What is SparkleFlow Essentials?
Our top-tier product is SparkleFlow Enterprise, a very elaborate workflow framework enabling customers to have everything they can think of. On the other end of the spectrum, we have SparkleFlow-GO—a free stripped-down version of our award-winning software. The biggest complaint about SparkleFlow-GO is that it’s only a single user and limited to 200 applications. Small and mid-sized companies are too small for our more elaborate solutions, but they still want the benefit of a centralized catalog for all their applications. That’s why we created SparkleFlow Essentials. It is SparkleFlow-GO, but now you can have multiple concurrent users and store more than 200 applications. For now, we have created three versions:
- 300 application entries and 3 users
- 400 application entries and 4 users
- 500 application entries and 5 users
If you need a different combination of applications and users please ask for a quote (see button top bar)
First and foremost, SparkleFlow Essentials is designed as a central hub to streamline the organization of applications and packages, along with their associated information, eliminating the need for Excel spreadsheets and disjointed folders. Additionally, it serves as a workflow framework, allowing for the tracking of each package’s status in the process and the assignment of tasks. In this version, the structure is preset, leveraging over two decades of expertise to establish a generic process and data model suited to accommodate a broad spectrum of requirements. For those seeking further customization and automation capabilities, the Professional and Enterprise versions of SparkleFlow offers extensive adaptability and automation in every aspect.
Moreover, SparkleFlow Essentials enhances your daily operations through various tools and integrations. For example, it seamlessly integrates with the Winget repository, enabling users to search for and select installers directly from the repository. These installers are then automatically downloaded into the organized SparkleFlow folder structure. Each application or package is allocated its own comprehensive folder structure within SparkleFlow, where all related materials-such as documents, communications, status updates, source files, project files, and distribution files-are methodically stored. Additional features include an installation manual generator, a Silent Switch Finder, a PSAppDeploy Toolkit wrapper generator, an Intunewin package generator, among others. Future updates will introduce even more integrations and tools, primarily free ones, but the platform is designed to accommodate virtually any addition.
Perhaps the most noteworthy feature of SparkleFlow Essentials is its integration with AppDeployNews, a website dedicated to sharing crucial technical details about installer packages with a global user base. While still in its early stages, this feature is expected to evolve into the world’s most extensive repository of valuable installation package information. Importantly, SparkleFlow Essentials establishes a unified folder structure for each application or package, facilitating the hassle-free exchange of application/package folders with every file, document, and piece of information while maintaining data integrity. In essence, sharing is a fundamental aspect of the SparkleFlow experience.
Known issues
As highlighted earlier, SparkleFlow Essentials extensively leverages linking to files within the folder structures it creates. However, due to Windows path length limitations, it’s essential to avoid excessively long paths. While SparkleFlow Essentials itself functions correctly, the management of files and documents could lead to errors. A temporary solution is available through the use of the Subst command, and a more integrated workaround is being developed for future updates. For the present, attention should be paid to carefully managing folder depth.
Should you encounter any bugs, or issues, or if you have comments or suggestions, we encourage you to submit a ticket via the [Support] button within SparkleFlow Essentials or reach out to us via email at support@sparkleflow.com.
