Request Sign-off workflow in modern document libraries


Request Sign-off workflow in modern document libraries


Explanation

The "Request sign-off" flow can be enabled on a modern document library through the Power Automate button on the command bar. This flow currently does not allow you to further administer or customize it in any way. It only sends notifications for approval to a specified person through the Approvals app which can be accessed and updated when logged into Teams, Power Automate and Outlook. The only way to further customize an approval workflow is through a custom flow built out in Power Automate.

A benefit of the "Request sign-off" feature is that the flow is not tied to any single user's account, and so there's nothing to stop the team from running it long term. However, the downside to having no primary administrators on the flow is that the run data is not accessible to you. This means you won't be able to see when it ran, who the approval emails were sent to, etc, unless you were the sender/approver. The data is automatically stored in the Microsoft Dataverse (previously the Common Data Service) but is not available by general users. ITS does not currently provide centralized support on accessing or modifying data in PowerApps or Dataverse. 

Note - the workflow does not modify permissions automatically, so you need to be sure the specified approver has access to the file already. This feature simply provides a low effort ad-hoc alert function.

More information

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/business-applications-release-notes/april18/microsoft-flow/request-sign-off-flow-built-into-sharepoint
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/power-apps-power-automate/introducing-quot-request-sign-off-quot-an-approval-flow-that/m-p/178586
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/data-platform/data-platform-intro