How SharePoint Integrates With Power Platform

SharePoint is part of the Microsoft 365 environment and it is used to store, organize, and share data. The platform integrates seamlessly with all other Microsoft apps and services, including Power Platform, which creates a huge number of possibilities.

In this blog, we will explore how SharePoint and Power Platform integrate and outline some brief solutions that may save time and improve collaboration within your business.

Power Automate

Power Automate is a Power Platform service through which you can build low-code automations that integrate with other Microsoft 365 services. It’s the star of the show when it comes to Power Platform interactions with SharePoint, as there are so many applications for this tool.

There are two types of steps that can be added to a Power Automate flow: triggers and actions. Triggers are the events that cause a Power Automate flow to run. Flows can be triggered by a button press, to run on a schedule, or to be automated. This means Power Automate monitors the location of the trigger, so it can run the flow whenever the designated trigger occurs.

Some examples of useful triggers using the SharePoint connector include:

• When an item or file is created
• When an item or file is created or modified,
• When an item or file is modified
• When an item or file is deleted

There are many other triggers to choose from, including from connectors. Some of these include:

• When a Microsoft Form response is submitted
• When you get an email
• When a Planner task is assigned to you
• When an event is added to a calendar

Actions are the steps after the trigger in a flow. Usually, the steps taken will depend on the content of the trigger in some way.

Some examples of useful actions using the SharePoint connector:

• Create, update, move, or delete an item/file
• Check a file in or out
• Add or delete attachments
• Create a sharing link or stop sharing
• Grant or deny access

You can also utilize many other connectors available in Power Automate to create some truly powerful automations. A great place to find ideas on how to use Power Automate to interact with SharePoint is the Power Automate Templates page. You can find these by typing SharePoint into the search bar within Power Automate.

Some very useful flow types include:

• Get data from somewhere and save it to SharePoint (e.g., save responses from a Power Virtual Agents chat or a MS Forms response to a SharePoint list)
• Send a notification when something happens in a SharePoint list/library – (e.g., send a message in a Team channel when a list item’s status is marked as ‘Complete’)
• Create, modify, and delete items or files – (e.g., create an invoice based on a template, update with the date and relevant client info, convert to PDF and send to the client)

In fact, Regroove has flows set up for almost all of these scenarios. One of our previous blog posts goes into more detail about the internal flows we have set up. We also have a blog post detailing the document automation process (using a Power Automate flow connected to a SharePoint library).  

Power Apps

Power Apps is another Power Platform service, also integrated with the Microsoft 365 environment, through which you can build custom apps. It can be used particularly with SharePoint in very useful ways. One of the drawbacks of Power Automate is the limited end users interface; with Power Apps, you can get a much better data collection experience for the end user, and SharePoint is an excellent place to store the collected data.

Some examples of useful things you can do with Power Apps:

• Insert a gallery to display all the items in the list or library and select the one you want to interact with
• Insert forms to either display or edit information relevant to a selected list/library item
• Use inputs for different types of data entry (e.g., text input, drop down/combo box, date picker, radio buttons, media upload)
• Have inputs that by default display the existing data, so you can see what needs to be entered or modified
• Use patch commands to insert the inputs into SharePoint as a new item or a modification of an existing one
• Display existing data using different kinds of charts, including Power BI tiles

You can even insert a button to trigger a Power Automate flow into a Power App! 

Conclusion

This is a high-level overview of what you can do with SharePoint and Power Platform. There are very few limits to the possibilities besides your own imagination! Feel free to reach out to Regroove if you want our help setting up solutions that integrate SharePoint with Power Platform, or if you want us to help you figure out which solutions might be useful for your own organization.

Are you looking to implement Power Platform in your business? Fill out the form below and we will get in touch with you!