Why Salesforce Flows Are Eating the World of Automation

The End of an Era

For years, Workflow Rules and Process Builder were the go-to tools for admins looking to automate business processes without code. They were powerful, but they had their limitations and, importantly, couldn't always handle bulk records gracefully. Salesforce has officially announced their retirement, paving the way for a single, dominant declarative tool: Flow.

The Power of Flow

Flow can do everything its predecessors could and much, much more. Here are just a few reasons why Flow is superior:

• Before and After-Save: Flows can run before a record is saved to the database, allowing for fast field updates on the same record. This was previously only possible with Apex triggers.
• Screen Flows: Create interactive screens to guide users through complex processes, collect information, and display dynamic data.
• Error Handling: Flows have robust error handling capabilities, allowing you to build fault-tolerant automations that can catch and handle unexpected issues.
• Subflows: Break down complex logic into smaller, reusable flows that can be called from other flows.

Your Migration Path

Salesforce provides a "Migrate to Flow" tool that can help you convert existing Workflow Rules. Process Builder migration is more manual, but it presents a great opportunity to rethink and optimize your existing automations. Don't just lift-and-shift; use this as a chance to consolidate and improve.