POWER-AUTOMATE

Microsoft Power Platform RPA.

Definition

Power Automate components: Cloud Flows (~1000 SaaS connectors), Desktop Flows (Windows RPA from Softomotive heritage, acquired 2020), Business Process Flows, Process Mining (Minit, acquired 2022), AI Builder (GenAI), Copilot Studio integration. Included in Office 365 Premium licences. RPA add-on pricing for intensive use.

Origin

Microsoft Flow launched April 2016 ; Power Automate rebrand 2019 ; Softomotive (Desktop RPA) acquisition May 2020.

Example in context

A large bank uses Power Automate Desktop to automate close to 200 Office processes (Outlook, Excel, Word) without deploying UiPath ; native Microsoft 365 integration.

Related terms

• UiPath — best-of-breed competitor.