On the Move: Migrating from SharePoint On Prem to SharePoint Online

Microsoft End-of-Life (EOL) support for SharePoint 2013 is set for April 2023. While EOL does not mean that product will just stop working it will introduce risks and challenges to your business operations moving forward. Although migration to SharePoint online can be easy to achieve, there are some items that need careful planning.?

As SharePoint On-Premise users look to migrate to SharePoint Online, one of the major considerations they face is how to replicate existing customizations and functionalities. One aspect that often requires attention is the use of SharePoint widgets. Custom SharePoint widgets were pieces of code added to SharePoint pages to extend the functionality of the platform. These widgets were often developed by internal IT teams or third-party “intranet-in-a-box” vendors to enhance the user experience offering enhanced search, data visualization, document management, and collaboration tools not available with SharePoint out of the box. However, with SharePoint Online moving towards usage of the Microsoft Power Platform and recommending Power Apps as its primary development platform, it is essential to understand how these widgets can be recreated using this technology.

Importance of Widgets in SharePoint

So what is the importance of SharePoint widgets and why they need to be recreated as you move to SharePoint Online? SharePoint widgets are small, self-contained applications that provide specific functionalities within SharePoint. They can be added to pages or web parts and can perform a wide range of functions, such as displaying news feeds, weather updates, calendars, and social media feeds and more. Widgets help users to interact with SharePoint content in a more engaging and intuitive manner and it is often this customized experience that can transform SharePoint from a standard Intranet to a centralized and unified Digital Workplace that can become your front door to all users information, data and systems.

When migrating to SharePoint Online, it is crucial to replicate these functionalities to ensure that users can continue to enjoy the same and often times a better user experience. Failure to do so can lead to user dissatisfaction and a decrease in productivity.

Widget Recreation with Power Apps

Unlike SharePoint On-Premise widgets, Power Apps is a platform that allows users to create custom applications for SharePoint Online without requiring extensive coding knowledge. The advantages of using Power Apps over traditional development methods include:

• Ease of use:?Power Apps provides an intuitive drag-and-drop interface that makes it easy to create custom applications without the need for extensive coding knowledge.
• Rapid development:?With Power Apps, users can create custom applications in a matter of hours or days, as opposed to traditional development methods, which can take weeks or months.
• Integration with SharePoint:?Power Apps is seamlessly integrated with SharePoint, allowing users to create custom applications that leverage SharePoint data and functionality.
• Low cost:?Power Apps is a cost-effective solution for creating custom applications, as it does not require expensive development tools or licenses.

Steps for Success with Power Apps

If Power Apps are the answer to recreating SharePoint widgets, here are some steps to consider as you plan for the future:

• Step 1:?Identify the widget functionality. The first step in recreating a SharePoint widget in Power Apps is to identify the functionality of the widget. This will involve examining the code of the existing widget and determining what it does, what data it accesses, and what user interface elements it displays.
• Step 2:?Create a new Power App. Once you have identified the widget functionality, you will need to create a new Power App. To do this, open Power Apps and select the "Create an app" option. Choose the blank template, as this will provide you with a blank canvas to work from.
• Step 3:?Add data sources. Next, you will need to add the necessary data sources to your Power App. This will involve connecting to SharePoint and any other data sources that the widget accesses. You can do this by selecting the "Data" tab and then choosing the "Add data source" option.
• Step 4:?Add user interface elements. With the data sources added, you can now start adding user interface elements to your Power App. This will involve recreating the user interface elements of the SharePoint widget, such as buttons, text boxes, and dropdown menus. You can do this by selecting the "Insert" tab and then choosing the appropriate user interface element.
• Step 5:?Add functionality. Once you have added the necessary user interface elements, you can start adding functionality to your Power App. This will involve replicating the functionality of the SharePoint widget, such as displaying data, calculating values, and updating SharePoint lists.

As you can see, Power Apps are a powerful low-code platform that allows organizations to create custom business applications quickly and easily. With its integration with SharePoint Online, many of the business applications that were previously built on SharePoint On-Premise can now be reproduced using Power Apps!

SharePoint Widgets to Power Apps

Here are some examples of SharePoint On-Premise business applications often built using custom widgets and code development, that can be reproduced using Power Apps:

• Document Management:?SharePoint On-Premise is a popular platform for document management, but Power Apps can also be used to manage documents. Power Apps can provide users with a custom interface for uploading, editing, and sharing documents, and can provide a personalized and tailored view of all the documents a user is needing access to. And it easily integrates with SharePoint Online to store and manage these documents.
• Issue Tracking:?SharePoint On-Premise and custom widgets are often used to track issues and bugs, but Power Apps can provide a more flexible and customizable solution for issue tracking. Power Apps can help businesses streamline their issue resolution processes and improve customer satisfaction.
• Inventory Management:?Power Apps can provide a more comprehensive solution for managing inventory. Power Apps can be used to create forms and workflows to collect inventory data from different sources, such as barcode scanners, IoT devices, and manual input. This data can be automatically stored in a database, such as SharePoint or SQL Server. Data can be visualized with dashboards and reports and can provide notifications.
• Time Tracking:?Power Apps can provide a more user-friendly solution for time tracking and can leverage GPS technology to track employees' locations and automatically record their time when they arrive at or leave a job site. Power Apps provides a flexible and customizable platform for time tracking that can be tailored to the specific needs of any organization. With its ability to automate workflows and generate valuable insights, Power Apps can help businesses streamline their time tracking and payroll processes
• Project Management:?Power Apps can provide a very flexible and customizable solution for managing projects. Power Apps can be used to create custom project planning tools that help teams define project goals, timelines, budgets, and resource allocation. These tools can include features such as Gantt charts, task lists, and project calendars as well as collaboration allowing team members to share, communicate and track progress.?
• Contract Management:?Power Apps can be used to create custom forms for entering contract details, upload documents, and can automate workflows for contract approval, managing tasks, deadlines, and approvers used to track contract status, renewal dates, and key performance indicators. Automated workflows can be set up to send notifications for upcoming contract renewals, expirations, or milestones.

Workflow Automation

Many organizations that use SharePoint On-Premise also have workflow automation in place to streamline their business processes and increase productivity. As they move to SharePoint Online, they face the challenge of replicating or migrating these workflows to the cloud-based platform as they do not simply transfer over.

SharePoint On-Premise and SharePoint Online are two different platforms that offer similar features but operate differently. SharePoint On-Premise is installed and managed on an organization's own servers, while SharePoint Online is a cloud-based service provided by Microsoft as a part of the Office 365 suite. Organizations that have automated their workflows in SharePoint On-Premise often wonder how to replicate that workflow automation to SharePoint Online. Let’s explore the process of replicating workflow automation done in SharePoint On-Premise to SharePoint Online with Power Automate.

Overview of SharePoint Workflow Automation

SharePoint On-Premise workflows can be created using SharePoint Designer, Visual Studio, or third-party workflow tools. SharePoint workflows can be triggered by different events, such as when an item is created or modified, or when a specific condition is met and can be used to automate simple or complex business processes, such as approvals, document reviews, and task assignments.

Replicating Workflow Automation in SharePoint Online with Power Automate

Power Automate is a cloud-based service provided by Microsoft that allows users to create and automate workflows across different applications and services. Power Automate can be used to replicate workflow automation done in SharePoint On-Premise to SharePoint Online.

The following are the steps to replicate workflow automation done in SharePoint On-Premise to SharePoint Online using Power Automate:

• Step 1: Analyze the SharePoint Workflow. The first step is to analyze the SharePoint workflow that needs to be replicated. This involves identifying the trigger, actions, and conditions in the workflow. It is important to note that not all SharePoint workflows can be replicated in SharePoint Online with Power Automate. Some SharePoint workflows may require custom code.
• Step 2: Create a Flow in Power Automate. Once the SharePoint workflow has been analyzed, the next step is to create a flow in Power Automate. A flow in Power Automate is a set of instructions that automate a business process. Flows can be triggered by different events, such as when an item is created or modified in SharePoint. Flows can also be used to connect different applications and services.
• Step 3:?Add SharePoint Triggers and Actions. The next step is to add SharePoint triggers and actions to the flow. SharePoint triggers and actions allow Power Automate to interact with SharePoint Online. The SharePoint triggers and actions in Power Automate are similar to those in SharePoint Designer. Examples of SharePoint triggers and actions in Power Automate include when an item is created or modified, or when a specific condition is met.
• Step 4:?Configure the Flow. The next step is to configure the flow. This involves specifying the details of the SharePoint trigger and actions, such as the site, list, and fields to be used. It is important to configure the flow correctly to ensure that it replicates the SharePoint workflow accurately.
• Step 5:?Test the Flow. The final step is to test the flow. Testing the flow involves verifying that it replicates the SharePoint workflow accurately. This involves creating or modifying an item in SharePoint Online to trigger the flow and verifying that the actions in the flow are executed correctly.

In summary, replicating workflow automation done in SharePoint On-Premise to SharePoint Online with Power Automate involves analyzing the SharePoint workflow, creating a flow in Power Automate, adding SharePoint triggers and actions, configuring the flow, and testing the flow. It is important to note that not all SharePoint workflows can be replicated in SharePoint Online with Power Automate. Organizations should analyze their SharePoint workflows to determine which workflows can be replicated with Power Automate.

Can you Migrate your Existing Workflows?

Once you have evaluated your existing workflows, and prepared your SharePoint Online environment, you may be able to migrate your workflows using several different migration tools available.

If you are using the SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT), you can migrate workflows as part of a site migration or list/library migration. The SPMT supports the migration of SharePoint Designer workflows, as well as workflows created using Microsoft Flow and Power Automate. The tool will automatically map the actions in the workflow to their equivalent actions in SharePoint Online and Power Automate, but you will need to manually update any custom actions or dependencies.

Refactor Workflows for Power Automate

Once you have migrated your workflows to SharePoint Online, you can begin refactoring them for Power Automate, or re-architecting them to work within Power Automate. This may involve changing the order of actions, adding, or removing steps, or using alternative Power Automate actions or connectors. To refactor your workflows for Power Automate, you will need to identify the actions and dependencies that need to be updated. This may involve customizing the workflows using Power Automate connectors and templates or creating new workflows from scratch. You can use the SharePoint Online connector in Power Automate to trigger workflows based on SharePoint list and library events, or to update SharePoint list and library items.

Once you have refactored your workflows for Power Automate, you need to test them thoroughly to ensure that they are functioning as expected. This involves running through the workflows using test data and identifying any issues or errors that need to be addressed.

If you encounter any issues or errors, you may need to refine the workflows by updating the actions or dependencies. This may involve customizing the workflows using Power Automate connectors and templates.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Power Apps and Power Automate can provide organizations with an easy and cost-effective way to replicate their existing On-Premise SharePoint widgets and workflows in SharePoint Online. It is important to understand the functionality of the existing widgets and workflows and use Power Apps and Power Automate to recreate them as closely as possible for a seamless user experience.?

Power Apps can be a much better alternative to legacy development strategies and can replace rigid programming languages, including JavaScript, HTML, CSS, .NET and the SharePoint Framework used for building custom business applications and widgets in SharePoint On-Premise.?

About VystaPoint

VystaPoint offers the most advanced Digital Workplace built-with Power Apps. This provides significant value to organizations by improving collaboration, productivity, engagement, employee experience, and cost savings. VystaPoint helps organizations stay competitive in today's rapidly evolving business landscape by providing a digital platform that empowers their workforce to work smarter and more efficiently, while enabling companies to take advantage of the Microsoft technology they are already investing in.