How to Maximize ROI from Microsoft 365 Licenses with Power Platform

Sam Fawzi
Jan 5
4 min read

Microsoft 365 is an essential suite for businesses, offering tools like Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, and Excel to streamline collaboration and productivity. But are you leveraging its full potential? Many businesses underutilize their Microsoft 365 licenses, missing out on the immense value provided by the Power Platform—a suite of tools including PowerApps, Power Automate, Power BI, and Power Virtual Agents.

In this guide, we’ll explore how the Power Platform can help you maximize the return on your Microsoft 365 investment by automating processes, enhancing data insights, and eliminating redundant third-party tools.

What is the Power Platform?

The Microsoft Power Platform is a low-code suite of tools designed to empower users to create apps, automate workflows, analyze data, and build chatbots—all seamlessly integrated with your Microsoft 365 environment. Its components include:

PowerApps: Create custom applications tailored to your business needs.
Power Automate: Automate repetitive tasks and streamline processes.
Power BI: Visualize and analyze data for actionable insights.
Power Virtual Agents: Build AI-powered chatbots to improve customer and employee interactions.

By leveraging these tools, businesses can unlock cost savings, enhance productivity, and drive innovation.

1. Automate Repetitive Tasks with Power Automate

Manual, repetitive tasks not only waste time but also increase the risk of errors. Power Automate enables you to create automated workflows that simplify processes such as:

Approvals: Automate document approvals across Teams and SharePoint.
Notifications: Set up alerts for important updates or deadlines.
Data Synchronization: Sync information between applications like SharePoint, Excel, and third-party CRMs.

ROI Impact:

Save hours of manual labor each week.
Reduce operational costs by automating tasks that previously required additional staff or third-party software.

2. Replace Redundant Third-Party Tools with PowerApps

Many businesses pay for third-party tools to fill gaps in functionality, but with PowerApps, you can build custom solutions that address your unique needs—all within the Microsoft ecosystem.

Examples of PowerApps solutions:

Expense Tracking App: Eliminate third-party expense tools by creating an app tailored to your organization’s policies.
Inventory Management App: Build a centralized system to track inventory across locations.
HR Onboarding App: Streamline new employee onboarding with a fully customized app.

ROI Impact:

Reduce subscription fees for external tools.
Develop applications at a fraction of the cost of custom software development.

3. Enhance Decision-Making with Power BI

Data is one of your most valuable assets, but it’s only useful if you can derive actionable insights. Power BI allows you to connect, model, and visualize your data with ease.

What you can do with Power BI:

Create dashboards to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) in real time.
Analyze sales, customer behavior, and operational efficiency.
Share insights securely across Teams and SharePoint.

ROI Impact:

Make informed decisions faster.
Eliminate the need for costly external analytics platforms.

4. Improve Customer and Employee Engagement with Power Virtual Agents

Enhance your customer service and internal communication with AI-powered chatbots built using Power Virtual Agents. These bots can:

Handle common customer inquiries 24/7.
Assist employees with FAQs about HR policies, IT support, and more.
Integrate with Teams for seamless interactions.

ROI Impact:

Reduce the workload on support teams, cutting operational costs.
Improve response times and customer satisfaction.

5. Eliminate Siloed Data with Dataverse

Dataverse, the data backbone of the Power Platform, allows you to centralize data from various sources, enabling seamless integration and reusability across apps and workflows.

Key Benefits:

Centralized and secure data storage.
Easy sharing and reusability of data across PowerApps, Power BI, and Power Automate.
Reduced dependency on fragmented databases or external systems.

ROI Impact:

Simplify data management processes, reducing IT costs.
Improve collaboration and decision-making with unified data.

6. Leverage Existing Microsoft 365 Integration

The Power Platform works natively with Microsoft 365 tools, enabling you to build solutions that integrate seamlessly with Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, and more.

Examples of integrated solutions:

Automate meeting scheduling and reminders directly from Teams.
Sync files between SharePoint and OneDrive using Power Automate.
Use Power BI dashboards to analyze data stored in Excel or SharePoint.

ROI Impact:

Maximize the value of your existing Microsoft 365 investment.
Eliminate the need for external integrations, saving time and money.

Real-Life Example: A Mid-Sized Business Saves Thousands

A mid-sized retail company reduced their reliance on a $500/month third-party tool by building a custom app with PowerApps to track employee schedules. Combined with automated workflows from Power Automate, they saved over $6,000 annually while improving efficiency.

Key Benefits of Power Platform for ROI

Cost Savings: Reduce reliance on third-party tools and custom software development.
Efficiency Gains: Automate repetitive tasks and streamline processes.
Faster Time-to-Market: Deploy apps and workflows quickly to address business needs.
Scalability: Build solutions that grow with your business.
Ease of Use: Empower employees with intuitive, user-friendly tools.

Take the Next Step

Are you ready to unlock the full potential of your Microsoft 365 investment? At Smart Solutions, we specialize in helping businesses leverage the Power Platform to drive efficiency, reduce costs, and maximize ROI.