Microsoft Flow became general availability (GA) in April of 2016, which makes it about 14 in dog years, and in technology that is about a generation. Over those years, I have found that many O365 users do not know what Flow is, nor do they know what’s it’s used for.
What is Microsoft Flow?
In short, Microsoft Flow is a service that empowers users to easily automate business process across applications and services. In geek speak, it allows conditional statements, conditional expressions, and constructs. This can all be accomplished with a simple to use interface and without having to learn to program!
Do you have the Flow?
I hope you do because it quickly can become a vital tool to add to your toolbox. Flow on its own can accomplish many tasks. For example, it can synchronize One Drive and One Drive for Business, send a notification to your mobile device when your manager emails you, send an email when a SharePoint list has items added or deleted, deliver daily weather reports to your email and/or phone, etc.
Better yet, in combination with other solutions like Power BI and Microsoft Cognitive Services, it can provide a simple Twitter sentiment analysis. Below is an example analysis that I made up with Power BI and the locations of tweets for #O365. All this possible because of Flow.
Capabilities of Flow
Helping in sentiment analysis is not the only thing Flow can do. Flow has an extensive template section. The template section is subdivided into flows for approval, data collection, social media, notifications, email, SharePoint, FTP, syncing, etc. In case you were wondering, here is a sentiment analysis template. There is a Flow for many things and just in case you can’t find a template you can always create your own.
Once you understand the vast capabilities for Flow you will quickly realize that you could integrate Flow into many aspects of business and personal life. It can sometimes bridge the gap between an applications native functions and further integration into new or existing processes.
I hope by now you are getting the Flow bug, and soon enough you will be asking others: Do you have the Flow?
Sources
https://flow.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/announcing-ga/
https://wpoffice365.com/streaming-datasets-microsoft-flow/

Jaime Perez
Cloud Consultant
With two decades in the industry, Jaime Perez is a consultant on our Hybrid IT & Cloud Services Team, focused on Office 365, Azure Site Recovery and Azure projects. An avid Exchange, Teams, Power BI and Data Science enthusiast, Jaime also leads the Philadelphia Cloud Technologies User Group. JP is an Office 365 Solutions Associate as well as a Microsoft-certified solutions expert in productivity/messaging, Cloud Platform, infrastructure, and data science.
Let’s get the conversation started
Reach out now to begin your digital transformation
+ 16,659
ZOOM MEETINGS
+ 9,789
HAPPY CLIENTS
+ 5,075
FINISHED PROJECTS
+ 133,967,432
LINES OF CODE
© 2000 - 2021 Anexinet Corp., All rights reserved | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy
This website uses cookies
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL cookies.
Manage consent
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". |
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional | 11 months | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
cookielawinfo-checbox-others | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". |
viewed_cookie_policy | 11 months | The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data. |
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.