What's new in Microsoft Power Platform?
This blog has been written by Chris Burns, AI & Automation Technical Architect (Productivity) at Nasstar.
Power Platform is Microsoft's low-code/no-code platform, enabling anyone to build and deploy applications, automate workflows, analyse data, and create chatbots.
This blog will explore some of the recent changes and enhancements in Power Platform, such as Power Virtual Agents (PVA) becoming Copilot Studio, Power BI being removed from PL200 certification, and Power BI becoming part of the Microsoft Fabric Suite. These changes reflect Microsoft's vision of empowering everyone to create solutions that meet their business needs and drive innovation.
Power Virtual Agents becomes Copilot Studio
In 2024, Microsoft announced that PVA would be rebranded as Copilot Studio, a new name that reflects the tool's ability to help users create conversational experiences with ease.
Chris Burns, Technical Architect at Nasstar, said: “PVA was launched in 2019, but I think it's fair to say that it didn't get the attention that its creators hoped for, and some of the criticism of it was valid. At Nasstar we tried to build tools that required more flexibility than the multistep process that PVA followed. It worked well for very specific conversation flows, but it was insufficient for anything beyond topics.
“In November 2022, ChatGPT came out and revolutionised the way we think about chatbots and what they can do. We still haven't fully grasped the implications of this shift to ChatGPT and Copilot, even now. This spelled the end for the rigid, somewhat inflexible deterministic approach of PVA.
“People no longer wanted to be limited by a certain flow, they wanted to ask and re-ask questions about data or references. They expected the bot they were talking with could be as fluent and adaptable as they needed. Enter the world of LLMs and Generative AI.”
Microsoft has been very vocal and passionate about investing in this new wave of AI. To its credit, it has overtaken Apple as the most valuable company on the planet. As the company’s flagship chatbot technology, PVA was always going to be in its sights for an upgrade.
That upgrade came in the form of Copilot Studio. As seen in Build 2024, Copilot Studio has elevated itself as one of the primary products Microsoft pushes. In some ways the product itself overshadows the platform it belongs to.
Power BI removed from PL200 certification
Power BI is a tool that allows users to connect to various data sources, transform and model data, create interactive reports and dashboards, and share insights with others. Power BI is widely used by business analysts, data analysts, and data enthusiasts to gain insights from data and make data-driven decisions.
Previously, Power BI was part of the PL200 certification exam, which is designed to validate the skills and knowledge of functional consultants who work with Power Platform. However, Microsoft has recently announced that Power BI will be removed from the PL200 exam. The reason for this change is to align the exam content with the role-based certification framework and to focus on the core components of Power Platform.
This means that candidates who want to earn the PL200 certification will no longer need to study or demonstrate their proficiency in Power BI. Instead, they will need to focus on the following topics:
- Configure Microsoft Dataverse
- Create apps by using Power Apps
- Create and manage Power Automate
- Implement CoPilot Studio chatbots
- Integrate Power apps with other apps and services
Candidates who want to learn and certify their skills in Power BI can still take the DA-100 exam, which is the dedicated exam for data analysts who use Power BI, which is likely to be consumed by Microsoft Fabric.
Speak to our teams about how you can start using Power Platform to enhance your business processes.
