Fixing Operational Friction with Microsoft Power Platform

Where Operational Efficiency Breaks Down

If you want to find “wasted time,” don’t look for one giant failure. Look for the everyday friction people stopped complaining about because it feels normal.

Here are the most common patterns we see inside growing organizations:

1. Work lives in too many places — requests come in through email, Teams, spreadsheets, SharePoint lists, and hallway conversations.
2. Approvals are invisible — nobody knows who has the ball, and “just checking in” becomes a recurring task.
3. Manual data entry piles up — teams copy/paste between systems because integrations don’t exist (or don’t work).
4. Tribal knowledge runs the process — one person knows “the steps,” and everyone else waits on them.
5. Reporting is reactive — leaders get answers only after someone assembles them by hand.

What Power Platform Actually Solves (and What It Doesn’t)

Power Platform isn’t a single product — it’s a toolkit for fixing operational friction where work happens. The biggest misconception is that it’s “just low-code.” The better way to think about it is: Power Platform helps you standardize and automate business work without waiting on a 12-month IT roadmap.

When Power Platform works well, teams stop chasing work — and start moving it.

Here’s what it’s especially good at:

• Replacing spreadsheet-driven processes with lightweight apps and structured data.
• Automating approvals and handoffs so status isn’t trapped in someone’s inbox.
• Connecting Microsoft 365 and line-of-business systems so data doesn’t get re-keyed manually.
• Adding AI assistance in ways that reduce time — not introduce risk.

What it doesn’t solve by itself: unclear process ownership, messy data foundations, or a lack of governance. Without those, it’s easy to create “helpful” solutions that later become sprawl.

Practical Ways to Improve Efficiency with Power Platform

If Power Platform feels “big,” start smaller. The best wins usually come from eliminating a single friction point that touches a lot of people.

1. Replace Spreadsheet Processes with Purpose-Built Apps

Power Apps is ideal when a spreadsheet has become a workflow system.

• Example: A shared Excel tracker becomes a simple app with structured fields, role-based views, and audit history.
• Impact: less rework, fewer “which version is right?” conversations, and better data quality.

2. Automate Approvals and Handoffs (So Work Stops Getting Stuck)

Power Automate helps remove the invisible delays: manual follow-ups, status checks, and “did you see my email?”

• Example: A purchase request triggers an approval, logs a record, notifies the requester, and updates a Teams channel.
• Impact: faster cycle time, fewer bottlenecks, and real status visibility.

3. Create a Single Source of Truth Across Microsoft 365 + Business Systems

Many inefficiencies come from disconnected tools: SharePoint lists over here, email updates over there, CRM data somewhere else. Power Platform can bridge that gap with connectors and structured data patterns.

• Example: A new customer onboarding request created in Teams automatically creates tasks, updates CRM, and routes approvals.
• Impact: fewer manual updates and higher confidence in reporting.

4. Add AI Assistance Where It Actually Saves Time (Not Adds Risk)

Copilot Studio can support employees with guided help and actions — when it’s designed with the right boundaries.

• Example: An internal agent answers “How do I…?” questions and can initiate approved actions (like creating a request or checking status).
• Impact: reduced interruptions, faster resolution, and fewer “who knows this?” dependencies.

5. Improve Visibility with Shared, Real-Time Reporting

Power BI rounds out the Power Platform by turning process and workflow data into clear, shared visibility.

• Example: Dashboards show approval cycle times, backlog trends, and workload distribution across teams.
• Impact: leaders spot bottlenecks earlier, and teams can adjust before issues escalate.

Governance & Security: The Difference Between Scaling and Sprawl

Power Platform is powerful because it’s accessible. That’s also the risk. “Low-code” doesn’t mean “low impact” — it can touch real data, real permissions, and real business processes.

Without governance, organizations often end up with dozens (or hundreds) of disconnected apps and flows: some owned by people who changed roles, some running without monitoring, and some relying on brittle workarounds. That’s how sprawl turns into technical debt — and eventually, loss of trust in the platform.

Healthy governance keeps innovation moving without creating chaos. The essentials include:

• Environment strategy — where solutions live, who can build where, and how data is segmented.
• Security & identity — role-based access, least privilege, and clear ownership.
• Data loss prevention (DLP) — controlling connectors and where data can flow.
• ALM & release management — moving from “it works on my machine” to stable deployments.
• Monitoring and support — knowing what’s running, what’s failing, and who is accountable.

Key Takeaways

• Operational inefficiency is usually small friction repeated at scale — approvals, handoffs, and manual updates.
• Power Platform is strongest when it fixes real workflows end-to-end, not when it creates one-off tools.
• Start with one painful process, deliver a clean win, then repeat the pattern quarterly.
• Governance isn’t a blocker — it’s what makes Power Platform sustainable and safe to scale.
• AI agents can help, but only when use cases, data access, and controls are designed intentionally.

Where to Go From Here

If your teams are still relying on inbox approvals, spreadsheet trackers, and manual re-entry, you don’t need a massive transformation program to get momentum. You need a practical plan: pick the processes that cause the most friction, fix them with the right pattern, and put governance in place so the improvements stick.

TrellisPoint helps organizations adopt Power Platform in a way that’s scalable, secure, and measurable — from initial discovery and prioritization, to solution architecture, governance setup, implementation, and long-term optimization.