Modernise forms and workflows

Keep the SharePoint 2013 workflows on Subscription Edition, on SharePoint Workflow Manager.

When it fits

The workflows still do what the business needs, and the destination is Subscription Edition.

What it needs

SharePoint Workflow Manager on the new farm, with Azure Service Fabric; the Workflow Manager databases restored under the same names; the App Management database moved with the content, or every workflow created before the migration fails; the workflow service registered again with the old scope name.

What it costs to keep

Changes need Visual Studio skills and a test farm, and the platform receives no new features.

The main risk

Running instances, tasks and app principals that do not survive the move, and an engine still on Microsoft Workflow Manager.

Evidence before deciding

An inventory of the 2013 workflows and the engine that runs them, and a rehearsal of the engine upgrade on copies.

• Official Microsoft supportSharePoint Workflow Manager lifecycleUpgrade from Workflow Manager to SharePoint Workflow Manager on a new farm
• Not yet establishedWhich Visual Studio version authors these workflows.

Replace the InfoPath forms and keep the SharePoint 2013 workflows that still fit.

When it fits

The forms are the problem, the workflows behind them still work, and the destination is Subscription Edition.

What it needs

Each form rebuilt as a SharePoint list form with column validation and formatting, an SPFx form, or a .NET application, writing the fields and raising the events the workflow reads.

What it costs to keep

The forms move to current technology; the workflows stay on a platform without new investment.

The main risk

A rebuilt form that writes a field or raises an event differently from the InfoPath form breaks the workflow behind it.

Evidence before deciding

For each form, its data, rules and views and the events its workflow listens to, and a test of each rebuilt form with its workflow.

• Official Microsoft supportWhat's deprecated or removed from SharePoint Server Subscription EditionNew and improved features in Subscription Edition Version 23H1
• pH7x Systems engineering recommendationTest every rebuilt form with the workflow that consumes it before the old form is retired.

Re-implement SharePoint 2010 workflows on the SharePoint 2013 workflow platform.

When it fits

SharePoint 2010 workflows that must keep running on Subscription Edition, where the 2010 platform is out of support.

What it needs

SharePoint Workflow Manager, each workflow rebuilt on the 2013 platform, and an authoring tool proved on a lab.

What it costs to keep

As for A, plus the rebuild, on a platform that receives no new features.

The main risk

Rebuilding a process on the 2013 platform, which works differently, when the business may need it redesigned anyway.

Evidence before deciding

One rebuilt workflow created, compiled, published, run and debugged on a Subscription Edition lab with SharePoint Workflow Manager.

• Official Microsoft supportWhat's deprecated or removed from SharePoint Server Subscription Edition
• Not yet establishedThe authoring tool chain after SharePoint Designer, until the lab run above.

A .NET application that runs the process, reading and writing SharePoint through REST or CSOM where SharePoint still holds the data.

When it fits

The process is critical, has outgrown SharePoint workflows, or must not depend on a workflow platform.

What it needs

Process execution with persistence, concurrency control, timers, retries, recovery after failure and an audit trail; hosting; operations.

What it costs to keep

Full ownership: the code, its hosting, its security updates and its monitoring.

The main risk

Underestimating what an engine already did: state that survives a restart, a step retried twice, a timer that fires after an outage. A background service on its own is not a workflow engine.

Evidence before deciding

The process written down step by step with its failure cases, and a design review of its state, retries and audit before anything is built.

• pH7x Systems engineering recommendationTreat a process engine as a product: designed, tested and operated, not a loop in a service.

Power Apps for the forms and Power Automate for the processes.

When it fits

Cloud services are allowed: online, or on premises with the data reached through the on-premises data gateway.

What it needs

Power Platform licences and administration, an on-premises data gateway for SharePoint Server data, and each workflow rebuilt as a flow.

What it costs to keep

Microsoft runs the platform; the organisation governs the apps, flows, connectors and licences.

The main risk

Data reaching the cloud through the gateway against a requirement nobody wrote down, and apps and flows without an owner.

Evidence before deciding

The cloud decision in writing, with the data each process touches, and the licence and gateway design.

• Official Microsoft supportConnect to SharePoint from a canvas appWhat is an on-premises data gateway?Creating a workflow by using SharePoint Designer 2013 and the SharePoint Workflow platform