Business Applications Evangelist and Pre-sales Engineer, Blake Cheek Sheds Light on Power Apps and Power BI

Technology is critical in helping organizations stay competitive and drive growth in today's fast-paced business world. One key aspect is adopting robust software solutions that can help businesses streamline operations, improve productivity, and enhance customer experiences.

To have foolproof industry knowledge, we invite specialists to our Influencer Insights section to share their institutional knowledge.

During our conversation with Blake Cheek, we dived deep into the Business Applications space and learned the importance of Power Apps and Power Automate while moving data between systems.

Let Us Quickly Get To Our Expert’s Point Of View.

Question 1- What, according to you, are some of the top Microsoft technology trends to watch out for in 2023?

My work is almost exclusively in the Business Applications space, and I've seen all those solutions become progressively more popular.

In the past, my workload was almost exclusively centered around Dynamics 365. Today, Dynamics 365 shares the spotlight with Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power BI. I believe the latter products are gaining momentum because organizations are looking for ways to make smarter decisions and do more with less. These products are excellent value adds because they extend the functionality of the software you might already be using with very little additional investment and a huge upside.

The most significant trend I've seen so far in 2023 is, without a doubt, using the Power Platform to deliver bespoke solutions. Custom app development is becoming more common thanks to the accessibility of Power Apps. Some companies are taking advantage of that by rethinking their old, bulky systems and moving to something more agile and tailored to their needs.

Question 2: What are some opportunities you would be looking at this year?

This year I would keep my eye on the innovations and investments Microsoft is making in the cloud space. By paying attention to the emphasis on specific products and areas, you will better understand Microsoft's vision and where technology is headed.

While working with partners, I'd encourage them to explore a customer's entire technical landscape and look for opportunities to simplify unnecessarily complex business processes, consolidate redundant systems, migrate to the cloud, and use technology to solve those minor but nagging problems every business seems to face.

If they aren't already, I would also encourage MSPs to make this the year that they fully embrace the Microsoft cloud ecosystem. There are so many great integrations between products like Power BI and Business Central or D365 Sales and Teams that you have the unique opportunity to easily provide a complete end-to-end solution to clients without endlessly researching what's "best" and worrying about how it will work with the other products in their tech stack.

Question 3: Would you like to share some tips on Dynamics 365 Implementation/Migration?

I have quite a few, but I'll try not to be too long-winded:

• Make sure that you have the right experts for the job. Institutional knowledge is priceless.
• Identify key stakeholders in the project early and make sure that there are no questions regarding individual roles and responsibilities.
• Having a clearly defined scope keeps you on track and on budget.
• Don't let too many cooks into the kitchen. Too many unnecessary heads can slow the project down, create conflicting feedback, or worse.
• The software isn't good if nobody is using it. User adoption is critical to post-deployment success.
• Treat the entire process like a true relationship with honesty, transparency, and trust.

Question 4: What is the potential for Microsoft Partners in the USA?

The potential for partners in the United States is massive. When we look at Microsoft's Cloud performance over the last several years, we've seen positive growth every year. Additionally, there's a large geographic area to cover with a vast array of different businesses. Thanks to cloud services and other technological advancements, it has become far easier to serve customers outside your geographic area, widening your potential for opportunities.

On top of that, there are still plenty of customers who have yet to transition to the cloud, and of the ones who have, there are still enough that still need to take advantage of all that cloud fully offers. At the same time, many companies are looking to do similar work as you and provide similar services. This makes setting yourself apart from the competition critical if you want to give your company the best chance at success.

Question 5: How can we leverage Microsoft 365 and Power Apps for improved collaboration?

The synergy between M365 and the Power Platform is incredible, and I find that there are not enough people out there taking advantage of it. Many companies end up with large amounts of data in CRM systems, ERP systems, or other sources such as SQL and Sharepoint. This data is significant to have within these applications' context, but what if you want to easily move data between systems or make that data more actionable? That's where Power Apps and Power Automate become so valuable. Power Automate helps automate repetitive, manual tasks that can and should be automated. Power Apps helps extend the functionality of your data by providing easy ways to collect, alter, or display data from other systems, including Dataverse and then take actions on that data using Power Automate and Power Fx – Microsoft's low code language.

I think of Teams as the cornerstone of the modern workplace. It is already the most widely used business communications platform, with approximately 270 million monthly active users and existing integrations with Microsoft 365 and Dynamics. The more recent inclusions of Dataverse for Teams, Power Virtual Agents for Teams, and Adaptive Cards will provide additional value.

Get to Know Our Influencer

What is the best event that you attended recently? What were your key takeaways?

The most recent in-person event I attended was Ingram Micro ONE in November 2022. There were a lot of fantastic guest speakers as well as solid messaging about the future of technology in the channel from corporate leadership. It was a great event for networking and learning about parts of the business that I was unfamiliar with.

There were a lot of great Microsoft events in 2022 as well, such as Ignite and Inspire. I look forward to these every year as an opportunity to see what's new, what's getting investment, and what products and services are receiving emphasis since consumer demand will be quick to follow.

Speaking of Microsoft, I also hosted a few events in the past six months, including "App in a Day" and "Dashboard in a Day," which are great ways to give back to the community of learners eager to understand and embrace these products.

What's your success mantra?

Do the right thing, and the numbers will follow.