The deprecation story around Dataverse legacy connector for #PowerAutomate keeps evolving. Originally announced in July, there's now updated info on this. The date for no new flows to be created with this connector has moved from Nov 2022 to March 2023. Presumably the reason being that the remaining gaps (environment selection, "when a row is selected" trigger) aren't gonna be closed by Nov. For Azure #LogicApps, the migration from the legacy connector to the new Dataverse connector was automatically performed on August 30th already for all Logic Apps. I guess this was easy for MS to complete as those gaps were only relevant to business process automation via cloud flows. The migration of cloud flows will leverage similar technology, but it will be dependent on the flow maker to interactively launch a migration tool in the Power Automate UI. I guess this will be available in October 2022. Because other than that, there's no technical reason not to start migrating flows away from the legacy connector already today. Unfortunately there have been a lot of small details that are different in the flow maker experience, depending on which Dataverse connector you happen to use. I can't list them here. The fact is, almost every time I need to build a cloud flow against Dataverse, I need to start from Google to search for "how to" blog posts. So, you'll find those differences the same way as I do.😁 The fact that we've had 3 different ways to connect to Dataverse (when counting in the deprecated Dynamcis 365 connector) has been challenging. None of them have treated Dataverse in the same "native" way as XRM workflows always have, meaning it's just another data source where you need to snoop around the API responses to figure out what specific strings are needed in which actions against different data types in Dataverse. Not business user friendly. Perhaps after we're over this connector migration, there would finally be time for MS to make investments on the Dataverse connector UX for cloud flow makers. And in the same existing connector this time, please😅
So now we know that A) Dynamics 365 legacy connector will shut down in a few days, and B) the new Dataverse connector still can't cover all its scenarios. Meaning: if you are using these features, you'll need to migrate FROM LEGACY DYNAMICS 365 TO LEGACY DATAVERSE CONNECTOR to keep your business processes alive.
The "when a record is selected" trigger must be migrated, otherwise we lose the purpose of the "Flow" command bar item. Many are using this already.
Still feel deprecation is crazy. With all the gaps in management and admin connectors around solution aware flows, access to Dataverse cross environments is critical. Trying to govern a platform that you can't see is challenging to say the least, and instead of adding visibility Microsoft is more keen on taking it away.
This is starting to feel like the non-deprecation of parent.XRM and ClientGlobalContext.js.aspx where niche scenarios made removing it impossible. And the legacy connector does support a whole heap of niche (mainly cross platform) scenarios that aren't easily solved without recourse to significant bits of custom development..
The part on API snooping definitely resonates...
Sietse Willemse MSc Filipe L. Ewoud Pronk
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing
Interesting that we will have a migration tool this time! Thanks Mr Niiranen for keeping up with MS and updating us in every step. 🤝
The Original Power Platform Advisor. 11x Microsoft MVP. Low-code 4 life.
1yDocs on the latest information on connector deprecation/migration are available here: https://ff.tips/DVlegacy