If you need on-premise or aren't looking to use Azure, the Microsoft PowerApps app maker may not be for you.
“It’s cheap and we already have it!”
The ubiquity of Microsoft platforms in corporations makes the PowerApps app maker seem like a natural choice. PowerApps works with Microsoft applications, offers some simple tools for app development, and pricing starts low. So why is Microsoft PowerApps rarely selected for mobile app development? It quickly becomes clear that PowerApps doesn’t stand up to the needs of organizations that need enterprise-class apps.
One of the biggest surprises companies encounter when they evaluate Microsoft PowerApps is that it isn’t a “free” enterprise product. In most cases, basic enterprise-ready apps require additional modules and licensing. What starts out as a low-cost solution quickly strains budgets as enterprise requirements expand. PowerApps costs increase quickly for advanced apps and connections to non-Microsoft systems.
Microsoft Power Apps Pricing: Learn More about the hidden costs of Power Apps
One of the benefits of upgrading your paper process to mobile apps is the ability to take full advantage of new smartphone features. But PowerApps doesn’t always deliver if you want to use the camera, scan barcodes, record audio, or capture a signature. For example:
Learn about the rich mobile data collection features modern apps require.
If you want to use any level of authentication in PowerApps, you'll need to use Azure as your active directory.
Cloud hosting is fine for many apps but not all. Security and privacy-conscious organizations often need more control of the highly sensitive data that drives their business. They cannot be limited to only using Microsoft’s cloud. PowerApps does not support on-premise hosting.
Does your organization have strict policies that require on-premise hosting? Power Apps isn't for you.
Gartner analyst Kyle Davis wrote: “PowerApps is a public-cloud-only service. Organizations seeking to deploy apps on-premises will need to consider an hpaPaaS, which offers an on-premises platform such as Alpha Software...”
Read what Gartner has to say about Power Apps limitations around on-premise hosting.
For companies that want customized branded apps, Power Apps also has limitations. To run PowerApps on mobile devices your apps must run within its mobile app, which doesn't allow you to craft your own branded mobile apps to submit to the app stores.
Robust offline capabilities are critical for enterprise apps or the app isn’t truly a mobile solution. PowerApps doesn’t offer features that are critical to the enterprise such as efficient data synchronization, fast updates, and conflict resolution. Field service employees, emergency workers, and other standing workers must be able to effectively do their job, even without a working network connection. PowerApps lacks robust offline capabilities.
Read why offline capabilities are critical for modern mobile apps.
Microsoft encourages companies to stay within its ecosystem and PowerApps is no exception. While Integration with Microsoft’s solutions is easy, this is not enough for most organizations who operate platforms from multiple vendors. Integration with Non-Microsoft systems is difficult to do and increases cost.
The Verdict
For simple data collection needs, such as polling, Microsoft PowerApps is a good solution; but most enterprise use cases go beyond the product’s capabilities. Typical smartphone, integration and security requirements will quickly tax the product, users and corporate budgets. Most organizations select NonMicrosoft solutions for App development to ensure an ability to grow as business requirements change.
Alpha Software helps thousands of citizen developers build the apps they need for their organizations. With built-in security, offline capability, rich mobile data collection, and affordable pricing, Alpha Software is a great alternative to Microsoft Power Apps.
Still have Questions?
Email sales@alphasoftware.com or Call 781-229-4500
The Alpha platform is the only unified mobile and web app development and deployment environment with distinct “no-code” and “low-code” components. Using the Alpha TransForm no-code product, business users and developers can take full advantage of all the capabilities of the smartphone to turn any form into a mobile app in minutes, and power users can add advanced app functionality with Alpha TransForm's built-in programming language. IT developers can use the Alpha Anywhere low-code environment to develop complex web or mobile business apps from scratch, integrate data with existing systems of record and workflows (including data collected via Alpha TransForm), and add additional security or authentication requirements to protect corporate data.
Alpha Software Corporation, based in Massachusetts, produces award-winning software that speeds mobile and web app development and deployment for business and IT. The core technology includes two components. Alpha Anywhere®, a full-stack low-code app development platform for building and deploying web and mobile apps. In just hours, Alpha TransForm® turns complex paper forms into powerful mobile forms that speed data collection.
Alpha Software is an InfoWorld Technology of the Year award winner, and scores near-perfect reviews from customers on crowdsourced review sites.
Customers rate Alpha Software highly for its speed of development, flexibility, offline apps, rich feature set and ability to scale predictably. For more information, visit https://www.alphasoftware.com/