Why use SPFx instead of the standard SharePoint form to collect requests?

The standard SharePoint form is fine for simple, uniform data collection. SPFx (SharePoint Framework) lets you build a guided interface that adapts dynamically to the type of request — showing different fields depending on the category selected — and to embed custom validations and business logic directly in the frontend. For a process with several distinct request types, the resulting user experience is clearer and less error-prone.

How does the integration between Azure Functions and a hardware system like a badge printer work?

Azure Functions acts as middleware between SharePoint and the hardware system. When a request is approved, the Function reads the data on SharePoint, transforms it into the format the target system expects — in this case an XML file with a specific structure — and sends it to the printing system. Azure Functions is stateless and scalable, ideal for this kind of event-driven data transformation.

Can this pattern be replicated for operational processes other than badges?

Yes. The pattern — SharePoint as the request management system, SPFx for the custom interface and Azure Functions for data transformation toward external systems — applies to any process that must generate output in specific formats: warehouse labels, documents for ERP systems, configuration files for machinery, reports for third-party systems.

How long does it take to build a SharePoint + Azure Functions solution like this?

Timelines depend on the complexity of the process and the number of request types handled. The most critical phase is analysis: understanding exactly which format the target system expects, and how to transform SharePoint data into that format, requires precise mapping. Once the specs are clear, the technical development wraps up in a few weeks.

How is service continuity guaranteed if Azure Functions is unavailable?

Azure Functions is a Microsoft-managed service with high SLAs. The asynchronous invocation pattern via Power Automate ensures requests are not lost: if the Function is unavailable at invocation time, Power Automate handles retries and error notifications. The data stays on SharePoint and can be reprocessed when the service is back.

Digital Badge Issuance with SharePoint and Azure Functions

Digitizing corporate badge issuance means bringing the entire cycle — request, approval and printing — onto a traceable flow inside Microsoft 365, with no paper and no manual steps. For a major regional railway transport company in Lombardy we did exactly that with SharePoint Online, SPFx and Azure Functions, including the automatic generation of the file required by the industrial badge printer: since the system went live, the company has handled more than 800 requests fully digitally.

The organization — thousands of employees and an operational structure spread across the whole Lombardy region — managed badge issuance requests on paper: forms filled in by hand, physically carried to the office, approved and forwarded to the printing system by email. No traceability, no visibility on the status of requests in progress. We tackled the problem with the same approach we apply to digitizing corporate documents: removing paper not as an end in itself, but as a lever to make a process measurable and governable.

The problem: three request types, no traceability

Badge requests fall into three categories: new issuance (for new hires or role changes), replacement for wear and tear, replacement for theft or loss. Three distinct use cases, each with different required information and different approval paths.

Before the project, everything happened on paper. There was no way to know, at any given moment, how many requests were in progress, where they stood and who had to do what. The staff managing badges worked without a complete picture, chasing approvals and manually checking the status of every request.

The goal was clear: digitize the process, remove paper, make everything traceable. But there was a technical constraint that significantly changed the project’s architecture.

The solution: SharePoint Online, SPFx and Azure Functions

The constraint was the industrial badge printer. Industrial printers of this kind don’t accept a PDF: they require an XML file in a specific format, containing all the data needed to produce the physical badge — personal details, badge type, graphic parameters. The digital solution couldn’t stop at approving the request: it had to automatically produce the correct XML file and send it to the printing system.

The architecture we built starts from SharePoint Online as the central data management system. Requests are entered through a custom module developed with SPFx (SharePoint Framework): not the standard SharePoint form, but a purpose-built interface that guides the user based on the request type and collects exactly the information needed for that specific case. It’s the kind of tailored SharePoint online development that turns a generic list into a real business application.

The approval flow is fully digitized. Whoever needs to approve receives a notification through Power Automate, opens the request and approves or rejects it with a click. This power automate approval workflow keeps the status visible in real time to everyone involved — the same flow governance principle we describe in managing business procedures on SharePoint.

The key step: from SharePoint to the printer

The technical heart of the project is in the final stage. On approval, an Azure Function reads the request data on SharePoint and automatically generates the XML file in the format required by the industrial printer. The file is produced with no manual intervention, eliminating one of the main sources of error in the previous process: transcribing data by hand into the printing system.

It’s the kind of requirement you don’t meet in standard SharePoint use cases. It requires understanding how the downstream system works and building the data transformation logic in between. Azure Functions proved the right choice — serverless, scalable, perfectly integrable with the Microsoft 365 ecosystem — because it isolates this transformation in an event-driven component that fires only when needed.

The technology stack

SharePoint Online — centralized repository of requests, history and progress status.

SPFx (SharePoint Framework) — custom entry module for the three request types, with dynamic fields and validations.

Power Automate — notifications and orchestration of the approval flow steps.

Azure Functions — business logic and automatic generation of the XML file for the printer.

When an approval flow grows in complexity — more levels, conditions, exceptions — Power Automate alone may not be enough: a topic we covered in going beyond the limits of Power Automate, where the heavier logic is moved to custom components. In this project the division of roles is clear-cut: Power Automate orchestrates and notifies, Azure Functions performs the data transformation toward the hardware.

Results

Since the system went live, the company has handled more than 800 badge issuance requests through the digital platform. Zero paper, zero lost requests, zero reminder emails to check the status of a request.

The staff managing the process gained complete visibility: every request is tracked from entry all the way to the physical printing of the badge. Processing times became measurable and, as a result, improvable — a precondition that simply did not exist before, with paper.

The printer integration via XML file was the most demanding part of the project, but also the one that proves the value of the pattern: the SharePoint + Azure Functions combination is replicable across dozens of similar operational processes. All the technology used lives inside the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, with no additional infrastructure to maintain.

Who benefits from this approach

This project is relevant for large organizations that still run operational administrative processes on paper — badge issuance, equipment management, physical access requests, document onboarding — and that need to integrate with legacy systems or hardware with a specific input format.

The pattern SharePoint (data management and interfaces) + Azure Functions (business logic and data transformation) is flexible enough to cover very different scenarios: an employee badge system, visitor pass issuance, equipment distribution, physical access request management, onboarding. The recurring key is the presence of a legacy system or downstream hardware that requires a precise data format to work.

Digitizing administrative processes, in these cases, is not an IT project for its own sake: it’s the way to turn a blind, untraceable activity into a governed flow, where every step is visible and every piece of data reaches the system that needs it in the right form.

If your organization still has paper-based administrative processes that require integration with hardware or legacy systems, an AI and automation integration on Microsoft 365 can remove their hidden cost. Contact us for an assessment →