Supplementing Salesforce with Help from the Microsoft Power Platform

There are a lot of ERP solutions out there, and few of them are capable of providing a business with every single functionality under the sun. Inevitably, situations arise where an essential business process falls outside the scope of a particular piece of software.

When this happens, what are your options? Switching to an entirely new software solution is rarely feasible. Instead, most businesses are presented with a choice: either build a custom application to address the problem, or implement a complicated manual workaround. The latter can lead to errors and other problems, and often takes a significant amount of time. The former is typically expensive, and frequently requires a high level of programming expertise. Neither solution is ideal.

Fortunately, there is yet another possibility. With the help of the Microsoft Power Platform, businesses can get the custom solutions they need at a fraction of the cost of custom applications.

A Custom Solution with the Microsoft Power Platform

At AKA Enterprise Solutions, we often work with clients in the financial services industry and pride ourselves on helping these clients achieve success. When we were approached by a global asset management firm for help with a Salesforce-related issue, we set out to determine the most efficient, affordable, and effective way to provide them with the solution they needed.

The firm was using Salesforce, and it was providing them with most of the functionality they needed. But when it came to monthly reporting, Salesforce was coming up short. According to the laws and regulations applicable to asset management firms, monthly performance reports have to be issued to clients in a timely manner. If these reports aren’t generated and delivered properly, penalties and legal issues can follow.

At the time, the firm was using a complicated manual workaround to do their monthly reporting. Aside from requiring employees to devote valuable time to a task that should have been fully automated, this process was also prone to error.

Rather than trying to build a custom solution in Salesforce, the team at AKA came up with a better long term solution: a Salesforce “surround” with the help of the Microsoft Power Platform.

An Affordable, Reliable Solution 

With our custom solution built using the Microsoft Power Platform, the firm was able to streamline their monthly reporting significantly. This freed up significant amounts of time which had previously been devoted to reporting. The newly automated reporting process wasn’t just faster: it was also more reliable. Best of all, the new Microsoft Power Platform solution was implemented without any interruptions in the firm’s existing Salesforce processes.

These kinds of custom solutions are often time consuming and cost prohibitive. But in this case, we managed to build a surround in the Power Platform in one third of the typical time required for custom application development -- and at a significantly lower cost.

How Does the Power Platform Work?

The Microsoft Power Platform is comprised of Power BI, Power Apps, and Power Automate (previously known as Microsoft Flow). Each tool helps organizations to manage data and build custom apps, without the need for complicated programming. Because the tools are built on the Common Data Service for Apps (CDS), a secure database hosted in Microsoft Azure Cloud, it’s possible to seamlessly integrate the Power Platform with third-party applications.

At the end of the day, the Power Platform provides businesses with the solutions they need -- all without the time and cost of a full customization journey.

Why Compromise? Choose the Microsoft Power Platform 

Gone are the days when businesses had to compromise on their software solutions. There’s no need to compromise between functionality and affordability. With the Microsoft Power Platform, you can have both.

Custom Solutions from AKA 

Is your current ERP software solution falling short of your expectations? AKA Enterprise Solutions can help. Contact one of our financial services experts today to learn more about what the Microsoft Power Platform can do for your business.

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ABOUT AKA ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS
AKA specializes in making it easier to do business, simplifying processes and reducing risks. With agility, expertise, and original industry solutions, we embrace projects other technology firms avoid—regardless of their complexity. As a true strategic partner, we help organizations slay the dragons that are keeping them from innovating their way to greatness. Call us at 212-502-3900!

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Article by: Michael Quattlebaum - Senior Functional Solution Architect | 212-502-3900

As a Senior Functional Solution Architect, Michael has 20+ years of experience in technology and financial services, focusing on a business-centric approach to problem solving. His expertise in functional and technical design enables him to convey confidence to end users as well as C-level executives.