Modernizing a multi-year approval workflow

Overview

The team manages 50–100 specialized technical tools used across multiple teams. Each tool requires a four step approval process, and requests often remain active for several years before all approvals are complete. The legacy system was built on InfoPath, SharePoint 2010 impersonation workflow and 2013 workflows. Item level permission breaking, creating a fragile environment that was difficult to maintain.

The goal of this project is to modernize the entire workflow using Power Apps, SharePoint Online, and Power Automate, while eliminating the dependency on legacy technologies and reducing administrative work.

Pain Points

• Multi year approvals that outlive the technology

• Item level permission breaking for every request

• Every submitted request breaks inheritance and assigns permissions based on the tool being requested.

  • This model used:

    • 2 SharePoint groups per tool

    • 100–200 groups total

    • Constant maintenance as users changed roles

    • Frequent permission breakage

• InfoPath and 2013 workflows are end of life

• User experience was inconsistent and difficult to navigate

Solution

SharePoint Online, Power Apps and Power Automate: Role & Status Driven System

• Sub lists used to organize data and users for access control. Access list replaces 100s of permission groups

• Instead of maintaining 100–200 SharePoint groups, the new system uses a single list:

  • Access list broken down by:

    • Tool, Team, and Roles. This allows the system to dynamically display:

      • who can see each request

      • who can approve each stage

      • who receives notifications

      • who has admin privileges

• Status driven workflow instead of Power Automate approvals

Each button:

• updates the Status field

• stamps the approver and timestamp

• triggers a Power Automate flow to send HTML email notifications

• The form dynamically shows or hides:

  • sections

  • fields

  • approval buttons

  • admin tools

This creates a clean, intuitive experience for every participant.

The admin only section also has a button to send reminders to teams based on the status of the item that approval / review is needed.

Screenshots to follow...