Microsoft Flow in a Nutshell

I’ve been a die-hard Lotus Notes fan since around the year 2000. Yeah, I know, laugh all you want—some people collect vintage cars, I collect vintage software loyalty.

For almost two decades, Lotus Notes has been my go-to low-code solution for when i needed to build an app quickly- that could collect, managage and manipulate data from many users..

While I love Notes.. its getting a bit long in the tooth :)
(Some would argue that so am I :) )

Microsoft Flow vs. Lotus Notes

What Microsoft Flow Does Better

1. Automation Powerhouse – Flow connects with of apps, from SharePoint and Outlook to Twitter and Dropbox. If it has an API, Flow can probably talk to it

2. User-Friendly Interface – Notes had a UI only a developer could love (and even then, barely). Flow? Click, drag, done. It’s like Notes’ “little-to-no-code” approach, but actually pleasant to use.

3. Cloud-Native – Flow runs in the cloud, syncs everywhere. For me - this is both a positive and a negative.. Some times you want to run your own server on-prem

4. Flow works on Mobile… When notes was invented smartphones didnt exist.. :)

What I Still Love About Lotus Notes

1. Offline Capabilities – Flow is cloud-first, which is great… until your internet dies. Notes, on the other hand, could run just fine even if the internet exploded.

2. Deep Customization – Notes let you do some wild customization. Flow is powerful but has guardrails—sometimes, I just want to go full mad scientist on my automation.

3. Better Data Security (Sometimes) – Since I always rean Notes on-prem, data was really under my control. Flow is secure, but you have to trust the cloud.

Final Thoughts

Times change.. things evolve..

Sometimes we need to think differently as things evolve.. So we can evolve too :)