10 results found

1. On-Premise (onprem) Runtime

   Some customers need to run Flow Connect on their premises (on-prem) for different reasons.

   1. Data requirements – Strict data security/privacy/legal requirements where the data is not allowed to leave the premises. For these types of customers, it is essential that everything runs on-prem since they don’t want any connection to the outside networks.
      Some examples:
      • Aerospace & defense
      • Defense manufacturing
      • Healthcare
      • Government and public sector

   2. Low-latency requirements - Some customers have low-latency requirements with systems handling a high volume of transactions/executions. Typically, their existing infrastructure/external systems are already on-prem due to the exact reason. For these types of customers, flow connect adds a roundtrip through the cloud to access the data that’s already in their premise. This adds to the latency. It would be beneficial for this customer category to avoid the roundtrip through cloud infrastructure and be able to access their data locally.
      Some examples:
      • High volume manufacturing
      • Retail
      • E-Commerce

   3. Intermittent connectivity – some customers do not have stable, always available internet connectivity due to the nature of the work they do. This does not mean they are not connected to internet at all. Rather internet connectivity is not a guarantee. Even if the internet is available, it might not be stable or with very low bandwidth. These customers want to carry on their work while being offline and once they are connected to internet, they want to sync their data/transactions/executions. We can divide this into two subcategories depending on how long they are disconnected from internet.
      a. Short term disconnection
      Typically, the disconnect from the internet lasts from a few hours to a few days. Examples include service technicians who goes into the field to carry out his work, field operations, mobile service units, etc.

   b. Long term disconnection
   The disconnect is long-term ranging from few months to a year or so. Example includes mining & oil rigs, fishing & maritime, engineering & construction sites, etc.
   Suggested approach
   The section below describes the approach RnD could take on handling some of the use cases/requirements mentioned above. It’s also important to note that the suggested approach will not cover all the requirements and use cases.
   RnD wants to avoid taking a big-bang approach, but instead take a step-by-step approach where we solve one problem at a time and build on it. This would allow RnD to get feedback on the first step before moving on to the next steps.
   Definitions & Disclaimers
   • Design Time – The part of Flow Connect where the application packages/apps/components are designed and deployed to different environments. Design time also includes defining the connector configuration for the apps. So, Flow Hub, Flow Designer, and Portal Designer falls under design time. Please note that in the suggested approach the design time will always be in the cloud.

   Stage 1 – Online on-prem
   This solution involves running some parts of the Flow Connect runtime on the customer's local network. This lets Flow apps run machine steps directly on local systems without needing to connect to the internet/Novacura Cloud. The Internet is still needed to login to the flow connect client and to download the Application packages, apps, and components. However once logged in and loaded, the execution will be routed through the customer's local network. The following diagram illustrates the flow of data with this approach on a high-level.
   Suitable for:
   • customers with low-latency requirements - since the execution occurs locally it is an efficient solution.
   Limitations:
   • As mentioned previously, Design time will be always cloud only.
   • Internet is still needed to authenticate with Novacura Flow Connect and download app packages/apps/components/modules/configurations.
   Out of Scope
   • On-prem design time
   • Web client on-prem (web client delivered from a local on-prem service)
   • Integrations

   Stage 2 – Runtime on-prem
   Stage 2 builds on top of Stage 1 where more services run on the customer's site. The goal of this step is to run flow connect apps without the need to communicate with the Novacura cloud. With this solution,
   • Users will be able to authenticate themselves locally
   • App packages/apps will be delivered from a service running on-prem
   • Execution of machine step will be 100% on-prem (modules and connector configurations delivered from a local service)
   Suitable for:
   • Customer who wants their apps to work without being connected to the internet for a longer period (Long-term intermittent connectivity).
   • Customers who do not want any of their data to be exposed outside.
   Limitations:
   • Design time is still cloud only.
   • Data can be updated on-prem but no syncing back to cloud is allowed.
   • An internet connection is needed occasionally to be able to receive updates from the Novacura cloud.
   Out of Scope
   • On-prem design time
   • Integrations
   Considerations
   Although stage 2 looks very appealing it is an inherently complex solution with many unknowns (the diagram is an oversimplification). It will require a significant amount of work and time to fully implement for production level. There are many unknowns when it comes to different services that will require their own PoC before starting to implementation.

   Offline client
   Offline functionality makes it possible to work with flow apps without an internet connection for a short period of time. For offline functionality to work it is required that the data needed to execute apps are downloaded beforehand. With offline functionality all transactions that are produced by the apps while offline are put in a queue. Then The transactions are executed automatically in the background when the device has internet access.
   Suitable for:
   • Field operations, service technicians, etc. who are disconnected from the internet time to time. (short-term intermittent connectivity).

   Summary
   • Customers who want everything on prem will not be covered with the suggested solutions since design time will always be in the cloud.
   • Customers with Low-latency requirements will be covered with Stage 1 of the proposed solution.
   • Customers with Long-term intermittent connectivity requirements can be covered with Stage 2 of the proposed solution. However, it is a huge undertaking with a lot of unknows parts.
   • Customers with Short-term intermittent connectivity requirements will be covered with offline client functionality.

   Some customers need to run Flow Connect on their premises (on-prem) for different reasons.

   1. Data requirements – Strict data security/privacy/legal requirements where the data is not allowed to leave the premises. For these types of customers, it is essential that everything runs on-prem since they don’t want any connection to the outside networks.
      Some examples:
      • Aerospace & defense
      • Defense manufacturing
      • Healthcare
      • Government and public sector

   2. Low-latency requirements - Some customers have low-latency requirements with systems handling a high volume of transactions/executions. Typically, their existing infrastructure/external systems are already on-prem due to the exact reason. For these… more

   8 votes

   Vote Vote Vote

   We're glad you're here

   Please sign in to leave feedback

   Signed in as (Sign out)

   Close

   Close

   Vote

   We’ll send you updates on this idea

   0 comments  ·  Clients (Webclient, Android, iOS)  ·  Delete…  ·  Admin →
   How important is this to you?

   Not at all You must login first! Important You must login first! Critical You must login first!

   We're glad you're here

   Please sign in to leave feedback

   Signed in as (Sign out)

   Close

   Close
   under review  ·  AdminPaul Phillips (VP Product Management, Novacura) responded

   Thank you for voting on this feature request. Our product team is currently reviewing it and evaluating its feasibility and potential impact. We will keep you updated on any progress.

2. Facilitate debugging of offline flows in flow studio

   Currently, the inability to run offline flows in debug mode in Studio complicates development and testing, significantly increasing development time. Resolving this issue soon will streamline the process and improve efficiency

   3 votes

   Vote Vote Vote

   We're glad you're here

   Please sign in to leave feedback

   Signed in as (Sign out)

   Close

   Close

   Vote

   We’ll send you updates on this idea

   3 comments  ·  Clients (Webclient, Android, iOS)  ·  Delete…  ·  Admin →
   How important is this to you?

   Not at all You must login first! Important You must login first! Critical You must login first!

   We're glad you're here

   Please sign in to leave feedback

   Signed in as (Sign out)

   Close

   Close
   planned  ·  AdminPaul Phillips (VP Product Management, Novacura) responded

   The feature request has been approved and is now scheduled for development. Our product team has determined that it aligns with our product roadmap and will bring value to our platform. We will keep you updated on its progress.

3. Enabling online/offline versatility

   Our framework is currently stringent in how to work offline: you download your sources (like in the morning), start working (deliberately offline) and your transactions are synced as soon as you are back online.
   In many circumstances Flow users in service do not know whether they will have internet while working though and they work offline foregoing on many advantages of being online.
   Ideally, we would have a variable available in our start variables (like DeviceId and ClientType) so that in the flows we can take different paths depending on whether the user has internet or not - analog to driving with google maps: you start online, Google recognized the connectivity is lost but keeps navigating in offline mode (so no trafffic info for example), and when you are back online you switch back to that mode

   Our framework is currently stringent in how to work offline: you download your sources (like in the morning), start working (deliberately offline) and your transactions are synced as soon as you are back online.
   In many circumstances Flow users in service do not know whether they will have internet while working though and they work offline foregoing on many advantages of being online.
   Ideally, we would have a variable available in our start variables (like DeviceId and ClientType) so that in the flows we can take different paths depending on whether the user has internet or not - analog to… more

   8 votes

   Vote Vote Vote

   We're glad you're here

   Please sign in to leave feedback

   Signed in as (Sign out)

   Close

   Close

   Vote

   We’ll send you updates on this idea

   3 comments  ·  Clients (Webclient, Android, iOS)  ·  Delete…  ·  Admin →
   How important is this to you?

   Not at all You must login first! Important You must login first! Critical You must login first!

   We're glad you're here

   Please sign in to leave feedback

   Signed in as (Sign out)

   Close

   Close

4. Push Notifications

   Flow Classic has a way to send push notifications via swimlanes. I have never been a fan of using swimlanes, but you could at least use them to send push notifications.

   In Flow Connect, I'd like to see Novacura implement a "connector" that could perform the same functionality. The connector could: iterate through a list of users, require a Push Notification message, optionally pass in an app GUID that would "forward" the user once they click on push notification to.

   Bonus points if you could use a websocket backend so this could also be implemented in the webclients as well and not just the mobile clients.

   Flow Classic has a way to send push notifications via swimlanes. I have never been a fan of using swimlanes, but you could at least use them to send push notifications.

   In Flow Connect, I'd like to see Novacura implement a "connector" that could perform the same functionality. The connector could: iterate through a list of users, require a Push Notification message, optionally pass in an app GUID that would "forward" the user once they click on push notification to.

   Bonus points if you could use a websocket backend so this could also be implemented in the webclients as well… more

   3 votes

   Vote Vote Vote

   We're glad you're here

   Please sign in to leave feedback

   Signed in as (Sign out)

   Close

   Close

   Vote

   We’ll send you updates on this idea

   0 comments  ·  Clients (Webclient, Android, iOS)  ·  Delete…  ·  Admin →
   How important is this to you?

   Not at all You must login first! Important You must login first! Critical You must login first!

   We're glad you're here

   Please sign in to leave feedback

   Signed in as (Sign out)

   Close

   Close
   under review  ·  AdminPaul Phillips (VP Product Management, Novacura) responded

   Thank you for voting on this feature request. Our product team is currently reviewing it and evaluating its feasibility and potential impact. We will keep you updated on any progress.

5. GitHub Integration for Flow Studio

   Currently, Flow Studio allows developers to view the XML code of their workflows by pressing F7, but there is no direct way to integrate these files with GitHub for version control and code storage, only server side in the Flow Server.

   Proposed solution is to implement a direct integration feature between Flow Studio and GitHub, as an alternative to Flow version management. This feature would enable users to seamlessly push the XML files of their workflows directly to a GitHub repository from within Flow Studio.

   3 votes

   Vote Vote Vote

   We're glad you're here

   Please sign in to leave feedback

   Signed in as (Sign out)

   Close

   Close

   Vote

   We’ll send you updates on this idea

   0 comments  ·  Clients (Webclient, Android, iOS)  ·  Delete…  ·  Admin →
   How important is this to you?

   Not at all You must login first! Important You must login first! Critical You must login first!

   We're glad you're here

   Please sign in to leave feedback

   Signed in as (Sign out)

   Close

   Close

6. Better Offline Data Caching

   Today, a customer can download offline data. But if the app crashes, or the user in the field (who is offline) makes changes and then app crashes or they quit out by accident, its confusing to the user as to what has been completed. To the user, it feels like the data has been lost.

   An example, lets say I have an offline flow which downloads 10 records in a table. While offline, I add 2 new records to that table, and go to the next step. If the app crashes when the app reopens, and the flow is rerun, the user will only see the 10 records. Not knowing they submitted the 2 additional records. This could be true if they quit out of the app by mistake, instead of the app crashing.

   Today, a customer can download offline data. But if the app crashes, or the user in the field (who is offline) makes changes and then app crashes or they quit out by accident, its confusing to the user as to what has been completed. To the user, it feels like the data has been lost.

   An example, lets say I have an offline flow which downloads 10 records in a table. While offline, I add 2 new records to that table, and go to the next step. If the app crashes when the app reopens, and the flow is rerun,… more

   12 votes

   Vote Vote Vote

   We're glad you're here

   Please sign in to leave feedback

   Signed in as (Sign out)

   Close

   Close

   Vote

   We’ll send you updates on this idea

   5 comments  ·  Clients (Webclient, Android, iOS)  ·  Delete…  ·  Admin →
   How important is this to you?

   Not at all You must login first! Important You must login first! Critical You must login first!

   We're glad you're here

   Please sign in to leave feedback

   Signed in as (Sign out)

   Close

   Close
   under review  ·  AdminPaul Phillips (VP Product Management, Novacura) responded

   Thank you for voting on this feature request. Our product team is currently reviewing it and evaluating its feasibility and potential impact. We will keep you updated on any progress.

7. Group Values in Datagrid

   The datagrid should have a grouping header to make it easier for end users to find where the exact data they are looking for.

   3 votes

   Vote Vote Vote

   We're glad you're here

   Please sign in to leave feedback

   Signed in as (Sign out)

   Close

   Close

   Vote

   We’ll send you updates on this idea

   0 comments  ·  Clients (Webclient, Android, iOS)  ·  Delete…  ·  Admin →
   How important is this to you?

   Not at all You must login first! Important You must login first! Critical You must login first!

   We're glad you're here

   Please sign in to leave feedback

   Signed in as (Sign out)

   Close

   Close

8. Client Home Experience (Flow User Conference 2024)

   In Flow Connect users can access apps quickly through favorites section on the Home screen.

   In the future we would like to give users quick one click access to even more apps by opening up new possibilities to customize the client home screen.
   Users would be able to see a large number of apps and launch them directly from the home screen without navigating a folder structure.

   •  

   2 votes

   Vote Vote Vote

   We're glad you're here

   Please sign in to leave feedback

   Signed in as (Sign out)

   Close

   Close

   Vote

   We’ll send you updates on this idea

   0 comments  ·  Clients (Webclient, Android, iOS)  ·  Delete…  ·  Admin →
   How important is this to you?

   Not at all You must login first! Important You must login first! Critical You must login first!

   We're glad you're here

   Please sign in to leave feedback

   Signed in as (Sign out)

   Close

   Close

9. Add picture/thumbnails option to buttons

   It would be a nice feature if we could show pictures/logos in buttons (and not just unicode characters).
   Similarly to the new 'list input with picture' feature.

   •  

   1 vote

   Vote Vote Vote

   We're glad you're here

   Please sign in to leave feedback

   Signed in as (Sign out)

   Close

   Close

   Vote

   We’ll send you updates on this idea

   0 comments  ·  Clients (Webclient, Android, iOS)  ·  Edit…  ·  Delete…  ·  Admin →
   How important is this to you?

   Not at all You must login first! Important You must login first! Critical You must login first!

   We're glad you're here

   Please sign in to leave feedback

   Signed in as (Sign out)

   Close

   Close

10. Translation panel and standard buttons

    Support for multiple languages in Flow can be a involved process and with many large workflows in a solution it can be challenging to provide a consistent translation (and terminology!) in your apps. In the translation industry, a common way to work is to have a side-by-side or spreadsheet view of all text with the original language on one side and the translations on the other. I would love it if the Languages tab in Environment could collect all text from one or multiple apps and then put that text in a table with editable fields where you can enter translations. That would both make translating an app easier and faster (since you don't have to click through lots of User steps and Buttons) and make the translations themselves better and more consistent since you could cross-reference all the text in the app.

    In addition, it would be really helpful if you could configure a set of "standard" buttons in your environment where you can set translations but also make sure buttons use the same terms throughout an environment. When all buttons are free text, it's easy to end up with apps where some buttons say "OK", others say "Next", "Continue" etc. although they do the same thing in concept (move forward in the app). From an UX perspective, apps with more consistent buttons look more professional. We did something similar in some RISE apps where we call a fragment containing a table of standard button texts which works fine, but it would be even better if you could select a Standard button from a dropdown (with one selection obviously being free text).

    Support for multiple languages in Flow can be a involved process and with many large workflows in a solution it can be challenging to provide a consistent translation (and terminology!) in your apps. In the translation industry, a common way to work is to have a side-by-side or spreadsheet view of all text with the original language on one side and the translations on the other. I would love it if the Languages tab in Environment could collect all text from one or multiple apps and then put that text in a table with editable fields where you can enter… more

    •  

    7 votes

    Vote Vote Vote

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)

    Close

    Close

    Vote

    We’ll send you updates on this idea

    1 comment  ·  Clients (Webclient, Android, iOS)  ·  Delete…  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

    Not at all You must login first! Important You must login first! Critical You must login first!

    We're glad you're here

    Please sign in to leave feedback

    Signed in as (Sign out)

    Close

    Close
    planned  ·  AdminPaul Phillips (VP Product Management, Novacura) responded

    The feature request has been approved and is now scheduled for development. Our product team has determined that it aligns with our product roadmap and will bring value to our platform. We will keep you updated on its progress.