pages

The enhanced Copilot now facilitates every aspect of website construction, allowing for the creation of intelligent websites from start to finish. This includes designing, setting up page layouts, editing content, binding data, implementing learning features, integrating chatbots, conducting accessibility checks, and ensuring the security of the site. Plus, it enables seamless data connectivity from various sources through the out-of-the-box control library, while also providing enhanced security features for comprehensive website protection.

Makers now have the capability to link Power Pages sites to external data sources like structured query language (SQL) Server and Microsoft SharePoint directly from the data workspace within Power Pages studio.

Copilot integrates with Canvas Apps

By default, Copilot functionality is activated in Canvas Apps that connect to Microsoft Dataverse data, requiring no special configuration. This means users can leverage Copilot seamlessly to ask questions and gain deeper insights into their data.

Microsoft’s Copilot is an invaluable tool, especially for newcomers, as it provides essential assistance in understanding the fundamentals and constructing applications or flows from scratch.

Governance and administration changes for Microsoft Power Platform

Governance and administration are evolving to offer administrators a broader array of tools and insights, ensuring they can maximize the potential of the Power Platform. In this wave, Microsoft is introducing new capabilities aimed at assisting customers in efficiently managing their low-code assets at scale, along with several new security features to govern a highly secure platform.

Pro development capabilities in Microsoft Power Platform

On the pro development front, there is a wealth of extensibility points and tooling capabilities. These cater to code-first developers, offering them excellent experiences in Power Platform application development. These experiences foster faster iteration within enterprises, establishing fusion development as a new standard. This allows low-code and code-first developers to collaborate and build without constraints.

Microsoft Power Platform support provided by Citrin Cooperman

Citrin Cooperman’s Digital Services Practice is skilled at helping companies harness the evolving features in the Microsoft Power Platform. To learn more about the first wave of updates being released in 2024 and how our team can help your business leverage these capabilities to achieve its strategic objectives, reach out to your Citrin Cooperman advisor or Andrew Yoder at sales@citrincooperman.com.