Work less, do more – that’s the catch phrase of Microsoft’s latest automation and workflow engine called Microsoft Flow. Microsoft Flow is currently in preview phase and still has a few bugs to iron out, but if you are familiar with IFTTT (If This Then That) workflow engine then using flow should come naturally to you. Essentially there are connectors to various web services (e.g. Dropbox, OneDrive, Dynamics CRM, SharePoint and so forth), and you can even program your own connectors.

This month I take you on a tour of Flow and integration into Dynamics CRM. I’ll be using one of the pre-built workflows (aka Templates) to enable us to sync OneDrive files to Contact records within CRM.

Step 1: Logon onto Microsoft Flow (https://flow.microsoft.com/)

Step 2: Choose the Template called “Create Dynamics notes for Files in a OneDrive Folder”

Step 3: Sign into both your Dynamics CRM instance and your OneDrive instance.

Click Continue, and you can see the operations within this Workflow.

Step 4 : Select a folder within your OneDrive to sync.

Step 5 : Scroll to the bottom of your workflow and then click Create.

Step 6 : Check that your workflow is running by clicking on My Flows.

Step 7 : Create a Contact record within Dynamics CRM.

Step 8 : Add an image to your OneDrive folder, name your filename the same as the last name of your contact. In this case I used Steward.jpg.

Step 9 : Wait a couple of minutes for the sync to process. And then check your record within Dynamics CRM. You should see a new attachment.

Step 10 : You’re done! Click to preview!

Extra Tip: When your workflow has failed, you will be notified within Microsoft Flow in the alerts menu at the top right hand corner of the navigation bar.

Summary

In summary, I love Microsoft Flow, and look forward to delving further into some custom coding such as turning on my desk lamp when a new Opportunity is created within Dynamics CRM, or sending an SMS whenever a record that I am watching within Dynamics CRM is updated by a colleague. The potential of Flow is limitless. I hope you enjoyed this blog and please if you have any comments feel free to leave them below.