Sharepoint Designer Discontinuation - software to modify existing workflows

Question

I am looking for alternatives to Sharepoint Designer, I also discovered that it is due to be discontinued. I use SPD primarily for Workflows (using SP2010 workflows and a handful of SP2013 workflows).

I found a useful previous post by Mohamed El-Qassas on our beloved SPSE, but I cannot quite discern what will be compatible with my own situation.

Some of the solutions I've seen are for SP Online, but I am using Sharepoint 2013, I have a lot of existing workflows that I'd like to be able to continue to use & maintain with the new software. Switching to a new 'platform' is a daunting prospect given how much work has gone in to setting up the workflow infrastructure and fairly complex, custom workflows.

Would PowerApps or MS Flow be able to modify existing SP 2010 & 2013 workflows?

Answer 1

SPD is still supported with SharePoint 2016. Mainstream support ends in 2021, and extended support ends in 2026. So one answer is to keep maintaining existing workflows in 2013, and look into the new tools for new solutions. (if you're concerned about the 2021 date, then you should already be concerned that the end of mainstream support for 2013 has already passed).

Can PowerApps and Flow modify existing 2010/2013 workflows? Not at all. These are new tools with new capabilities, and there is no migration path, compatibility, etc., of any kind.

Also, while MS will tell you that you can simply rebuild your infopath and spd workflows using these new tools, my experience is that the existing processes will often need to be redesigned to work well with the new tools.

I'd recommend to begin planning how to migrate to SharePoint 2016/2019/online, if that hasn't happened already. I'd also suggest that you begin ramping up on PowerApps and Flow, as these tools are not necessarily intuitive, and can be quite challenging to work with, especially when attempting to recreate complex SPD solutions. Once you've built out a couple new forms/workflow (using the available connector to connect to On-prem sharepoint servers), then start creating the inventory of existing workflows/forms that will need to be rebuilt.

Good luck!!