The document outlines the capabilities of Microsoft PowerApps and Flow, emphasizing their role as the next generation of tools for creating integrated web and mobile applications without coding. It discusses security, policies, advanced features, and various practical applications such as automating workflows between SharePoint and Dynamics 365. The document serves as a guide for leveraging these tools to solve business problems efficiently in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.

1. Building Your Own Solution
with Power Apps and Flow
Steve Knutson
2017

2. About me
Managing Director of Stratos Technology Partners
Microsoft MVP for Office Servers & Services
25+ years IT industry experience
Mountain biker and climber
One-eyed Cantabrian
@nztechtweet
www.stp.co.nz

3. Agenda
 Overview of Flow
 Security and Policies
 Flow Demo
 Overview of PowerApps
 PowerApps Demo
 Advanced features
 Coming soon
 Q&A

4. Forms and Workflow
 SharePoint Designer 2013 &
InfoPath 2013
 Supported until 2026, but no
new versions will be released
 Poor mobile support
 Limited integration
 Still has some life left…
• Microsoft PowerApps, Flow
and Office 365
• Cloud and mobile first
• Extensive Integration
• Not just for SharePoint
• Not just Microsoft
• New capabilities coming (fast)

5. Office 365

6. Microsoft Flow

7. Connector Trigger Action

8. Service Connectors

9. Security
 All actions are performed in the context of the logged in user
 Users can only see items they already have permission to see in
SharePoint (security trimmed)
 Permissions are managed by the system being integrated with
e.g. SharePoint, Dynamics 365, Facebook, Wordpress etc
[?] Question: Can you use impersonation (like SPD)?

10. Policies
 Policies can be added to control where your data flows to.
 You can configure ‘compliance boundaries’. For example:
‒ Prevent users creating Flows that Tweet, Instagram or Facebook 
‒ Prevent updates to Slack (but allow Teams)
 Managed via the Flow and PowerApps Admin Portals in Office
365
[#] TIP: Check the default policy makes sense!

11. Building a Tweet Catcher

12. Document Email Notifications

13. Dynamics 365 to SharePoint
When a new record is created in
Dynamics 365 (CRM), create a new
item in a SharePoint list and
populate with fields from the new
record

14. Flow possibilities (a few examples)
 Generate a PDF version of a document
 Pull timesheet data from Harvest into a SharePoint list for project
management
 Capture Twitter data to listen to the community
 Copy files from OneDrive or Dropbox to SharePoint (or vice versa)
 Send an email when new items are added to a list
 Create a SharePoint list item when a new entity is created in CRM
 Create a SharePoint list item when someone subscribes to Mailchimp
[#] TIP: Check the SharePoint Templates list for new actions
• Generate a PDF version of a document
• Capture Twitter data to listen to the community
• Copy files from OneDrive or Dropbox to SharePoint (or vice versa)
• Create a SharePoint list item when a new entity is created in
Dynamics 365
• Create a SharePoint list item when someone subscribes to Mailchimp
• Pull timesheet data from Harvest into a SharePoint list
• Draft blog posts in SharePoint and post to Wordpress
• FTP documents to a web site
• Approvals

15. PowerApps turn your expertise
into custom applications

16. Use PowerApps when
 You have time consuming manual processes
 You can’t find off the shelf apps or services to meet you needs
 You don’t have the budget to develop a custom mobile app
 You have a short timeframe to create a solution

17. PowerApps help you solve your unique business problem, without
needing a huge developer budget and long lead times.
PowerApps and SharePoint
 Connect to your data:
‒ SharePoint Lists
‒ Dynamics 365
‒ SQL
‒ Excel
‒ And more…
 Build Apps for the Web and Mobile devices.
 Use your devices features including camera and GPS
 No Code Required!

18. Building a simple mobile app with PowerApps

19. Demo app
Create a list Create an app

20. PowerApp Designer
From here you can
• Change field order and
properties
• Add controls
• Add images
• Add data sources
• etc

21. Advanced
feature:
Sometime you do need a
rocket scientist

22. Advanced capabilities
 Common Data Service
‒ A prebuild data model and service provided by Microsoft
‒ Saves time and provides consistency
‒ Supported by PowerApps, Flow and PowerBI
 Entity Control Form (preview)
‒ View, navigate and edit relational data from the Common Data Service
 Azure Functions for Common Data Service (preview)
‒ Combine data across services
‒ Add more advanced logic
‒ Pay as you go usage

24. SharePoint Virtual Summit Announcements
 Rich Forms embedded in SharePoint lists
‒ Conditional field display
‒ Display additional info from other data sources e.g. maps, weather,
Dynamics365, etc
‒ Different control types e.g. sliders, drop downs
‒ Connect Flows to buttons (actions)
 Embed PowerApps in SharePoint pages
‒ Provide seamless access to your PowerApps
‒ Mix with other web-parts and page content (Modern pages)

26. Bringing it all together

27. Feature Pack 2 for SharePoint 2016 includes
support for Flow and PowerApps
Available later this year

28. Summary
 InfoPath and SharePoint Designer are now legacy technologies
 Flow and PowerApps are the next generation
 Build integrated web and mobile without code
 SharePoint integration for cloud and on-premise
 Policies and security trimming are baked in
 You’ll need to think different
 New features coming. Fast!

29. Questions and Answers
 Steve Knutson
 Microsoft MVP for Office Servers and Services
 SharePoint Consultant
 @nztechtweet
 steve@stp.co.nz
 www.stp.co.nz

30. Resources
 https://flow.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/build-advanced-flows/
 https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/guided-
learning/learning-common-data-service/
 https://powerapps.microsoft.com/hr-hr/blog/preview-of-azure-
functions-for-the-common-data-service/
 https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/new-entity-form-
control-experimental-feature-for-common-data-service/

31. Thank
you
to our
sponsors!