Microsoft Flow Advanced : tips, pitfalls, problems to be known before staring a real project (SPSaturday Belgium 2017)

SharePoint Saturday Belgium 2017 • October 21 • Brussels Track: Business| Level: 300

Microsoft Flow Advanced : tips, pitfalls, problems…

Serge Luca, Isabelle Van Campenhoudt

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SharePoint Saturday Belgium 2017 • October 21 • Brussels

Serge Luca11 x SharePoint MVP, Brussels

SharePoint since 2002

Architect (Admin, Dev, gouvernance)

Managing partner of www.shareql.com

Blog: http://sergeluca.wordpress.com/

[email protected]

@sergeluca

http://www.shareql.com/

http://sergeluca.wordpress.com/

mailto:[email protected]


SQL Server MVP, Brussels

Consultant, speaker, trainer, GUSS Board Member, PASS V-Chapter Leader

Managing partner de www.ShareQL.com

SQL Server since 1999

Blog: http://thesqlgrrrl.wordpress.com/

[email protected]

@thesqlgrrrl

Isabelle Van Campenhoudt

http://www.shareql.com/

http://thesqlgrrrl.wordpress.com/

mailto:[email protected]


Start asking questions now:@sergeluca #spsbe


Environment + Data Loss prevention

Creating Flows

Introduction : the concept

Flows and on premises

Extensibility : communication with the outside world

Price & roadmap

Conclusions




3 main benefits

Personal productivity

Collaboration – Approval & Review

quickly create (0 code) apps “Citizen development”


Custom Business Applications

Empower power users

Can be extended by specialistsApp Services

Service Fabric

Azure Functions

…

Logic Apps

API Management

BizTalk

…

SQL Server BI

Data analytics

Internet of Things (IoT)

…

Build modern business app fast


Creating Flows



Creating an Managing Flow

Microsoft Account (free) or Office 365 or Dynamics 365 or Flow (paid) or PowerApps ( or free new PowerApps Community Plan)

Flow.microsoft.com

Powerapps.microsoft.com

A modern SharePoint Online list

Mobile app (iOS and Android, Windows Mobile is coming)


demoEXPENSE REPORT


Complex approvals in Flow



Approval problems

• What do we do if the item (to be approved) is deleted ?

• No approval reassignment(->roadmap)

• Limitation of Flow : • flow duration = max 30 days

• Approval duration = max 30 days

->What if Approval 1 = 20 days & Approval 2 = 15 days ?

• However (great) Approval history is perpetual


Limitations

• 250 actions/flow ->create nested flows

• SharePoint• No custom form to start a workflow -> soon• Limitation when more than 5000 items in a list?• The flow cannot run with the security context of the user ->roadmap• No OOB site level actions ->roadmap• Cannot OOB change item security ->roadmap• No multiple value ->soon• No taxonomy->soon• No content publishing ->soon• Lookup field pointing to another web ?


Limitations

• No out of the box send for review ->soon

• No custom input forms for approvers->roadmap

• No trigger when a SharePoint item is selected->soon

• Flow duration : 30 days ; loops : max 5000 iteration->???


Creating Flows




Flow and data on premises

• Install the « on Premises data gateway »(shared between PowerBI, PowerApps and Azure Logic

Apps)


demoFLOW & DATA ON PREM



Creating Flows




Environments : compliance

• Isolated spaces where Flows/Data are running/stored– Ex HR, Marketing, Production, Legal, DEV, TEST,

UAT, PROD…

• Different rules (DLP)– Ex marketing can use twitter, Legal and Production

cannot

• Different regions if needed

[Plan 2 for creating Env]


ENVIRONMENTSDEV MARKETING

TEST MARKETING

UAT MARKETING

PROD MARKETING

DEV OPERATIONS US

TEST OPERATIONS US

UAT OPERATIONS US

PROD OPERATIONS US

US

DLP

DEV OPERATIONS EUROPE

TEST OPERATIONS EUROPE

UAT OPERATIONS EUROPE

PROD OPERATIONS EUROPE

EU

DLP


Attention

• We can export-import Flows from Env1 to Env2• We have to recreate the connections (fixed in roadmap)

• SharePoint lists based on GUID (! From SharePoint test site to SharePoint prod site !)

• On premise data gateway :• Only gateways and only in the default environment

• Only HTTP with SharePoint


demoENVIRONMENTS



Creating Flows





➢ Action Request

➢ Custom Connector (REST API described in a Swagger/Open API )➢ Action Http

PowerApps calls Flow

A custom app calls Flow (« Flow as a service »)

PowerBI calls Flow (Data Alerts)

Flow calls the outside world


demoA CUSTOM APPLICATION CALLS FLOW


demoFLOW CALLS THE OUTSIDE WORLD


PowerBI & Flow

FLOW

DATA ALERTS

DATA SOURCES

POWER BISCHEDULED REFRESH

STREAMING DATA

LIVE


demoPOWERBI & FLOW



Creating Flows




Price & roadmap



Tarifs: Comparaison


SharePoint Designer Flow

Multiple connections to >150 data sources SQL, SP, ODBC & WSDL only ALWAYS

Out of box templates <5 100s

Workflow & approval history <365 days Perpetual

Approvals over mobile + mobile notifications NEVER iOS, Android, Windows Phone + in Outlook. History coming imminently.

Loops, Do Until, Switch-case, parallels, variables Yes Yes

On-premises support Native Gateway support

Extended field types (people, choice, MMS, lookup) Yes People, choice, lookup – Yes new, MMS –coming soon

Send email as user or system System only Yes

Attachments Yes Yes new


SharePoint Designer Flow

Out-of-box send for review Limited Q4CY2017

Reassignment of approvals Yes Q4CY2017

Approval reminders Yes Q4CY2017

Custom input forms for approvers Yes Q4CY2017

Document library CI-CO, approve Yes Future

Approver impersonation Via permission elevation Future

Site level actions Yes Future

Set permissions on an item Yes Future


Microsoft Flow roadmap - highlights

H2 Calendar 2017 Calendar 2018

o Export/import app packages across envs

o SPO – “In-the-box” review flows

o SPO – use flow for Content Publishing approvals

o SPO – people, choice, attachment and multi-values

o In-context in Dynamics 365

o Embedded Power BI analytics

o Office 365 audit logs

o Support for GDPR compliance

o UK deployment

o HTML rich text editor

o Guides for debugging actions and conditions

o Government and sovereign clouds deployment

o ALM – Sandbox environments

o ALM – Move or copy across environments

o Leverage device signals (e.g. Location)

o AppSource integration

o Azure functions integration



Creating Flows




Price & roadmap

Conclusions


Positive• Easy tool

• Not just SharePoint (it replaces SPD)

• Connections to hundreds of services

• Including on prem!

• SharePoint Integration is getting better

• PowerApps, PowerBI integration

• Team Flow is very proactive & delivers


Negative

• Young, unknown reliability

• No state machines (but we have loops and tests)

• Collect feedback weak

• SharePoint integration still weak

• Flow duration : 30 days, Approval : 30 days

• Weak for long business processes


Advices

• Keep your forms as simple as possible

• Manage the business logic in the workflow

• Use environments

• Define system accounts for your connections

• Limitations

• Learn the Logic Apps Workflow Definition Language(WDL)– Read my blog post

https://sergeluca.wordpress.com/2017/04/26/using-the-azure-logic-apps-workflow-definition-language-in-microsoft-flow-part-1/

https://sergeluca.wordpress.com/2017/04/26/using-the-azure-logic-apps-workflow-definition-language-in-microsoft-flow-part-1/


We want more questions :@sergeluca #spsbe


Thank You!

Feedbackhttp://spsbe.be

Microsoft Flow Advanced : tips, pitfalls, problems to be known before staring a real project (SPSaturday Belgium 2017)

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