Best fit for SharePoint Designer workflows
- Temporary continuity while discovering legacy dependencies.
- Low-value workflows that will be retired with the source site.
- Processes awaiting business owner decisions.
Legacy workflow comparison
SharePoint Designer Workflows vs Power Automate
SharePoint Designer workflows are frequently undocumented and business-critical. Power Automate is a common modernization target, but workflows should be assessed and redesigned rather than blindly recreated.
Decision matrix
Compare SharePoint Designer workflows and Power Automate
Use the matrix as a starting point. The right choice still depends on the source estate, business process, licensing, governance, and support model.
Factor
SharePoint Designer workflows
Power Automate
Horton Scientific guidance
Visibility
Often hidden in sites, lists, libraries, or content types.
Can be inventoried and monitored through Power Platform admin capabilities.
Start with discovery across site collections before migration waves.
Support ownership
Frequently owned by former admins, site owners, or no one.
Can have explicit owners, service accounts, backup owners, and support runbooks.
Treat ownership as a migration requirement.
Business logic
Logic may be fragile, old, or difficult for stakeholders to validate.
Can be redesigned into clearer flows, approvals, and exception handling.
Translate logic into stakeholder-readable process maps before rebuilding.
Governance
Limited modern governance and monitoring patterns.
Requires DLP, environments, monitoring, connection strategy, and ALM decisions.
Use migration to establish Power Platform standards.
Risk
Breakage risk rises when old sites are migrated or retired without dependency mapping.
Can reduce risk if designed, tested, and monitored correctly.
Do not cut over content without workflow dependency checks.
Best fit
Choose based on the operating need, not the product name
Best fit for Power Automate
- Critical approvals, notifications, and business processes that need modern support.
- Processes moving to SharePoint Online, Teams, Dataverse, or Microsoft 365.
- Workflows that need clear error handling, monitoring, and ownership.
Migration software
Flow MigratorAnalyze and plan Nintex migrations with Flow Migrator
Flow Migrator analyzes Nintex workflow exports, identifies actions and dependencies, and helps teams organize supported conversions and workflows that need redesign.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Do SharePoint Designer workflows have to be rebuilt?
Not all. Some should be retired or replaced by standard Microsoft 365 features. Critical workflows usually need a modern replacement.
Can this run during a SharePoint migration?
Yes, but discovery should happen early so workflows do not become late-stage blockers.
Is Power Automate always the right target?
Usually for Microsoft workflow modernization, but some processes may need Dataverse, Azure Logic Apps, custom apps, or retirement.