Microsoft Flow Advanced: tips, pitfalls, problems

SharePoint Saturday Belgium 2017 • October 21 • Brussels Track: Business| Level: 300
Microsoft Flow Advanced :
tips, pitfalls, problems…
Serge Luca, Isabelle Van Campenhoudt

SharePoint Saturday Belgium 2017 • October 21 • Brussels
Serge Luca
11 x SharePoint MVP, Brussels
SharePoint since 2002
Architect (Admin, Dev, gouvernance)
Managing partner of www.shareql.com
Blog: http://sergeluca.wordpress.com/
sergeluca@shareql.com
@sergeluca

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/
ivc@ShareQL.com
@thesqlgrrrl
Isabelle Van Campenhoudt

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 specialists
App 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)

demo
EXPENSE 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)

demo
FLOW & 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
E
U
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

demo
ENVIRONMENTS

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

demo
FLOW CALLS THE
OUTSIDE WORLD

PowerBI & Flow
FLOW
DATA ALERTS
DATA SOURCES
POWER BI
SCHEDULED REFRESH
STREAMING DATA
LIVE

demo
POWERBI & 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
oExport/import app packages across envs
oSPO – “In-the-box” review flows
oSPO – use flow for Content Publishing approvals
oSPO – people, choice, attachment and multi-values
oIn-context in Dynamics 365
oEmbedded Power BI analytics
oOffice 365 audit logs
oSupport for GDPR compliance
oUK deployment
oHTML rich text editor
oGuides for debugging actions and conditions
oGovernment and sovereign clouds deployment
oALM – Sandbox environments
oALM – Move or copy across environments
oLeverage device signals (e.g. Location)
oAppSource integration
oAzure functions integration

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/

We want more questions :
@sergeluca #spsbe

Thank You!

Microsoft Flow Advanced: tips, pitfalls, problems

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