Heads Up HR, Construction, Home Automation & Fitness Fans
Have I got news for you! More connectors to fuel your automation imagination dropped last week and I’ve taken a sneak peek review them to save you some digging. If you missed the last group of new Power Automate connectors, check here.
Are you a human resources pro? If so, you may already be using the Badgr app. Now there’s an independently published Power Automate connector with 40 possible automation actions for awarding skills-based badges, and verifying and tracking the achievements of your personnel.
Four stars!
FlowForma v2 is a connector for the business process management (BPM) app for Office 365 users, which enables users build forms and workflow. This connector’s two actions let you automate the creation of or perform an update to a form. As there’s already FlowForma connector in play whose sole action creates a FlowForma form, I admit I cannot figure out why the original connector didn’t just get an update with these two actions rather than having a new, second version without deprecation of the old one. If you know why, or if you are already using the original FlowForma connector and see the value of the v2 here, please hit me up.
One star
Put on your hard hats! With its list of actions, the InEight connector for Power Automate lets construction managers and designers automate tracking of people, trades, timecards and more. To use it you’ll need to be a valid cloud platform InEight user.
Specifics include:
- Confirm the status of daily plans
- Confirm the status of time cards
- Get complete daily plan details
- Get complete time card details
- Import crafts, employees, trades, roles, users or user roles
- Import equipment, equipment categories, or equipment types
Given the level of detail in this connector’s documents, current InEight users would be well-advised to give this connector a look.
Let the flows begin! Four stars
In a repeating theme, another connector for construction management graces us with its presence and this one is formidable. The Fluid Kinnectorz for Procore connector lets Procore users create and implement custom workflows by integration of Procore and their choice of software packages from the Microsoft Power Platform connector library. To use this one, you’ll need a paid Procore account, a paid work or school account and administrator privileges with one of Power Automate, Power Apps or Azure Logic Apps, and a paid Fluid Kinnectorz for Procore subscription or free trial.
There are over 100 actions (seems they thought of everything) and two triggers; one starts a flow for any company-wide event based on the configured event, and the other for any event based on the configured event. My only hang up is that while this connector appears really robust, I had to dig a little to find any documentation from its creator Phoenix Labs like these FAQs.
Four and a half stars!
Philips HUE, the app that controls home indoor and outdoor lighting can let you set a mood or schedule preferred on/off times. It integrates with Alexa, Apple HomeKit or Google Assistant and now it’s connector offers 10 possible action automations. These include: execute a device or light, get a room (not the eyeroll kind), get a device(s), a light(s), a scene(s), or delete a scene. “Scenes” are used to store and recall settings for a group of lights. Where the app lets you manually control lighting, the connector lets you automate those. There is an added note in its documentation to say, “This is not shareable connection. If the power app is shared with another user, another user will be prompted to create new connection explicitly.” When or if this connector gets an update, I could see a good use for a trigger that lets you know when a light or lights has stopped working whether due to a power out or bulb failure. Hey, I can dream right?
Three stars
Strava, a well-known fitness tracking app used by runners and cycling enthusiasts, now has a connector to automate information that exercise fans might want or need to track. It’s social media component and use of global positioning (GPS) keeps individuals informed and allows them to share successes. For this connector, think clubs, fitness facilities or even health researchers. Its actions automates: getting an authenticated athlete, athlete stats, a club, activity, or segment OR lists of athlete activities, athlete clubs, club members, club administrators, club activities, activity laps, comments, kudoers <—- (it’s a word…sort of), or starred segments. When I advised the runners among us about this connector, the excitement was palpable.
Three and a half stars
One Interesting Side Note
When I’m reviewing new Power Automate connectors, I also notice various updates to existing ones. As a habit, I don’t usually point out when older connectors add actions because in my view, while helpful, don’t tend to have the kind of added impact that trigger automation does. Plus, specific actions are less likely to prompt you to rush ahead to try out a connector, while triggers might, and if you’re already a user of a given connector, well, you’ll be aware of new possibilities every time you use it. Today is the exception. Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge series of connectors including its Fundraising, Gifts and NXT Constituents each had a handful of new automation actions added with 10 more, 9 more, and 7 more respectively. Which, if you are a user of the app, seems more significant than most updates.