How can you monitor Microsoft Power Automate Cloud Flows?
In this post, we will dive into the importance of monitoring Cloud Flows and how it can bring numerous benefits to your business processes.
With the growing use of cloud-based solutions and process automations in organizations, it becomes increasingly vital to ensure high-quality service and prevent any process failures. This post will give you an overview of the available out-of-the-box and custom monitoring solutions, helping you make informed decisions on which tools to use. You will also learn about the early detection of process failures and receive guidance on cause analysis.
Who is the target audience for Cloud Flow monitoring solutions?
The target audience includes Power Platform administrators, environment administrators, citizen developers, solution owners, external support teams, and the Power Platform internal community.
Why monitor your Power Automate Cloud Flows?
Guarantee high-quality service for critical solutions through monitoring
Gain a comprehensive understanding of how your workflows are functioning
Detect process failures early on and receive assistance in determining the cause
Obtain valuable data for optimizing your processes
How can you monitor your Power Automate Cloud Flows?
With numerous options available, it's crucial to choose the right monitoring method that fits your role. As we did not find the right out-of-the-box solution for us (as external support team for our customers), we looked also looked for new custom approaches that meet specific needs.
In this blog, we will discuss monitoring options such as Power Platform Admin Center, Center of Excellence Starter Kit, Telemetry for Power Platform, and custom solutions. Note that Azure Application Insights is not included in this blog as there is no direct integration for Cloud Flow and telemetry must be registered using HTTP calls in all Cloud Flows. For more information, refer to this blog.
Options for Monitoring in the Power Platform Admin Center
The Power Platform admin center is a web-based portal for administrators of Microsoft Power Platform. This portal provides administrators with the tools to manage and monitor the use of the Power Platform within their organization. This includes managing users, monitoring usage, setting up security and compliance policies, and monitoring performance. The portal is an important tool to ensure the smooth operation of the Power Platform and ensure that it aligns with the organization's needs and policies. Link: https://admin.powerplatform.microsoft.com.
Admin Center – Power Automate Analytics at the tenant level
Functionality:
Reports of flow usage based on environments, environment type and region
Flow invetory, including flow state
Maker activity (but only the user ID)
Number of failed runs (no information which flow failed)
28 days history
Target group:
Power Platform admins
Power Platform program manager / product owner
Admin Center – Power Automate Analytics at the environment level
Functionality:
Flow usage on daily/weekly/monthly basis
Number of errors visible, but solution aware flow names are just with the flow name ID (not the same as flow ID)
28 days history
Target group:
Environment admins
Cloud Flow Analytics - at the flow level
Microsoft Cloud Flow Analytics is a service offered by Microsoft that provides insights and analytics into the usage and performance of Microsoft Power Automate. You can access Cloud Flow Analytics using the menu button “Analytics“ from each Microsoft Flow detail page.
Functionality:
Flow usage (including number of actions requests from the cloud flow runs)
Detailed flow error analysis (type of error, count and last occurrence)
History of 30 days
Target group:
Environments admins
Solution owners
Options for Monitoring in the Center of Excellence (CoE)
The Center of Excellence (CoE) Starter Kit, provided by the Power CAT Team, is a collection of tools, templates, and best practices for organizations looking to establish a Center of Excellence (CoE) for their Power Platform usage. The CoE Starter Kit provides organizations with a starting point for creating a CoE and helps ensure that the Power Platform is adopted and used consistently across the organization.
In the CoE, there are numerous touchpoints for monitoring Power Automate Cloud Flows:
CoE Dashboard (Power BI)
Power Platform Admin View
Target group:
Power Platform admins
Power Platform program manager / product owner
Information on Power Automate Cloud Flows from all the reports from CoE Dashboard:
Number of flows per environment
Indicators of cloud creation trend
Activity of makers
Status of cloud flows & Overview of suspended cloud flows
How many cloud flows are in each solution
Information on Power Automate Cloud Flows from the Power Platform Admin View App:
Inventory of all flows, including that environment, owner, and status
Detailed information on the cloud flow, information on the governance, including actions and connections
Conclusions Power Platform Admin Center & CoE monitoring
In summary, while the Power Platform Admin Center and Center of Excellence (CoE) offer robust basic monitoring and inventory capabilities, as well as valuable key performance indicators (KPIs), they do not fully meet our needs for monitoring critical applications, because of the:
Lack of ability to monitor errors across the entire tenant
Inability to track failing flows, as notifications are only sent to the owners (and this only for non-solution-aware-flows)
The only information on failing flows is found in the Flow Analytics, but in order to get the information for several cloud flows, one needs to open each cloud flow report
Information is spread over several reports or overviews, which makes the analysis quite inefficient
To overcome these gaps, custom monitoring solutions or Power Platform Telemetry in Azure data lake can be used for enhanced monitoring and tracking of errors and failing flows.
Custom solution for Flow Monitoring
We have designed a custom solution to monitor critical services and have the ability to expand it according to the customer's requirements. We are leveraging tools of the Power Platform, such as Model-Driven Apps, Microsoft Cloud Flows, Custom Connectors, Dataverse, and integration with PowerBI for reporting.
The data for inventory (flows, environments) is obtained through the connectors from “Power Automate Management”. The data for flow runs is retrieved through the Flow API, to which we connect through a custom connector. This monitoring solution operates as a standalone solution and does not require integration with other systems. It has a flexible architecture that allows for easy extension with features such as notifications, alerts, and security. It also has the capability for easy integration with data from a Center of Excellence (CoE) or other data from the Power Platform.
This method of retrieving flow runs through the Flow API can be resource-intensive, depending on the volume of activity in the tenant. If you have high volume and/or insufficient licensing, it is recommended to consider the alternative monitoring option using Power Platform Telemetry in Azure data lake.
Custom Solution - Flow Monitoring Architecture
Flow Monitoring Reports
Functionality:
Direct links to the flows and flow runs
Detailed information on the status, duration of the run, end of the flow runs
Detailed information about the state of flows
Target group:
Power Platform admins
Environments admins
Custom Solution - Reporting - Flow runs
Custom Solution - Reporting - Flow inventory
Flow Monitoring App
Functionality:
Admins can decide whether to track an environment, and it’s cloud flows
Definition of the frequency to update the flow run data (up to live data query)
Target group:
Power Platform admins
Custom Solution - Flow Monitoring App
Power Platform Telemetry in Azure data lake
The Power Platform Admin Center telemetry data export to Microsoft Azure Data Lake is a feature that enables administrators to export telemetry data from the Power Platform Admin Center to Microsoft Azure Data Lake. This data includes information on the usage and performance of Power Platform components such as Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power Virtual Agents.
Exporting the telemetry data to Microsoft Azure Data Lake provides administrators with the ability to store, process, and analyze the data at scale. The data can then be used to gain insights into the usage and performance of the Power Platform components and help make informed decisions about how the platform is being used and how it can be optimized.
Exporting the telemetry data to Microsoft Azure Data Lake requires an existing Microsoft Azure Data Lake account and appropriate access permissions. The Power Platform Admin Center provides an export wizard that guides administrators through the process of exporting the data, including selecting the data to be exported, defining the export schedule, and configuring the destination Data Lake.
In our solution, the Power Platform telemetry data has been used to create a Power BI report that covers the information for flow monitoring, such as flow runs and inventory. This report provides administrators with insights into the performance and usage of Power Automate flows within the tenant.
Power Platform telemetry data
Flow Monitoring Reports
Functionality:
All the important monitoring data regarding flow status is available (for all environments, flows, flow runs)
Long-Term data is provided (starting with the date on which the telemetry is activated)
Easy integration with CoE data possible (using Azure synapse link & Azure data factory)
Target group:
Power Platform admins
Summary of Cloud Flow Monitiong options
This overview will provide a comprehensive comparison of the previously described options for monitoring Power Automate Cloud Flows, including their strengths and limitations, as well as considerations for administrators. By understanding these aspects, you will be able to make an informed decision on the best monitoring solution for your organization.
| What | Pros | Cons | Administrative aspects |
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| Admin center analytics (tenant & environment) |
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| Flow level analytics |
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| CoE – Dashboard & App |
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| Custom Flow Monitoring solution |
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| Telemetry in Azure data lake |
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If you need support with the following services, please feel free to contact us:
Setup of the Power Platform Azure telemetry + Power BI Report Template (WinOn365 custom template)
Solution for Power Platform Monitoring for your tenant (WinOn365 custom solution)
Installation or update of CoE (solution provided for free by the Power CAT team)
Support or monitoring services for your Power Platform / Cloud Flows