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Microsoft Flow -- An IFTTT Alternative -- Aims To Connect Your Online Apps (fortune.com)

Posted by msmash on from the if-this-then-that dept.

An anonymous user writes: Microsoft has unveiled a new product called Microsoft Flow, which is designed to better connect diverse services so that you could, if you were so inclined, put all your tweets into a spreadsheet or get an SMS alert when you receive an email. That example may be a solution in search of a problem, but there are other more useful possibilities. Flow could be set up so that any email from your boss triggers an SMS notification to your phone, for example. Or you could make sure any updated work documents get deposited in your team's SharePoint. To be sure, Microsoft is not first to this app-integration party. Many people already use If This Then That (IFTTT) or Zapier, which claims more than 500 app integrations, to knit their services together.Some IFTTT users must be breathing a sigh of relief.

3 of 53 comments (clear)

  1. You trust MS over IFTTT? by Overzeetop · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm not saying that IFTTT isn't over-reaching, but trusting Mircosoft to have your best interests at heart is like letting your kid go pet a Belgian Malinois because the German Shepherd didn't seem friendly looking.

    I wouldn't trust Flow primarily because MS has a horrible track record of supporting anything that's not created at MS. Eventually, this will only support MS products on MS servers, if it survives at all.

    --
    Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
  2. What a terrible summary by chihowa · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That example may be a solution in search of a problem, but there are other more useful possibilities.

    What's with all of the stream of consciousness "reporting" lately? How about you take a few minutes to think of some compelling uses for this sort of thing and then write about those examples in your summary?

    It's one thing to see crap like this in Slashdot summaries, but it's increasingly showing up in "legitimate" news. It comes across as stupid and lazy, and that's coming from someone who's posting to Slashdot from work.

    --
    If you want a vision of the future, imagine a youtube comments section scrolling - forever.
  3. Re:Great. No positive comments. by epyT-R · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You mean yet another SaaS 'solution' that'll disappear eventually? How is flow any different than ifttt? Who really wants to refactor their solutions every time one of these 'service providers' decides to eol their 'solutions'?

    Stuff like home automation should not be handled 'in the cloud'. At worst, it might expose a portal for remote admin but that's it.