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Power BI Integration

Get Process Map & Workflow data into your Power BI reports

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Written by Will Dowden

Introduction

Using our pre-built Power BI Desktop file, you can access the data surrounding your flow models alongside the data contained within and build detailed reports for deeper insights.

There are 3 different versions of the Power BI integration, this includes:

  • Workflow Data

  • Process Map Data

  • Workflow & Process Map data

We'll break down the requirements for getting the data working for the Workflow only and Process Map only options as these can be combined when using the file containing both options.

Prerequisites

This integration is a paid add-on available to any customer. Get in touch with your Customer Success Manager or Support@Flowingly.net if you would like to gain access to the integration.

To run these reports, you will need a Flowingly user account with a set password who is also assigned the role of Business Administrator. We suggest creating a service account so that an active user account is not user for this.

Instructions

Workflow Report

Navigate through "Transform Data" to "Edit Parameters".

How to configure these parameters:

  • Username: The email address used to login to Flowingly (must have Business Administrator role)

  • Password: Login password for the same user. If SSO is enabled you will need to have a password set either through a manual invitation to Flowingly or via our support desk

  • Start Date: Enter the start date for the range of data you want to report on

  • End Date: Enter the end date for the range of data you want to report on

  • FlowIDs: Enter the Flow ID for the Flow you want to report on. If you want to report on multiple flows simply add more Flow IDs, these must be comma separated.
    ​
    To find your Flow ID(s), navigate to the Reports section in Flowingly and copy the unique identifier in the URL for each individual workflow, as seen below.
    ​

  • Fields: We recommend you return all fields and narrow your reports down from there. To return all fields enter an asterisk "*". Alternatively, you can enter the name of a particular field from a Flow to return the data for that particular step.

    • If there are multiple fields with the same name in a Flow this will return the results from all fields that match the name you have entered.

    • If you want to return multiple specific fields, you must enter them exactly as they appear in the form and ensure they are comma separated

  • CurrentVersion: Two options provided in a dropdown field TRUE/FALSE. We recommend using FALSE as this will return the largest array of data which can be narrowed down.

    • FALSE: Select this option if you want all fields from every version from all published flow(s) will be returned.

    • TRUE: Select this option if you only want the fields from the current version of your flow(s) returned.

You can now confirm any adjustments made and proceed to apply these changes within the Power Query Editor which should return the relevant data.

Process Map Report

Navigate through "Transform Data" to "Edit Parameters".

How to configure these parameters:

  • Username: The email address used by to login to Flowingly (must have Business Administrator role)

  • Password: Login password for the same user. If SSO is enabled you will need to have a password set either through a manual invitation to Flowingly or via our support desk

  • PageSize: Only needs to be adjusted if the report is timing out or taking a long time to load, in which case we recommend halving the default value (1000) and continuing this until it loads in a timely manner. Otherwise, this can be left blank.

  • CategoryName: We recommend leaving this blank as it will return the data for all process maps. Enter a specific category as it is listed in your Flowingly environment (e.g. Finance). This will limit the responses to process maps assigned to that specific category and will not include anything noted in any subcategories. Only one category can be used at a time if this field is used.

  • MapName: Will return the data relating to a single process map. We recommend leaving this blank.

You can now confirm any adjustments made and proceed to apply these changes within the Power Query Editor which should return the relevant data.

Transform Data

If you have entered the parameters for either report as detailed above and apply the changes you should now be able to find the relevant data within the Power Query Editor. To access this, click on "Transform data" button or open the dropdown and select "Transform data"

Note: You may encounter a couple of pop-up notifications regarding Privacy Levels or Access, examples below. To progress, simply select the checkbox to Ignore Privacy Levels and click save.

If the following pop-up appears, leave the default selection and click connect.

What if I encounter errors loading the query?

Although Power BI may alert you to some errors with the parameters we have entered (example below), you can more than likely close this and progress to Transform Data.

Power Query Editor

Once you have opened the Power Query Editor via Transform Data > Transform Data any errors that still exist can be resolved by navigating to the Query that is showing errors and refreshing them one by one.

The pre-built reports include:

  • FlowReport

  • FlowStarted

  • MapReport

  • FlowReportWithSelectedStepFields

  • FlowReportWithAllStepFields

These will be available on the left-hand menu of the Power Query Editor.

Before refreshing there may be a warning or error symbol next to these built in reports. To resolve this simply click on the report within the Power Query Editor and refresh.

Before refresh:

After refresh:

This data will now be accessible to build any reports required.

Creating a New Query

Add new blank query within the Power Query Editor so that you can work with your Flowingly data without affecting the main data set.

To create a new query, enter "=" followed by the report that needs to be duplicated from the list above. For example, "=FlowReportWithAllStepFields"

Ensure this matches the exact same formatting as the dropdown that appears (or just select the dropdown itself) to avoid any errors.

Press Enter to load the new query.

Close and Apply any updates you have made within the Power Query Editor and you can now create any report with the data from within your queries.

These can all be found within the Data tab right-hand side of Power BI.

Viewing Data

Now that you have a standalone dataset to work within you can begin reviewing or manipulating the data in your new query.

Depending on which report you are using the data available can differ. We'll break down which data points are available depending on which report is in use.

Workflow Data Points

  • Flow Category

  • Flow Model

  • Flow ID

  • Flow Identifier

  • Flow Version Number

  • Version Date

  • Subject

  • Status

  • Started By

  • Started Date

  • Last Update By User ID

  • Last Update By

  • Last Update Date

  • Finalised By User ID

  • Finalised By User Name

  • Finalised Date

  • Number of Current Steps

  • Current Steps

  • Current Step Due Date

  • Days Overdue

  • Waiting On

  • Flow Progress

  • Number of Attachments

  • Number of Comments

  • Comments

  • Step Fields - One column per field in a step

  • Step Completed At

  • Step Completed By

  • Step Model ID

  • Step Started At

Process Map - Usage Report

  • Name

  • Created Date

  • Last View Date

  • View Count

  • Comment Count

Process Map Report

  • Name

  • Creator Name

  • Last Edited By Name

  • Process Owner Name

  • Flow Model Owner Names

  • Category Hierarchy

  • Created Date

  • Last Edited Date

  • Last Published Date

  • Last Approval Date

  • Approver Name

  • Review Date

  • Version

  • Status

  • Type

Tips & Best Practice

We highly recommend creating and using a service account to use as the account for running the Power BI reports.

If you encounter any issues or have any questions regarding this integration please do not hesitate to reach out to your Customer Success Manager or Support@Flowingly.net

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