The author approaches Salesforce Flow from the perspective of a seasoned business analyst, engineer and application architect. What I really love about this book is how the author divides his content.In Part 1, before jumping into a discussion or dissection of Flow (or any of the Salesforce automation mechanisms), the author focuses on the craft of discovery and requirements definition for both functional and technical requirements. He defines and clarifies just what they both are, the importance of each, and explains their value to the overall success of any implementation project for any customer. This is an area that too many Administrators, AdminEvelopers (look it up), and even Developers are often blind to when first learning Flow, particularly if they have little or no experience as a business analyst or business application developer.This often leads to a learner’s improper prioritization and focus on how to use any particular automation tool, paired with a strong but premature desire to dive deep into the capability and application of that tool before obtaining a solid understanding of whether it would or would not be a good fit for the task at hand.As Flow is such a powerful and complex tool, it is crucial for any Salesforce technologist to fully understand the benefits of its usage for any particular requirement, or perhaps why it shouldn’t be used at all. The author's approach directs the reader to first understand analyst best practices for any application development effort, and provides a framework along with suggestions of how to collaborate and effectively gather information from all necessary project stakeholders regarding what is needed in any proposed system or subsystem.He guides his readers, pointing them at design tools and processes along the way to help address the challenges of collaboration around such requirements, and provides an inventory of all current automation mechanisms available in the Salesforce core platform that can be applied to any implementation. He does all of this before even beginning his discussion of Flow’s core capabilities.In Part 2, Chapters 4 through 8, Srini dives into Flow breaking down its various components and how they are used together to build automation logic. At the end of each chapter, he provides a topic summary, assessment questions, and suggestions for further reading on the chapter’s topic.In Chapter 4, he presents a carefully organized inventory of each and every element available in the Flow Builder, defines their purpose, and shows how they can be used to trigger flows in alternate scenarios, whether in an interactive user experience or automated behind the scenes. He presents an in depth discussion of flow entry and exit conditions, and emphasizes that while entry conditions are typically intuitive and obvious, exit conditions are often not only more complex, but more important as well and often non-intuitive. He reminds that they require careful assessment, design and validation with stakeholders before attempting to implement, and again circles back to the importance of collaboration with key stakeholders using standard design tools and visualizations to ensure common understanding and agreement before implementation.In Chapter 5, Srini tackles one of the most critical aspects of Salesforce automation - Order of Execution (OoE). This mostly invisible but critical aspect of Salesforce architecture is often poorly understood (or ignored) and yet can lead to so many system and data failure mysteries. He uses database query order of execution as an analogy to help understand the concept, and then walks through platform OoE, carefully identifying where flow fits in the process. He identifies some common anti-patterns, and points out areas where hidden interaction with Apex and other automation mechanisms can be problematic. He also shows where breaking out your flow logic into collections of smaller disconnected sub-flows can be beneficial, akin to separation of concerns in programmatic architecture.In Chapter 6, he walks through the five basic types of flows, and the use cases where each is best used. He details how they are each constructed and their various parts and scenarios, and provides detailed diagrams and screenshots with step by step examples for both constructing and configuring them.In Chapter 7, he addresses the low code solution for Apex Sharing which used to be accomplished only with Apex, and provides detailed examples and a step by step practical application that will leave you with a clear understanding of this complex but important topic.He wraps up Part 2 in Chapter 8 with important perspective and discussion of both flow debugging and testing, and how they should be used together to ensure solid and robust implementations. Again, he provides multiple diagrams and details to maximize understanding of the many moving parts, plus step by step examples of how to handle flow errors with graceful user notifications. Along the way, he gives suggestions and options around troubleshooting, and provides a practical example of a failed flow to dissect.In Part 3, As he begins to wrap up, Srini addresses the most complex aspect and capability of flow: Orchestrations. Added in Winter 22, flow orchestrations support real world business scenarios, allowing Salesforce to support automation processes requiring multiple interrelated steps, particularly those that require input from multiple users, potentially in multiple departments, across multiple time zones, and even across multiple external systems using both synchronous and asynchronous processing.In Chapter 9, he defines and summarizes orchestrations at a high level. He breaks down how they work, how they are composed, and how they are launched. He explains how any personalized task or action assigned in any stage targets any particular user, and how that user will view, access and execute their tasks or actions with Work Guides. To demonstrate the potential complexity, he walks through a demo orchestration step by step showing the many moving parts, and reviews some of the key considerations when orchestrating multiple flows, and the aspects of monitoring and debugging them.Finally in Chapter 10, he walks through and builds a complex orchestration for a practical real world business scenario, sets out all of the details, considerations and multi-step scenarios, including multiple visual design diagrams and process documentation. He breaks out an example of transforming documented design into implementation steps, showing in real time how to create one from the other. As before, he wraps up with key considerations, a summary of what was covered and suggestions for further learning.Srini’s book takes you on a detailed journey from understanding the basics of flow, all the way through its most complex aspects. And more importantly, along the way he guides you toward best software development practices to ensure you can make the most of this powerful low code toolset to build successful automations for your implementations. I heartily recommend it, and hope you will consider it as a guide for your learning.

This book is an excellent resource for people new to Salesforce Flow and a useful set of reminders for those already familiar with it. This book does more than just teach you the basics of creating Flows. It also teaches you the more important steps you need to take to properly plan your Flow before you ever start building it. With AI for Flow making progress, soon the technical side of creating a Flow will be less important than understanding how to clearly architect what the Flow needs to accomplish and how it should do it. This book helps you build the foundation for those skills which is what makes it so valuable. It also gives a solid introduction to more advanced topics like order of operations, how to test and debug Flows and the importance of error handling in Flows. In addition, there are a lot of real life (and realistic) examples and use cases along with an abundance of screen shots to help you build the examples in your sandbox. Overall, this is a very good introduction to Salesforce Flow. As someone who works with Flows almost daily, I am happy to have it in my library of resources. That said, keep in mind that Salesforce is constantly updating and adding features to Flow. This book focuses on the core aspects of Flow and Flow design and does not venture too far into specific advanced features of Flow. However, I think that will help keep this book from becoming outdated too quickly.

This book is excellent and very useful if you work with Salesforce. I work on Salesforce projects regularly and found the specific points and examples directly applicable to my work. I also read Mr. Munagavalasa’s prior book on Business Analysis, which was also very helpful. Both are strongly recommended.

Excellent resource for any salesforce professional. The book provides a comprehensive guide to Salesforce Flow, emphasizing the importance of discovery and requirements definition before delving into automation tools. It covers Flow's components, order of execution, types of flows, low code solutions, debugging, testing, and concludes with a detailed exploration of orchestrations. The author, Srini, employs practical examples, detailed diagrams, and emphasizes collaboration with stakeholders, making it a valuable resource for Salesforce technologists. In taking readers on a journey from fundamental Flow understanding to tackling its most complex facets. Effectively blends technical insights with best software development practices, making this book a valuable guide for anyone seeking to leverage Salesforce Flow for successful automations.

Learning Flows was a big step forward in my Salesforce career. "Business Process Automation with Salesforce Flow" is a book I would recommend for anybody who is in a place where they need to create or enhance automation for a client.If you’re a Flow master, I would say the concepts covered won’t get you excited but if you lack the skill of explaining technical terms to clients you would find it beneficial. Srini provides real-life examples and practical tips that make it relatable and easy to grasp.The chapter I gained the most from was Optimizing and Troubleshooting Flows. I think we all can get better with that. I've read books in the past that had outdated references to either classic or the old-school Flow Builder so it's nice to see up-to-date images that make "building as you read" easier.