Arch releases Varo FLM320 with Looply integration and an enhanced Fiori Dashboard

Arch releases Varo FLM320 with Looply integration and an enhanced Fiori Dashboard

Arch has released Varo (FLM) 320, the first major new version of Varo since FLM310 was released in October 2022.

The new release introduces significant enhancements across Varo, Stelo and the Fiori Dashboard, together with new integration capabilities for developers. Most notably, FLM320 introduces built-in integration with Looply, making it much easier to extend Varo approval and document processes into Microsoft Teams.

For customers currently running FLM310, the release also marks an important point in the product lifecycle. FLM310 standard support ends on 24 October 2027, so customers should begin planning their upgrade to FLM320 during the coming year.

Extend Varo processes into Microsoft Teams with Looply

One of the most significant additions in FLM320 is standard integration with Looply.

FLM320 now raises standard events when key activities take place against a Varo document, including when a document is first submitted, subsequently changed, has its owner or status changed through the dashboard, or when posting succeeds or fails. These events can be configured to trigger or resume a Looply workflow.

This removes the need for developers to build the equivalent event handling manually within Varo Form class user-exits.

Using Looply, organisations can take those events and extend the process into Microsoft Teams. For example, an approval can be presented to the appropriate user as an interactive Teams card containing the information they need to make a decision.

The user can then approve or reject the document from Teams, add comments and continue the underlying Varo process without needing to navigate separately to the SAP application.

FLM320 also includes new utility functions specifically designed to support this integration. These can retrieve Varo document data in JSON format, return process metadata and attachments, and process an action received back from Looply — including approving or rejecting a Varo document following an action taken in Teams.

For Stelo processes, the same integration is available by installing Stelo Note 11, or by upgrading to Stelo 120 when it becomes available.

A significantly enhanced Fiori Dashboard

FLM320 also introduces a substantial set of improvements to the Varo Fiori Dashboard.

Perhaps the most important change is that the dashboard can now find and display Stelo documents as well as Varo forms. For Stelo applications, FLM320 uses the semantic object and semantic action configured in the SAP Fiori launchpad to identify and open the relevant application.

This provides a more consistent way for organisations using both Varo and Stelo to access and manage documents.

The dashboard has also been improved in a number of other areas, including:

  • Improved PDF display, using the shared embedded document area and browser PDF capabilities to provide more consistent behaviour.
  • Improved Launchpad navigation, so moving between tabs and document variants no longer creates unnecessary browser history entries.
  • Performance safeguards, preventing unrestricted searches on systems with large document volumes and prompting users to refine searches returning more than 5,000 permitted documents.
  • Improved user search, including search help for Owned By, Created By and Changed By fields.
  • Better scrolling and column handling, particularly for longer field names and index values.
  • Excel export of the current dashboard result set.
  • Support for archived documents.
  • Dynamic index field labels, based on the captions maintained for each document type, version and language.
  • Locale-aware date fields.
  • A complete French translation of the dashboard.

There are also important technical improvements beneath the surface. Dashboard services now use the supported OData V2 model, while deprecated controls have been replaced. The application can also now be developed, tested and built using SAP Business Application Studio and SAP Fiori tools, while retaining existing SAP Web IDE routing configuration where required.

A simpler dashboard architecture for Varo and Stelo

FLM320 also simplifies how the dashboard is delivered.

In previous versions, separate dashboard applications were provided depending on whether customers wanted to use SAPUI5 libraries from their own SAP system or SAP-hosted libraries. The separate /FLM/DASHBOARD_CLOUD application has now been deprecated, with the main /FLM/DASHBOARD application supporting both approaches.

The separate Stelo dashboard is also deprecated. Arch recommends that customers use /FLM/DASHBOARD for both Varo and Stelo documents going forward.

This reduces the number of applications that need to be maintained and provides a more consistent dashboard experience across Varo and Stelo.

More integration options for developers

Alongside the Looply-specific capabilities, FLM320 provides a new set of utility functions intended to make integration and process extension easier.

Developers can now retrieve Varo document data as JSON, return attachments and comments, obtain the current document status, and retrieve email addresses for document owners or SAP users.

FLM320 also enhances programmatic document processing. When /FLM/DOCUMENT_PROCESS_ACTION is used to generate a new variant, developers can now pass updated form data into the function rather than simply generating a new variant from the existing data. This is particularly useful when processing actions received from systems such as Microsoft Teams.

For Stelo users, new email variables can also generate change or display links directly to a Stelo document. These can be used in notification emails created using either Floe or standard SAP texts.

Further fixes and improvements

FLM320 incorporates a substantial collection of fixes and smaller enhancements delivered since FLM310.

These address areas including:

  • Form Wizard and transport handling
  • Aquiller letter processing
  • HTML form rendering
  • SAP GUI and Fiori Dashboard behaviour
  • Stelo attachments and drop-down fields
  • PDF previewing
  • form status changes
  • Forms Posting Engine processing
  • form history and metadata
  • SAP BTP Work Zone scenarios

The release also changes the way PDF preview session data is handled to improve compatibility with modern PDF viewers while ensuring that preview URLs remain restricted to the user who requested them and are valid only for a limited period.

Full technical details are available in the Varo FLM320 change log.

FLM310 customers should start planning their upgrade

FLM320 was released on 25 August 2026 and is covered by standard Arch support until 25 August 2031, with extended support available until 25 August 2032.

By comparison, FLM310 was released on 24 October 2022 and its five-year standard support period ends on 24 October 2027.

Customers currently running FLM310 therefore have just over a year of standard support remaining and should begin planning their move to FLM320.

Upgrading provides a new five-year support horizon as well as access to the latest dashboard capabilities, development enhancements and the new integration between Varo and Looply.

You can view the full Varo release and maintenance schedule.

Find out more about Varo FLM320

FLM320 represents an important update for organisations using Varo and Stelo — modernising the dashboard experience, simplifying the technical architecture and providing a much easier way to connect Varo processes with Microsoft Teams through Looply.

If you are currently running FLM310 and would like to discuss your upgrade to FLM320, or would like to see how Looply can extend your Varo or Stelo processes into Microsoft Teams, contact the Arch team.