Integrating Microsoft Flow and SharePoint: How it Works?

After being generally available in 2017, Microsoft Flow has grown significantly. Microsoft Flow connects with a plethora of services. As many organizations have become dependent on automating the busi...

After being generally available in 2017, Microsoft Flow has grown significantly. Microsoft Flow connects with a plethora of services. As many organizations have become dependent on automating the business processes in SharePoint, Flow has received extra attention.

When you consider integrating SharePoint and Flow, it is pivotal to know that you can not only create custom flows through the SharePoint connector but also it is now “baked into” SharePoint lists and libraries.

Let’s have a look at how Flow gets natively developed into the modern list and library experience of SharePoint:

1) Request Sign-Off
Microsoft Flow offers a simple way to request SharePoint list item or a document’s approval in a library. When you select the object in a list, click on the Flow drop-down menu to see “Request Sign-off.” After “Request Sign-off” gets elected, you can choose the individual that should receive the approval of sign-off. You can also write an accompanying message with it.

2) Creating a Flow from a List or Library
You can create the Flows that connect to a recent list or library right from the Flow drop down. Everyone who can add or edit the file or library will have the option of creating a flow. When they select “Create a flow,” they get flow templates with a SharePoint trigger.

Once you choose a template, you will get directed to the Microsoft Flow site. You will work on and finish your flow here. You can notice that the list or library and the SharePoint site where you have created the flow from is selected automatically for you.

3) Future Flow and SharePoint Integration
The integration of Flow and SharePoint will get even more profound. Here listed are a few of the most significant Flow and SharePoint announcements:

Built-in Flow actions for cognitive analytics in the list data. 

Automating the labeling and disposal of docs for retention purposes.

Unique approval flows to publish pages.

4) Templates
A quick and easy option for individuals who are new to Microsoft Flow. They help them become familiar with what Flow has to offer by browsing the models available here. You can use these templates as ready-to-use and can also modify them to meet different business needs.

5) SharePoint Actions and Triggers 
The trigger makes the flow to initiate. Microsoft Flow has eight SharePoint triggers, which cover the creation, modification, and deletion of a file or item. The action titled as ‘For a Selected Item’ works in a similar way like the ‘Request Sign-off’ flow.

6) Approvals
There is a common requirement in every organization, automating the approval processes. Though Request Sign-off flow incorporates the Flow approval functionality, the organizations often want to automate the complex approval scenarios as well. You can make that happen with the Microsoft Flow.

Conclusion -

When you integrate the Microsoft Flow with SharePoint, you will come to know that there are many out-of-the-box features you can implement for automating the processes in your organization. Contact a SharePoint application development company today to begin experimenting with the functionality even if your business is not yet ready to move process automation to the cloud.