Power Automate Licensing Introduction
The Version 1 Microsoft license consulting team (Karl O’Doherty, Niamh Ní Shúilleabháin, Richard Ojo, and William Nelson) are producing a series of video chats and blogs over the next few weeks or so, on Power Platform, its components and license models.
So far, we have covered a few topics including:
· An introduction to Power BI Licensing
· An Introduction to Power Apps Licensing
· Microsoft Power Platform — Governance and controls
In this post, we will take a detailed look at Power Automate licensing. We have also recorded a short fireside chat on this topic which you can listen to at the link below.
Power Automate is a SaaS platform that is a part of the Power Platform family of products. Customers use Power Automate to increase efficiency and reduce cost through the automation of repetitive tasks and business processes.
Licensing Power Automate can create confusion where there is a lack of understanding between seeded entitlement and paid standalone licenses. Seeded entitlement is included with the following products:
- Microsoft 365.
- Dynamics 365 Enterprise / Professional / Team Member.
- Windows.
The image below provides a summary of seeded or license included rights for Power Automate associated with the above products.
Organisations that need to step beyond these seeded or license included capabilities need to consider what paid standalone licensing model is best fit for their organisation from an operational and cost prespective.
Microsoft indicate that standalone paid Power Automate licenses are dependent on two classifications of automation:
A. Personal automation
B. Enterprise process automation
Below is a summary of which paid license types align with each of these two classifications of automation.
Before deciding to invest in a specific licensing metrics for Power Automate, you should evaluate the economics of each model and the complexity of license management. Using this approach will enable cost savings and streamline operations. For example the use of Per flow licenses can be more cost effective than licensing on per user basis for specific scenarios and may eliminate unnecessary existing per user licensing fees.
Other licensing considerations for Power Automate should include:
Dynamics 365 Rights — Determining if your flow is in context of a Power Apps/Dynamics 365 app.
Unattended RPA (Robotic Process Automation) — Can create licensing issues where there are unattended digital workers.
Multiplexing — Does access to underlying data create a licensing dependency, for example SQL Server serving data and the OS that it resides on may have an underlying license requirement.
External Users — Is there a licensing dependency for Azure Active Directory (B2B). You should keep in mind that external users are treated like internal users — this may necessitate the need to acquire paid licenses for Power Automate. How these external users interact with Power Automate will also impact on the type of license required i.e. per user or per flow.
Within the Version 1 SAM practice we are actively working with customers to help them understand the nuances around Power Automate licensing, and can assist you with any questions. Go to our website or contact us for further information.
About the Author:
Karl is a Principal Licensing Consultant at Version 1, providing Microsoft license expertise to organisations globally and ensuring customers get the best value from their Microsoft assets.
