1. Introduction to Microsoft Flow
Daniel Straitiff,
/DANIELSTRAITIFF/
@SUPERPOWERBI
SUPERPOWERMYBI.com
Slides and review class files only

2. Microsoft Flow Overview
What is Microsoft Flow? What problems does it solve?

3. Flow is… Workflow automation Routine and Repetitive tasks
Best for repetitive tasks; Definitely for business, non-tech users
BUT ALSO for independent software vendors and enterprise developers
Democratizes automation and workflow
Modernize and extend on-premises applications
Enable governance through approvals
Deeply integrated into other Microsoft Applications
Built on Logic Apps foundation:
Out of the box and custom solutions
Scalable
Part of MS’s Power Platform along with PowerApps and Power BI
Office 365 & Dynamics365

4. Why Automation?
Increase Productivity Eliminate Inconsistencies Focus on Business Critical Issues
Time is too valuable to waste.
Spend your time more wisely, by automating what can be automated.
Why are we paying people for repetitive, mundane, manual task?
Automated flows: Create anything from a simple two-step flow to an advanced flow with parallel branches, conditionals, loops.

5. Real World Use Cases Within Power Platform Power BI Power Apps
Microsoft Flow
Addit6ional Example of how Flow works within the PowerPlatform
-A business user may develop an app using PowerApps designed to submit expense reports
-Once an expenses is submitted this app then leverages Microsoft Flow to send notification to those that need to approve each expense
-Then Power BI is used to surface this data into reports and dashboards for analysis.
Examples:
I may post a travel time of my location to Microsoft Teams with a button
Send an update with meeting notes about sales goals every 5th day of month
Save attachments from your boss automatically to a SharePoint list

6. Business Problems, Flow Solutions
Work Force Multiplication
Nontechnical staff acts as citizen developers
Leveraging drag and drop functionality, not code
Systems Integration
225+ Connectors
Custom and template solutions
Regulation
Administration & compliance
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policy
Powerful and flexible
Includes MS and non-MS connectors (eg. SalesForce, social media, etc.)
Flow allows you to setup a

7. Flow’s Audience Flow focus: Logic Apps Focus
Business Users & Specialists
(Office, Dynamics)
Logic Apps Focus
IT Pro / Developers
(Visual Studio, Azure)
This set of tools is designed for rapid development
Not limited to developers
Powerful, point-and-click approach to building solutions
Easy for anyone familiar with Microsoft Office to create full scale solutions that would previously have been reserved for the IT staff to develop.
Common Data Service: Business Process Flows
Data Modeling
Create custom entities, attributes, relationships with other entities. Business rules for the data that run client and server side. Sophisticated security model providing row level security and even models hierarchies.
Business logic
Business process and workflow include conditions, branching and custom actions including sending s or creating other records.
User interface
Pattern-based metadata-driven UI automatically generated. UI includes forms, lists with customizable views and more.

8. Extended Benefits IT/Developers Logic Apps
Highly advanced and business critical Flows
Logic Apps
Any Flow can be converted to a Logic App
My Flows, Team Flows and Business Process Flows
Sometimes IT / devs need to take over when the Flow gets too advanced or becomes business-critical
Because Flow is built on Logic Apps, Logic Apps can do everything that Flow can
Any Flow can be converted to a Logic App
Enterprise developers may want to:
1. Develop custom connectors (for organization's data and web services)
2. Build Azure Functions (extend apps with custom server-side logic)
3. Embed Flow directly into website experiences (integrated – surfacing workflows or processes where people in your organization already do their work)
ISVs may want to:
Develop flows in a sandbox environment, and then move those flows to a test environment.
After testing, the ISV would then move the flows to a production environment for clients who purchase these flows
(Flows you create inside a solution are known as solution-aware flows. You can add multiple flows in a single solution.)

9. Triggers & Actions Triggers Actions Sets the flow in motion An Event
A Button
Scheduled
Actions
What you want to happen when a trigger is invoked
The trigger can be something like a new arriving in your inbox or a new item being added to a SharePoint list (EVENT).
A BUTTON trigger runs tasks through manual action (simple push of a button) via mobile devices.
SCHEDULED triggers are based on predetermined times and frequencies.
Actions
E.g. An trigger may start the action of creating a new file on OneDrive for Business. Other examples include:
Collecting or posting tweets
Receiving and starting approvals
Instantly responding to high-priority notifications or s
Capturing, tracking, and following up with new sales leads
Copy all attachments to your OneDrive for Business account
Collecting data about your business, and sharing that information with your team
Automating approval workflows

10. Templates, Templates and Templates
Snapshot of Flow templates
Preconfigured triggers and actions based on common needs and uses

11. At a Glance Take a Quick Look
When you sign in to Microsoft Flow, you'll find these menus:
My flows, where your flows reside.
Templates, where you can take a look at some of the most popular templates. These should give you some great ideas for flows you want to try.
Approvals, where you can automate and streamline your approval process.
Connectors, (formerly called Services), where you can connect from one service to another.
Learn, where you can find information that will help you quickly ramp up on Microsoft Flow.
You can create a flow and perform administrative tasks in a browser or, if you download the Microsoft Flow mobile app, on your phone.
Here are some of the tasks you can perform:
Turn flows on or off from wherever you are.
See when a flow has failed.
Review detailed run history reports.
View and filter runs by notification type.

12. Getting Started with Flow

13. Using Templates in Flow
Flow Templates Connectors

14. Flow Templates What is a Template?
Module 1
Flow Templates
What is a Template?
A pre-built flow that performs one or more tasks automatically after it is triggered by an event
Can be modified to fit your specific needs
Can be examined as a Learning Tool
Can be uploaded to the Microsoft Flow
Community for sharing

15. Flow Templates Template Categories
Module 1
Flow Templates
Template Categories
All Flows Sync
Featured Mobile
Approval Notifications
Button Productivity
Social Media
Data Collection Events and Calendar
Can also Search templates by service

16. Connectors What are Connectors?
Module 1
Connectors
What are Connectors?
Connections between services that can be used as triggers and actions in Flow
Must have an account for and be signed into services to utilize them
Some connectors are not available to free users (Premium)

17. Module 1
Connectors
Data Explorer

18. Creating a Flow Using a Template

19. Testing and Troubleshooting
Testing Flows Troubleshooting Flows Common Errors

20. Testing Flows Testing Flows Multiple ways to Test Flows Data Explorer
Module 1
Testing Flows
Testing Flows
Test after creating or altering a flow or when issues are encountered
Testing is done in the Flow Designer
Can easily be monitored and tested any time on web or mobile
Multiple ways to Test Flows
Manual trigger action
Using Data from previous runs
Use Data from Connector
Data Explorer

21. Troubleshooting Flows
Module 1
Troubleshooting Flows
When a Flow Fails
Notifications appear when a Flow fails
Inspect the flow within the Edit Pane
Troubleshooting Resources
Monitor Flow while running
Use data from connector/previous runs
Microsoft Flow Community forums
Edit Pane - to see details about the failure and associated error codes
Data Explorer

22. Common Errors Common Errors & Codes Identifying Errors
Module 1
Common Errors
Common Errors & Codes
Authentication Failure (401, 403)
Action Configuration (400, 404)
Temporary / Transient Failures (500, 502)
Identifying Errors
Error Details in the Flow’s Edit pane
Flow Checker

23. Testing Flows

24. Building your first flow from scratch
Connectors, Triggers, Actions Demo

25. Triggers Trigger Microsoft Flows start with a trigger 225+ Services
Event that kicks off the flow
Microsoft Flows start with a trigger
Triggers can be run manually (Buttons)
Run on a schedule (Recurrence Trigger)
Run based on an event
225+ Services
Triggers and actions in more than 225 Services

26. Polling pattern Push Triggers Poll Triggers
4/9/ :55 PM
Push Triggers
Push triggers Notify Microsoft Flow when an event occurs
Poll Triggers
Wakes up at regular intervals and checks the service for activity.
Connectors without triggers
ServiceNow
Ex: in the previous example : if the flow send a notification if there is a new important , 1 instance of a flow will be created and the quota of flows is not limited (2000/month/user in O365, but combined across all users).
We can start a flow that will check every hour if there is a new 1 instance will be enough even though you might have 1000 new important s
Also some connector don’t have a trigger; so we might have to poll
© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

27. Actions Actions Types of Actions (Operation Types)
One or more actions may exist inside a flow
Types of Actions (Operation Types)
Create
Update
Delete
Assign
Perform Action
Actions can be reordered and Removed

28. Data Events When a data item is modified, created, or deleted
4/9/ :55 PM
When a data item is modified,
created, or deleted
This is not for SharePoint connector, many other connecters support this pattern.
Another example : when a mail is created in my inbox, if the mail has the tag ! In the subject, send me a smartphone notification
© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

29. Flowing data Actions – Generate Data Capturing Data
4/9/ :55 PM
Capturing Data
Captured data can be used anywhere in the flow
Actions – Generate Data
Actions can modify and have outputs
Outputs ‘flow’ from each step and is available in later steps
Add Dynamic Content
Use to select outputs from previous steps
© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

30. Flowing data Trigger Action 1 Action 2 Outputs: Outputs:
4/9/ :55 PM
Flowing data
Trigger
File content
Outputs:
Size
File name
Action 1
A binary field would see:
Outputs:
Title
Count
File content
Size
File name
Action 2
A string field would see:
A number field would only see:
File content
Size
File name
Title
Count
© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

31. Building flows from scratch

32. Building flows from scratch

33. Microsoft Flow Billing
Understanding Flow Billing

34. Billing of Microsoft Flow
Flow Free
750 runs per month
Unlimited flow creation
15-minute checks
Flow Plan 1
4,500 runs per month
3-minute checks
Premium Connectors
Flow Plan 2
15,000 runs per month
1-minute checks
Org Policy Settings
Business Process Flows
Which Office 365 plans include Microsoft Flow?
Office 365 Business Essentials
Office 365 Business Premium
Office 365 Education
Office 365 Education Plus
Office 365 Enterprise E1 *
Office 365 Enterprise E3 *
Office 365 Enterprise E5

35. Billing of Microsoft Flow
Free Trial
90 Days
Community Plan does not have 90 limit
Flow Runs
Flow runs are pooled across all users (aggregated)
It is not 750 runs per person
Purchase additional Flow runs
50,000 Runs / USD $40.00

36. Free Flow Flow for Office 365 Flow for Dynamics 365 Flow Plan 1
$5 user/month
Flow Plan 2
$15 user/month
General
Maximum number of runs per month (per user)
750
2000
4500
15,000
Maximum flow frequency
15 minutes
5 minutes
3 minutes
1 minute
Create flows from thousands of templates available in the public gallery 
Use Business process flows for multi-stage processes
Connectivity
Connect to Office 365, Dynamics 365, Azure SQL, and other Microsoft services
Connect to line of business services like Salesforce and Oracle using premium connectors
Access on-premises data using one-premises data gateway
Create custom connectors to connect to your own systems (per user)
One
Unlimited
Management
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

37. Monitoring Flow Runs

38. Quota Breakdown Runs Per License x Licenses Where?
2000 x 7 = 14,000 pooled executions
Where?
Office 365 Admin Portal  Flow  Tenant  Quotas

39. Introduction to Microsoft Flow
Mitchell Pearson,
/MitchellPearson1/
@MitchellSQL
Mitchellpearson.com
Slides and review class files only