Pait Group Blog

Finding Your Place in an AI World

I don’t know about you, but for me AI is starting to feel a little too intelligent and a little less artificial. I’ve been watching as blog posts, videos, scripts, images, and now workflows and applications generated by AI have gradually gone from “oh that’s so silly,” to “wow that’s pretty good.” I even saw an AI generated hand recently that had the right number of fingers! At the onset of the AI invasion, I thought “I can’t be replaced by machines” but these days I’m not so sure… So, what’s an IT Pro to do to stay on top in an already competitive field?

Using Microsoft Forms for Anonymous Surveys

I recently had a friend ask me, “hey Allie, you Microsoft Guru, I have this need for an anonymous survey process, how should I use SharePoint with Power Platform to achieve this?” I started asking for more requirements and eventually said “well, you shouldn’t use SharePoint with Power Platform. You should use Microsoft Forms.”

Obviously, each scenario, use case, business or personal need is different, so there is rarely a “one form fits all” solution, but I wanted to provide some guidance on using a Microsoft Form for truly anonymous surveys.

Configuring the Layout of SharePoint Forms

I love a good form, but I am not a fan of the default form on SharePoint online. It does the job, sure, but it leaves so much to be desired. Most of the time I customize it via Power Apps, but that requires licensing and some Power Platform experience, and time. Sometimes, I work with clients that just don’t have those things. Luckily for them, there is a pretty simple way to spruce up the default SharePoint form using some copy paste and find and replace magic.

Modern Workplace Therapy

As a Modern Workplace consultant with an emphasis in Microsoft 365, I deliver solutions architected in SharePoint Online with Teams and Power Platform. I could call myself a developer, an architect, a consultant, a data specialist etc. but I prefer to refer to myself as a therapist. It started out jokingly, but now that I’ve been an IT Professional for over 10 years, I’m more convinced than ever that I chose the right title.

Microsoft Lists for EVERYONE (With MSA Preview)

I’ve been working with SharePoint for about 12 years now, and in those 12 years I have consistently said “my life sure would be easier with a list or two.”

Cascading Drop-downs in PowerApps

I probably don’t have to tell you this, but just in case, PowerApps are versatile no code or low code solutions you can create to simplify processes for your end users. One of the most common PowerApps is a personalized form for data entry or selection. PowerApps has a lot of built in controls that are a breeze to just click and add, but if you don’t mind getting your hands a little dirty you can really tailor your app and make it easy for users to put in data with integrity. One of my favorite ways to do this is with a cascading drop-down, or basically two drop-downs that have related fields. Whatever you select in drop-down 1 impacts the choices available in drop-down 2. For example, if you’re building an order form, you might have a drop-down for category, then a second drop-down for product. Let’s look at how you might put that together.