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Handel10's avatar
Handel10
Copper Contributor
Nov 20, 2021

New to SharePoint

Hi All,   My company will be moving to Sharepoint, I think. We are currently using Lotus Notes. We have many complex workflow applications. Is this do able in Sharepoint? I researched tutorial ...
RobElliott's avatar
RobElliott
Silver Contributor

Handel10 for workflows you need to get familiar with Power Automate. It's brilliant for doing automation and linking up the Office 365 apps. You also need to get to grips with JSON so you can do buttons that trigger flows from lists. And Power Apps customised forms in SharePoint give you so many options for buttons, triggering flows, designing forms etc. Our entire IT ticketing system (for 65000 staff!) is built on Forms, Power Automate, SharePoint, customised forms and Outlook.

 

Rob
Los Gallardos
Microsoft Power Automate Community Super User

Handel10's avatar
Handel10
Copper Contributor
Nov 20, 2021

RobElliottThank you.

 

Can you integrate Sharepoint online with db2 (as400) or do you need to integrate with Sharepoint on premise?

  • RobElliott's avatar
    RobElliott
    Silver Contributor
    Nov 21, 2021

    Handel10 I'm not sure what you mean by integrate but if you are looking to move database content into SharePoint Online there are no conectors for DB2 in Power Automate, and although you can set up a gateway to on-premise servers it's not something I would normally want to do - we're migrating everything off SharePoint 2010 into SharePoint Online.

     

    Rob
    Los Gallardos
    Intranet, SharePoint and Power Platform Manager (and classic 1967 Morris Traveller driver)

    • Handel10's avatar
      Handel10
      Copper Contributor
      Nov 21, 2021
      I mean use Sharepoint online and connect to DB2 to do CRUD.
      • DanWatford's avatar
        DanWatford
        Copper Contributor
        Nov 22, 2021

        Hi Handel10

         

        I believe Microsoft would point you at the Power Platform (Apps / Flow / BI) as the initial solution for replicating your workflows in M365. 

         

        Most of my SME clients make use of the standard power platform functionality included with Microsoft 365 licenses, but stop short at purchasing Power Apps or Power Automate licenses which would provide access to premium connectors for their users. You can get a lot done with standard functionality, but may find you run into problems as soon as you need to call any external APIs without purchasing Power Apps/Automate licenses.

         

        There is a DB2 connector you might be able to use (DB2 - Connectors | Microsoft Docs). This is a premium connector so would require a Power Apps or Power Automate license for each user making use of the connector.

         

        If purchasing Power Apps/Automate licenses is not appropriate then you could create your own Web API as a wrapper around your DB2 database to perform your CRUD operations. You can host the Web API in Azure (Functions / Logic Apps / App Service) or in your own infrastructure. You can also use Azure AD to control access to your API.

         

        You could then use SPFx to build webparts, extensions or commands which make the HTTP request to call your API.

         

        Generally I would recommend doing as much as you can in the Power Platform as it is a (little) bit more accessible to non-developers, but recognise when your workflows are getting too complex to be reasonably maintained in that environment. When that happens, switch to SPFx and make use of your own Web APIs.

         

        SPFx also has the benefit of integrating with Teams, meaning you can create webparts which can be used as Personal Applications or Teams Tabs.

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