Microsoft Flow, on another hand, employs a graphical user interface that allows building workflows almost the same way you would be building them in Visio. You really need to learn the syntax, all the quirks of SharePoint Designer and spend countless hours debugging and tweaking the code. Also, creating a workflow in SharePoint Designer is not something one can do on Day 1. However, its workflow capability does not allow for easy interface with other applications. SharePoint Designer is purely a SharePoint-specific tool. How is Flow different from SharePoint Designer? Or, maybe when a document is uploaded to the document library, an email will be sent to your manager asking for an approval/feedback of the document. For example, once a new entry is added to the SharePoint list – an email can be sent asking an individual to review. It allows you to automate business processes by building workflows based on certain triggers and actions. It is included in most of Office 365 subscriptions and can be accessed via Office 365 app launcher.
Just like many other offerings from Microsoft, Flow is a new app that is part of Office 365 suite. However, there is a new kid on the block you need to pay attention to and that is Microsoft Flow. Historically, if you wanted to create a workflow in SharePoint, you had to either rely on workarounds (for simple workflows), SharePoint Designer or 3 rd party tools. These business processes could range from simple document or form approvals (think vacation request forms) to complicated processes, spanning multiple systems and applications (think hiring/onboarding business process or purchase orders/financial transactions). Any business, small or large, depends on business processes. However, it is not just about the static content. SharePoint is a great platform to store and collaborate on documents and content.