1. Sharepoint Saturday Charlotte
Implementing a Panel-based Approval Application in Flow and PowerApps
Sharepoint Saturday Charlotte
Lori Valone Tools & Technology Architect /Teradata Doggone Good Consulting

2. Diamond
Platinum
Gold
Silver

3. Speaker Survey and Raffle
This year we are replacing the paper version of Speaker Survey with Microsoft Forms.
Scan the QR code for each session to access and submit your survey.
QR codes can be found in the program guide or on the room sign located by the door.
You will receive ONE raffle ticket for each session survey you complete.
The raffle ticket volunteer will validate your First and Last name before providing your ticket(s)
Drawing will be held this afternoon 4:30- 5:00 pm.
Must be present to win.
You can download and use the QR Reader app available for both iOS and Android

4. Introduction
Tools & Technology Architect for Teradata’s Consulting Program Office
Pack Leader at Doggone Good Consulting
Develop solutions using PowerApps, Flow, Power BI and Teams
Microsoft PowerApps Community SuperUser and just nominated for Microsoft MVP
Live and work on a mountaintop in Western North Carolina
PowerUsers Community: LRVinNC
Twitter: lvalone

5. Agenda Business Process Architecture Components Takeaways & Questions
Information
Application
Components
Outlook
Flow
PowerApps
Teams
Takeaways & Questions

6. Business Process

7. Business Process
Internal Consulting teams submit proposals to compete for project funding
An investment governance process manages the funding approval process
Multi-member leadership panel reviews and votes on each proposal
Monthly go/no-go meeting reviews active and recently finalized submissions

8. Architecture

9. Business Architecture
Consulting leadership considers project proposals
Team develops project proposal
Proposal submitted for funding review
Go / no-go decision rendered on each proposal

10. Information Architecture
Team drafts project proposal
Proposal ed to shared mailbox
Proposal logged to data store
Approval request sent to panel
Outcome logged to data store
sent to proposal originator
Proposal data provided made available for review

11. Application Architecture
Desktop application
Word
Outlook
Flow / Sharepoint
Flow / Outlook
Flow / Sharepoint
Flow / Outlook
Team drafts project proposal
Proposal ed to shared mailbox
Proposal logged to data store
Approval request sent to panel
Outcome logged to data store
sent to proposal originator
Proposal data made available for review
PowerApps

12. Components

13. Outlook Shared mailbox gathers proposals1
Set up shared mailbox to gather proposals which are to be submitted in a standard format and with a standard subject
Set up folder within the shared mailbox to hold the proposals – this is the folder that Flow will look at
Set up a rule to move submissions to this folder upon arrival 2 3

14. Flow
3 flows provide core processing
PRIMARY

15. Record approval responses
Flow
Initialize variables
Primary flow
Log and store proposal
Investment Governance – Primary Flow
Flow manages the primary approval mechanism
Assigns a proposal ID
Validates a proposal document in Word format was submitted
Sends an acknowledgement of receipt to the submitter
Sends approval requests to each member of the approver panel
Records the accept/reject response as well as any comments provided by the approver
Sends a reminder after 5 days to any approver who has not already responded
Send notifications
Overview
Request approvals
Record approval responses

16. Flow
Initialize Flow
Trigger is receipt of a new in the designated folder in shared mailbox
Retrieve last proposal key value used, increment by 1 and update, resolving save conflict if necessary
Initialize all necessary variables including the proposal name, approve and reject counters, etc.
Investment Governance – Primary Flow

17. Flow Log and Store Proposal Investment Governance – Primary Flow
Process the attachments to the , looking specifically for a Word document
If no Word document is found, send the user an advising them to resubmit according to the correct procedure
LEARNINGS
Users directed to submit a single proposal per as a Word document but we can’t count on that occurring
signatures sometimes contain graphics which get treated as attachments and therefore must be accounted for

18. Flow Log and Store Proposal – Word Document
If the document name does not include “Proposal Document”, just save a copy to Sharepoint
If the user submits more than one proposal document, accept the first but send them an notifying them they will need to resubmit the additional proposal(s)
Store a copy of the proposal in the Sharepoint library
Log the submission to the Sharepoint list
Save the ID and proposal name for use later in the flow
Log and Store Proposal – Word Document
Investment Governance – Primary Flow
@or(contains(items('Process_each_attachment')?['Name'], 'Proposal Document'),contains(items('Process_each_attachment')?['Name'], 'Proposal_Document'))

19. Flow Send Notifications
If a Proposal Document was included, send to user letting them know their submission has been received and provide them the proposal ID and name
If no Proposal Document was found, notify the user they will need to resubmit using the correct submission protocol
Investment Governance – Primary Flow

20. Flow Request Approvals
Identical parallel streams started for each panel members
Entry added to a Sharepoint list to log current approval status so it can be monitored by PowerApps
Approvers are “Everyone must approve” because we want to receive feedback from all panelists
Markdown used in approval message for formatting
Approval includes link to the Sharepoint library as well as a direct link to the proposal
Types of approvals
Investment Governance – Primary Flow

21. Flow Request Approvals – 5 day reminder
Also included as a parallel stream is a reminder stream on a 5 day timer
Once timer expires, Approval Status of each of the panel members is checked
If the response is still pending, a reminder with a link is sent to the panel member.
Investment Governance – Primary Flow

22. Flow Record approval responses Investment Governance – Primary Flow
Update Approval Status SP list to indicate the approval is complete for this panel member
Get a current copy of the approval record to ensure the latest approve/reject counts are available
Load the current approve count into the ApproveCtr variable, then increment
Update approval record with count, and if this is the first approval to go out, also change the submission status from “Submitted” to “In Review”
Log approval comments for the panel member
Reject logic mirrors the process for an approval
Investment Governance – Primary Flow

23. Flow Reporting flows Daily Report of Funded CAD Proposals
Daily Report of Active CAD Proposals
Scheduled daily reports via

24. Flow PowerApps-invoked flows Email report on one or more proposals
Report flows format and print data for 1 or more proposals selected in PowerApps
ClearPendingApprovals updates the status on all remaining unapproved records to reflect a decision already made for a proposal

25. PowerApps Visibility to complete proposal catalog
Displays gallery of all proposals with switch to include archived proposals, if desired
Selecting a proposal displays details including Submission Status, current approve/reject count and reviewer comments
Edit the selected proposal to update Funding status, flag to request additional information, and log when it will go to steering team review – invokes ClearPendingApprovals flow when saved

26. PowerApps Generate emailed reports
Ability to request reports on a single proposal, all proposals or based on criteria (shown at right)
Invokes one of three flows to carry out the request and send results to

27. Teams Provides ease of access to application
Added as a tab in the relevant channel
Be sure to grant access to all channel users who should have access to the app

28. In Closing…

29. #SPSCLT19 Speaker Survey Session 1

30. Takeaways and Questions
Use Flow-based Approvals to record votes and feedback for review panels
Use PowerApps to provide visibility to process status during and after the review process
Use a shared mailbox to provide both inbound and outbound communications related to proposals
Teams can provide ready access to a community of users
Questions?

31. Thank You! PowerUsers Community: LRVinNC
Twitter: lvalone Website: