Microsoft flowThe service known as IFTTT (If This Then That) has become the backbone for tons of neat integrations. You can use the service to text your spouse as you leave work, or save all your Instagram photos to Dropbox, or even add custom voice commands to your Amazon Echo.

Now, Microsoft is looking to build a competing platform with a focus on business use. A blog post announcing the new program was spotted by intrepid Microsoft watcher @h0x0d, who has previously spotted Microsoft projects like OneClip and the HoloLens clicker. Microsoft has since released the service for general use.

The new project, called Microsoft Flow (not to be confused with the leaked email app that eventually launched as Send), lets users set up systems where certain actions from one service trigger reactions on another service.

Because this is an enterprise-focused system, Microsoft emphasizes the ability to improve enterprise workflows. For example, users can set up a flow where new sales leads are automatically ported into a CRM from an email or get a notification on Slack as new files are uploaded to OneDrive so they know when a mockup is ready.

Microsoft flow services

The company also announced a public preview of PowerApps, a new system for publishing custom business applications. And those apps can tie into the new Flow system, making it easy for enterprise users to tie various services together, even when they’re working with custom apps.

Flow appears to work with a large number of enterprise focused apps. Of course, there’s the Office suite, but there’s also MailChimp, GitHub, Salesforce and Slack integrations to tie together apps used across your company.

The full list of services is available here, but with just 27 options, it’s not going to replace IFTTT for many customers. However, with the addition of PowerApps, Flow may be the service of choice for companies with a lot of custom apps. 

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