Category: Power Automate

This post is part of the New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2023 Wave 2 series in which I am taking a look at the new functionality introduced in Microsoft Power Automate 2023 Wave 2.

The 1st of the new functionality in the Desktop Flows section is create desktop flows using natural language with Copilot.

Introducing Copilot in Power Automate for desktop – the new natural language feature that simplifies automation creation. Say goodbye to complex coding and hello to effortless desktop flows. Boost productivity and efficiency with Copilot today. By leveraging natural language, users can easily create desktop flows without the need for complex coding. This allows for increased productivity and efficiency, freeing up valuable time and resources for other important tasks.

Enabled for: Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically
Public Preview: Mar 2024
General Availability: –

Feature Details

The Copilot functionality in Power Automate for desktop offers a user-friendly interface that simplifies the automation creation process. With Natural Language capabilities, makers can create desktop flows by providing instructions in plain English, eliminating the need for algorithmic or pseudocode knowledge. Copilot is available in both the console and the designer, making it easily accessible. This feature is especially useful in scenarios where loops and conditionals are required, as it streamlines the process and reduces the need for complex coding. With Copilot, users can generate automations with ease, saving valuable time and resources.

My Opinion

As I said in the last article, I need to gets hands on with the copilot flow design; I am sceptical of the quality of the flows it might create and want to see how good they actually are.

This post is part of the New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2023 Wave 2 series in which I am taking a look at the new functionality introduced in Microsoft Power Automate 2023 Wave 2.

The 1st of the new functionality in the Copilot for Power Automate section is use Power Automate cloud flows designer with Copilot.

Easily get started building new cloud flows by describing them in natural language. This feature supports additional actions, connectors, geo-availability, parameter filling, and explainability to make the experience even easier.

Enabled for: Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically
Public Preview: –
General Availability: Oct 8, 2023

Feature Details

Using state-of-the-art AI models like Azure OpenAI, Power Automate can take natural language as input to create flows. You can use natural everyday language to describe the cloud flow that you want, and then Power Automate creates it based on your written description of the scenario to automate.

This feature makes it easier for you to build different types of automation faster, allowing a broader population of business users to use Power Automate in a truly no-code experience.

Microsoft have added several new enhancements:

• Support for more connectors and actions. Power Automate understands natural language input to build flows that include Dataverse, approvals, and Power Apps.
• Availability in the European Union region and Government Community Cloud.
• Automatic flow parameter filling: Once you create a flow by using natural language, the flow includes the individual actions and the parameters in the action cards.
• Explainability to understand how your description of the flow translates to the different flow actions with suggested improvements.

My Opinion

I’ve not had the opportunity to use any of the copilots yet and have to admit that I am sceptical of the quality of the flows which it designs. I need to see if I can get a bit hands on with this function sooner than later.

This post is part of the New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2023 Wave 2 series in which I am taking a look at the new functionality introduced in Microsoft Power Automate 2023 Wave 2.

The 12th of the new functionality in the Cloud Flows section is manage abandoned cloud flows.

This feature gives admins more visibility and lower risk through active management of their automation estate.

Enabled for: Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically
Public Preview: Dec 2023
General Availability: Mar 2024

Feature Details

Admins can more easily manage their automation estate with simplified reporting. They can also manage with support for bulk reassignment of flows that are running as a user who is no longer with the company. Prior to this, admins had to do this process manually per individual flow.

Admins get more visibility and can view information like the name of the last owner and number of days since the flow last ran from the Power Platform admin center. They can then perform maintenance operations like reassignment to another owner, or easily stop these flows with low effort.

My Opinion

This looks like it could be a very useful addition for managing flows after someone has left the organisation. This sort of thing can always be tricky, so exposing more information can only be a good thing.

This post is part of the New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2023 Wave 2 series in which I am taking a look at the new functionality introduced in Microsoft Power Automate 2023 Wave 2.

The 10th of the new functionality in the Cloud Flows section is use your own encryption key for encrypting data at-rest for existing environments.

This capability allows you to meet your data and privacy policy according to your company’s or industry’s privacy guidelines.

Enabled for: Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically
Public Preview: –
General Availability: Feb 2024

Feature Details

Use your own encryption key from your Azure Key Vault to encrypt an environment that already has running Power Automate flows. Previously, only environments without prior Power Automate usage were supported for customer-managed encryption keys.

This post is part of the New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2023 Wave 2 series in which I am taking a look at the new functionality introduced in Microsoft Power Automate 2023 Wave 2.

The 8th of the new functionality in the Cloud Flows section is use Copilot with French language.

Makers in French speaking countries like France and Canada can use their own native language to interact with copilot.

Enabled for: Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically
Public Preview: –
General Availability: Nov 2023

Feature Details

At this release, copilot is able to understand foreign language. It can create and edit a flow based on a foreign language prompt, or it can return content in the subject language. This can help non-English language customers to interact with copilot in the language they are most comfortable in.

This post is part of the New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2023 Wave 2 series in which I am taking a look at the new functionality introduced in Microsoft Power Automate 2023 Wave 2.

The 9th of the new functionality in the Cloud Flows section is channel entry point for Teams workflows.

Enable users to seamlessly create flows from within Microsoft Teams.

Enabled for: Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically
Public Preview: Oct 2023
General Availability: Nov 2023

Feature Details

This feature enables a new entry point in Microsoft Teams that lets you create flows from Teams channels.

This is a convenient way to automate tasks and get notifications from tools and services that your team or organization uses. You can access this feature from the channel menu, where you can choose from a variety of templates or create your own custom flow.

My Opinion

This sounds like the functionslity added for Business central, which is a good way of adding flows to specific areas of the system.

This post is part of the New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2023 Wave 2 series in which I am taking a look at the new functionality introduced in Microsoft Power Automate 2023 Wave 2.

The 7th of the new functionality in the Cloud Flows section is manage unpublished solution-aware cloud flows using admin APIs.

Power Automate admin APIs now have full support for solution cloud flows. This allows admins to see unpublished solution cloud flows, share solution cloud flows, and view the ownership of solution cloud flows.

Enabled for: Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically
Public Preview: –
General Availability: Nov 2023

Feature Details

Currently, Power Automate admin APIs don’t fully support the management of solution-aware cloud flows because flows that have never been published (turned on) aren’t visible. With this feature, Power Automate admin APIs can now fully support the management of solution-aware cloud flows using Power Automate Management connector, the Power Automate for Admins connector, PowerShell for Power Platform Administrators, and the Power Platform admin center. Admins can see unpublished solution cloud flows, share solution cloud flows, and view the ownership of solution cloud flows.

This post is part of the New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2023 Wave 2 series in which I am taking a look at the new functionality introduced in Microsoft Power Automate 2023 Wave 2.

The 6th of the new functionality in the Cloud Flows section is use versioning for solution cloud flows.

Currently, you don’t have versioning for solution cloud flows, so you lack the ability to revert to a previous version. With this feature, you can view and restore past versions of solution cloud flows. This can save you time in re-creating flows when you encounter new errors or alter plans. This ensures that your business always has a working version.

Enabled for: Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically
Public Preview: –
General Availability: Nov 2023

Feature Details

With this feature, you can use a panel in the flow designer to view and restore previous versions of solution cloud flows if something goes wrong, or you change your mind. The draft state and version history are stored in Microsoft Dataverse. This is part of a platform-wide approach to versioning, with solution cloud flows being the first solution component to add this Dataverse-backed versioning support. This won’t provide source control integration.

My Opinion

It will be interesting to see the frequency of the versioning which this new function records. I often click save when working on a flow as I make changes and test; will each of these saves be a new version?

Although, on reflection, the announcement references it to versions of a solution so the incremental changes I make may not be recorded and the versioning only take place when the solution is published?

Lots of unanswered questions on this function which I will need to answer when I can get hands on with this function.

This post is part of the New Functionality In Microsoft Power Automate 2023 Wave 2 series in which I am taking a look at the new functionality introduced in Microsoft Power Automate 2023 Wave 2.

The 5th of the new functionality in the Cloud Flows section is make changes in draft mode for solution cloud flows.

Users have told us that they’re unable to begin creating or editing a flow until they have a large amount of time available because they can’t pause halfway through. Makers can now make changes to solution cloud flows in draft mode and publish when changes are complete. This allows the flexibility to create and edit regardless of the amount of time available, so you can concentrate on other tasks.

Enabled for: Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically
Public Preview: –
General Availability: Nov 2023

Feature Details

Currently, makers can’t save a flow with errors and can’t save a draft version of a flow. With this feature, makers can make changes to solution cloud flows in draft mode, including when there are errors and publish when changes are complete.

My Opinion

Now this is the feature I have been wanting since I started working with Power Automate. It’s such a basic thing, that I have been amazed that you couldn’t save a flow part way through working on it and come back to finish it later.