Getting started with Office 365 SharePoint Online Workflows : SharePoint Fest Chicago 2017

WithumSmith+Brown, PC | BE IN A POSITION OF STRENGTH
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@pgbhoyar #SPFestChicago
Prashant G Bhoyar, MVP
SharePoint Fest, Chicago, IL http://www.sharepointfest.com/Chicago
07 December 2017
Getting Started with Office 365/
SharePoint Online Workflows

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Who AM I ?
• Born and raised in India
• Came to United States of America in 2007 for studies
• University of Maryland College Park Alumni
• Co-Author of the book “PowerShell for Office 365”
• Technical Reviewer of the book “Pro : SharePoint 2013 Administration”
• Organizer of SharePoint Saturday Baltimore (SPSBMORE)
➢ http://www.spsevents.org/city/baltimore/baltimoretecc
• Organizer of SharePoint Saturday DC ( SPSDC )
➢ http://www.spsevents.org/city/DC/summer2017
• Founder and Organizer of DC-Metro Office 365 User Group
➢ Monthly in person & online event
➢ http://www.meetup.com/DC-Metro-Office-365-User-Group/
• Recipient of Antarctic Service Medal
• Microsoft MVP ( Most Valuable Professional)
• Solution Architect at Withum Smith and Brown PC
➢ https://digital.withum.com
➢ Former Portal Solutions
➢ Focus on Microsoft Solutions and Services
➢ Works in Bethesda, Maryland Office
Prashant G Bhoyar
(PGB)

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Withum Microsoft Solutions and Services
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• Modern workplace
• Office 365 Implementations/
Migrations
• Turnkey Intranet Solution
• Managed Services
• Data Analytics
• Enterprise Mobility + Security
• Business Process Automation
• Dynamics 365
• Azure

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• 100 Level Session
• Options
• OOTB Workflows
• SharePoint Designer 2013
• Visual Studio Workflows
• Microsoft Flow
• Flow vs SharePoint Designer 2013 workflows
• Microsoft Logic Apps
• Flow vs Logic Apps
• Key Takeaways
• Q&A
Agenda

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Audience Poll
▪ How many of you are IT pros?
▪ How many of you are Developers?
▪ How many of you are Power Users?
▪ How many of you are Business Users?
▪ How many of you are in charge of writing/maintaining the workflows?
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Common Options/Tools to create Workflows in SharePoint
Online
User
Interaction?
• OOTB
• Visual Studio
2012/2013/2015/2017
• Microsoft Flow
• Logic Apps
• Third Party Products
• OOTB
• Visual Studio
2012/2013/2015/2017
• Microsoft Flow
• Logic Apps
• Third Party Products
• Remote Event Receivers
• Azure Functions
• SharePoint Web Hooks
• Remote Timer Jobs
• Custom Web Service
Yes
No

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Remember
▪ Technology/Tool does not matter, problem solving does
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Types of Workflows
Sequential State Machine
• Activities occur in sequence
• On rejection , begin from start
• Simple Business Processes
example, Leave Request
• Activities are not sequential
• Can by pass activities based on
business logic
• Complex business processes
example, Financial Aid

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Typical SharePoint Workflow Life Cycle
Initiation
• When the workflow instance is started on list/library item
Running
• User Interaction via tasks ( optional)
• Status page reflects the status of the workflows
Termination • End of the workflow instance
Association
• When the workflow is associated with List/Library

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SharePoint Online Workflow Architecture
▪ With SharePoint 2013 Microsoft released a new product called “Workflow Manager”
▪ SharePoint 2013 style Workflows are built using Workflow Foundation 4.5 and run out of
SharePoint
▪ There is separate server Product called Workflow manager and is not part of SharePoint
Infrastructure
▪ Communication between Workflow manager and client (SharePoint) occurs using REST API and
Oauth
▪ SharePoint 2013 style Workflows are fully Declarative
▪ SP2013 workflows are no longer compiled into .NET assemblies instead XAML files defines
workflow and their execution
• No more custom code
Source : https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3076399

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High Level Architecture of SharePoint Workflow
Infrastructure
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▪ Workflows are Fully Declarative
▪ SP2013 style workflows can call
SP2010 style workflows
▪ SP2010 workflows created using
SPD 2010 will continue to work in
SharePoint Online but will not be
upgraded to SP2013 style
workflows
▪ Option of manual upgrade 
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Major Enhancements in SharePoint 2013 Style Workflows

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▪ List/Libraries
▪ No Content Types
▪ Solution : Check the content type
column and then initiate the
workflow
▪ Sites
▪ SPD 2013 Workflows
▪ Visual Studio Workflows
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SharePoint 2013 Style Workflow Associations

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• Browser/OOTB
• Visio 2013
• Visual Studio
2012/2013/2015/2017
• Microsoft Flow
• Third Party Tool
SharePoint Online
Workflow Tools

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SharePoint Online OOTB Workflows
▪ No new additions
▪ Approval - SharePoint 2010
▪ Collect Feedback - SharePoint 2010
▪ Collect Signatures - SharePoint 2010
▪ Disposition Approval
▪ Three-State
Note: Uses SharePoint 2010 Workflow Host

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• Browser
• Visio 2013
• Visual Studio
2012/2013/2015/2017
• Microsoft Flow
• Third Party Tool
SharePoint Online
Workflow Tools

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▪ Free download from Microsoft
• https://www.microsoft.com/en-
us/download/details.aspx?id=35491
• Supported Operating Systems
 Windows 10 ,
 Windows 7,
 Windows 8,
 Windows 8.1,
 Windows Server 2008 R2,
 Windows Server 2012,
 Windows Server 2016
How to get SharePoint
Designer 2013?

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Major Enhancements in SharePoint 2013
Designer Workflows
▪ A visual Workflow development
experience that uses Visio 2013
▪ New Actions for creating a task and
starting a task
▪ A new Dictionary data type for working
with complex data type
▪ New workflow building blocks such as
Stage, Loop, and App Step
▪ A new action that enables no-code web
service calls from within a workflow

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Improved Workflow Logic & Control
SharePoint 2013 Designer
▪ Stages – Can create State Machine
workflows using Stages
▪ Loop : Repeat one or more actions a
specified number of times
▪ SP2010 Workflow Re-Use: SPD2013
enables starting an existing SP2010
workflow, including passing initiation
parameters

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New Workflow Activities & Actions
New Actions & Activities
Microsoft Project Specific
Actions
Assign a Task Get Property from
[Dictionary/DynamicValue]
Create a Project from Current Item
Start a Task Process Count Items in
[Dictionary/DynamicValue]
Set the current project stage status to
this value
Go to This Stage Trim String Set the status field in the idea list item
to this value
Call HTTP Web Service Find Substring in String Wait for Project Event
Start a List Workflow Replace Substring in String Set this field in the project to this
value
Start a Site Workflow Translate Document
Build [Dictionary/DynamicValue] Set Workflow Status

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Key Differences between SP2013 & SP2010 Style Workflows
SharePoint 2010 Style Workflows SharePoint 2013 Style Workflows
• Uses SharePoint 2010 Workflow Host
• Impersonation Step
• OOTB Visualization of Workflows
• No loops, stages in Designer WFs
• Custom task forms are InfoPath forms
• Can capture Approval comments OOTB
• Uses Workflow Manager
• App Step
• Need to create custom solution
• Looping, stages are present
• Custom task forms are .aspx pages
• Need to implement custom solution

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Limitations of SharePoint 2013 Designer
Workflows
▪ We can not start workflows on delete
event
▪ No source control for SPD workflows
▪ String functions are limited
▪ Can not deploy workflows as
SharePoint Apps/Add-Ins
▪ Can create workflows for SharePoint
Online only
▪ Strict Throttling Limitations

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Throttling Limits in Office 365
▪ In Office 365 workflow manager has strict throttling limits for SharePoint 2013 Style
workflows
▪ The instance has exceeded the outbound http request quota for a 1.00:00:00 time period. The 5000
request limit was reached in <time>.
• The request quota of 5000 request limits is per workflow per site collection in 24 hours
• Analogy credit score
▪ Workflow instances can get suspended and we need to wait 24 hours to resume the
suspended workflow instance by
• clicking Resume for the workflow or
• by using the SharePoint Workflow Client Object Model
▪ Suspended workflow instances will be terminated after 10 days.

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▪ There is no OOTB email alert if the workflow get suspended
▪ We can find the suspended workflows on the page
/_layouts/15/WorkflowServiceHealth.aspx
▪ If we develop workflow as an “App” these throttling limitations do
not apply
• We have to use Visual Studio to develop the workflow as an App

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Throttling Limits in Office 365 – Design Consideration
▪ Avoid infinite loops
• We may use “Wait for field change in current item”
▪ Avoid using a workflow to execute complex algorithms
• Workflows are intended to manage document-driven, human processes
and not to dispatch significant computational tasks.
▪ Avoid the use of the “Wait for Event in List Item" activity

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• Browser
• Visio 2013
• SharePoint 2013 Designer
• Visual Studio
2012/2013/2015/2017
• Flow/Logic Apps
• Third Party Tools
SharePoint Online Workflow
Tools

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SharePoint Online Workflows Using
Visual Studio 2012/2013/2015/2017
▪ Declarative Approach
▪ Supports deployment as SharePoint
Apps/Add-In
▪ You can use Source Control
▪ Create Custom Activities
▪ Create Custom Forms for workflows
▪ Set Breakpoints on Activities
• Live debugging is available ☺

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DEMO
Rich Set of Actions/Activities in VS Toolbox

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Limitations of Visual Studio Workflows
▪ Develop workflow as an app
▪ Steep learning curve
▪ Visual Studio is a licensed product
unlike SharePoint Designer ☺
• Visual Studio Community Edition
 Check the license details ☺
▪ Can create workflows for SharePoint
Online only

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Announcements
▪ There will NOT be SharePoint Designer(Breaker) 2016
• http://sharepoint-community.net/forum/topics/what-s-happening-to-sharepoint-designer-in-sharepoint-
2016-is-it
• SharePoint 2013 Designer will be supported till 2026
▪ Microsoft Flow
• https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-microsoft-flow-and-announcing-the-public-
preview-of-powerapps/
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What does this mean?
▪ SharePoint Designer Workflows most probably will have same fate as
InfoPath forms services
• Microsoft will continue to support
• No future enhancements
▪ Time to explore other options
• Microsoft Flow
 https://flow.microsoft.com
• Logic Apps
 https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/logic-apps/
 Can deploy them only as “App”
• Other Third Party Products
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• Browser
• Visio 2013
• Visual Studio
2012/2013/2015/2017
• Microsoft Flow
• Logic Apps
Tools

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Microsoft Flow
▪ “Work Less, Do More!!!!!!”
• https://flow.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/welcome-to-microsoft-flow/
▪ Microsoft made the official announcement in April 2016
• https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-microsoft-flow-and-
announcing-the-public-preview-of-powerapps/
▪ SaaS offering – Successor to SharePoint 2013 Designer Workflows
▪ In-built connectors are available and you can publish your own as well
• https://flow.microsoft.com/en-us/connectors/
▪ You can use templates or start from Scratch
• https://flow.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/
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Source :https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/app-service-logic-what-are-logic-
apps/

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Microsoft Flow
▪ Mobile App is available to track, manage and create Flows
• https://flow.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/mobile-ios-launch/
▪ On-Premise Gate way is available
• https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/flow/gateway-reference
▪ New Features are getting added frequently
▪ Create Workflows using Office 365
products/services, Microsoft Products and other
third party Products
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apps/

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Microsoft Flow - Role
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apps/
Source :https://flow.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/flow-and-common-data-model/

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Microsoft Flow Components
▪ Connectors ( Service )
• https://flow.microsoft.com/en-us/connectors/
▪ Triggers
▪ Actions
▪ Conditions
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Flow Pricing – As of December 07th 2017 ☺
Features Free Flow for Office 365 &
Flow for Dynamics 365
Flow Plan 1 Flow Plan 2
Create unlimited automated workflows and powerful multi-
step processes
Maximum number of runs per month (per user) 750 2000 4500 15000
Maximum flow frequency 15 minutes 5 Minutes 3 Minutes 1 Minute
Access your flows on native apps for iOS and Android
Create flows from thousands of templates available in the
public gallery
Publish flows to the public gallery
SLA Not
Available
99.9% 99.9% 99.9%
Source :https://flow.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/

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Features Free Flow for Office 365 &
Flow for Dynamics 365
Flow Plan 1 Flow Plan 2
Connect to Office 365, Dynamics 365, Azure SQL, and other
Microsoft services
Connect to common cloud-based services like Twitter and
Wordpress using standard connectors
Connect to line of business services like Salesforce and Oracle
using premium connectors
Access on-premises data using on-premises data gateway
Create custom connectors to connect to your own systems
(per user)
One One Unlimited Unlimited
Create environments to deploy your flows ( per user ) Two
Invite others to share ownership and run flows
View flow usage across your company
Establish environment policies regarding the usage of different
connections and flows

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▪ Flow Free
▪ Flow Plan 1
• USD 5/per user/month
▪ Flow Plan 2
• USD 15/per User/month
▪ For these plans the number of flow runs is aggregated across all users
in the company.
▪ If your company exceeds more than the included runs per month per
user, you can buy an additional quota of runs per month:
• For every additional: 50,000 runs
• Added cost / month: USD $40.00
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apps/

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Flow vs SharePoint Designer 2013 Workflows
Flow SharePoint Designer 2013 Workflows
• Create workflows using Office 365
Products/Services, Microsoft Products, Third
Party Products
• Pay as per the usage
• Packaging and deployment
• New features are getting added frequently
• Right now more suited for individual workflows
• Create workflows for SharePoint
• Free
• Manual Option or custom code
• I don’t anticipate any new features will get
added
• Can create enterprise workflows

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• Browser
• Visio 2013
• Visual Studio
2012/2013/2015/2017
• Microsoft Flow
• Logic Apps
Tools

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▪ It is fully managed iPaaS(integrated
Platform as a service)
▪ Allows developers not to have worry about
building hosting, scalability, availability and
management
▪ Scale up automatically to meet the
demand
▪ Provides a way to implement scalable
integrations and workflows in the cloud
▪ Many connectors are available across cloud
and on premise
▪ Begins with the trigger
▪ Use with custom API apps of your own
What are Logic Apps?
Source :https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/app-service-logic-what-are-logic-apps/

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Logic Apps Key Concepts?
▪ Workflow - Logic Apps provides a graphical way to model your business processes as a series of steps
or a workflow.
▪ Managed Connectors - Your logic apps need access to data and services. Managed connectors are
created specifically to aid you when you are connecting to and working with your data. See the list of
connectors available now in managed connectors.
▪ Trigger - Some Managed Connectors can also act as a trigger. A trigger starts a new instance of a
workflow based on a specific event, like the arrival of an e-mail or a change in your Azure Storage
account.
▪ Actions - Each step after the trigger in a workflow is called an action. Each action typically maps to an
operation on your managed connector or custom API apps.
▪ Enterprise Integration Pack - For more advanced integration scenarios, Logic Apps includes capabilities
from BizTalk. BizTalk is Microsoft's industry leading integration platform. The Enterprise Integration
Pack connectors allow you to easily include validation, transformation, and more in to your Logic App
workflows.
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Logic Apps Pricing – As of December 07th 2017 ☺
Price per execution
Actions $0.000025
Standard Connectors $0.000125
Enterprise Connectors $0.001
Source :https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/logic-apps/
▪ Pay only for what you use
▪ Every time a Logic App definition runs the triggers, action and connector executions are metered
▪ Data retention: $0.12 GB/month
▪ Flexible support plans starting at $29/month

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Logic Apps vs Flow
Logic Apps Flow
• Target Audience : IT Pros, Developers
• Design Tools : In-Browser, Visual Studio, Code View
is available
• DevOps : source control, testing, support, and
automation and manageability in Azure Resource
Management
• Admin Center : https://portal.azure.com
• No direct integration with modern SP list and libraries
• Target Audience : Office Workers, Business
Users
• Design Tools : In-Browser and mobile only, UI
only
• DevOps : Ad-hoc, develop in production
• Admin Center : https://flow.microsoft.com
• Direct integration with modern SP list and
libraries
• Export and enhance using Logic Apps

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• Browser
• Visio 2013
• Visual Studio
2012/2013/2015/2017
• Microsoft Flow
• Logic Apps
Tools

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Third Party Tools

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Third Party Tools

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▪ Requirements
▪ Limitations
▪ Life Cycle
▪ Functionality
▪ Budget/Resources
Factors to Consider

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Which one to use?
▪ For new workflows with user interaction, as of today ( 07th
December 2017), I recommend to use the options in following
order ☺
• OOTB Workflows
• Flow
• Logic Apps
• Visual Studio Workflow as an App
• SharePoint 2013 Style Workflows using SPD 2013
• SharePoint 2010 Style Workflows using SPD 2013
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▪ Sign up for Office 365 Developer
Program at http://dev.office.com/
▪ Get 1 year of Office 365
subscription for free
▪ Excellent for personal
development use
▪ 1 Month Trial
▪ https://products.office.com/en-
us/business/compare-office-365-
for-business-plans
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How to get personal Office 365
Developer Tenant?

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How to get personal Azure Subscription?
▪ If you have MSDN Enterprise subscription
▪ You can get $150/month Azure credits for free
▪ Sign Up for Free trial :
https://azure.microsoft.com/
▪ Credit Card is required
▪ Microsoft Imagine
▪ Former Dreamspark
▪ No credit card required
▪ Valid .edu account from participating
school/institution
▪ Limited feature sets

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• Options
• OOTB Workflows
• Microsoft Flow
• Flow vs SharePoint Designer 2013 workflows
• Flow vs Logic Apps
Recap

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Other SPFest Chicago 2017 Sessions
▪ BI 201 - Building Business Applications for Office 365/
SharePoint Online using Azure Machine Learning
• December 08th 2017 : 8.30 – 9.45 AM CST
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Other SPFest Chicago 2017 Workflow Sessions
▪ WF 103 - Flow: The Future of Automation in SharePoin
▪ WF 104 - Business Process Automation for SharePoint
▪ PWR 105 - No-Code Forms and Workflow Tools of the SharePoint
Trade
▪ WF105 - Intelligent Processes Automation: Principles and Tactics
▪ DEV 201 - Using Logic Apps to Automate Your Processes
▪ WF 203 - Advanced SharePoint Designer 2013 Workflows
▪ WF 204 - Business Process Automation: Advanced Workflow
Solutions
▪ WF 205 -SharePoint Workflow for Cross-Site data, web services, and
Flow
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Key Takeaways
▪ Technology/Tool does not matter, problem solving does
▪ Do some research before selecting the tool
▪ Sign up for Developer Program using https://dev.office.com/

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References
MSDN/TechNet:
▪ https://dev.office.com/sharepoint/docs/general-development/sharepoint-workflow-fundamentals
▪ https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj227177.aspx
▪ https://flow.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/
▪ https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/jj163181.aspx
▪ https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/fp142380.aspx
▪ https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/jj822159.aspx
▪ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3076399/sharepoint-2013-workflow-throttling-and-performance-in-sharepoint-
online-and-project-online
▪ http://www.slideshare.net/pgbhoyar/how-to-develop-maintainable-custom-workflows-in-office365-sharepoint-online-
20160628new-jersey-sharepoint-user-group-63617565
▪ https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/flow/gateway-reference
▪ https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-functions/functions-compare-logic-apps-ms-flow-webjobs
▪ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/logic-apps/
Training Videos (Paid):
▪ http://www.Pluralsight.com

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Q&A

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Event Eval

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Questions? Feedback? Contact me:
▪ Email: pgbhoyar@gmail.com
▪ Twitter: @PGBhoyar
▪ Blog: http://pgbhoyar.com
▪ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pgbhoyar/
▪ Slides :https://www.slideshare.net/pgbhoyar
▪ Free Consulting/ Q&A: https://pgbhoyar.com/free-question-answer-session/
▪ Feedback : Please provide feedback
▪ Event App
▪ Email
Thank You
Organizers, Sponsors and You for Making this Possible.

Getting started with Office 365 SharePoint Online Workflows : SharePoint Fest Chicago 2017

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