Documentation forService Desk

Process integrations

On this page

Introduction

There are numerous benefits to automating process workflows in Service Desk. For example, you can:

  • Increase agent productivity by removing manual tasks.
  • Streamline processes within the organization.

Process integration allows you to integrate with third-party applications to use a target for commands within your automated workflows. When you set up integration you can reuse it for many workflows.

Adding a new process integration is easy. When finished, it becomes an available source to connect your workflows when building service catalog items, change catalog items, or runbooks.

ESM customers are limited to adding process integrations to service catalog items only. They can add existing process integrations previously created by the IT service provider. See Create a new workflow.

Navigation

ITSM customers ESM customers
Setup > Integrations > Process Integrations

IT Service Provider > Setup > Integrations > Process Integrations

The process integration index table

The Process Integration table contains a list of all your organization's process integrations with third-party applications.

The columns in the table are Name, Description, and Actions. See List view for information on customizing.

Create a new process integration

Process integrations are created by users with IT service provider administrator rights. Integrations are stored at the IT service provider level.

Step 1: Establish a new credential set

  1. Navigate to Setup > Account > Credentials.

  2. From the All Credentials index, click the Add icon, and select the appropriate authentication method from the dropdown list.

  3. Enter the required* information, which varies based on the selected authentication protocol method/type.

Credentials are not used unless they are associated with a connection or a process integration.

See Credentials for more information.

Step 2: Create the process integration

Administrators: By creating your third-party integration here, you can use the credentials from Step 1: Establish a new credential set for your integrations.

  1. Navigate to Setup > Integrations > Process Integrations.

  2. Start by clicking +Add Integration .

  3. In the Add Integration dialog box, fill in the following details:

    • Name: Enter a name for the integration.
    • Description: Provide a brief description of the integration (optional).
    • URL: Specify the URL of the application you wish to relay an API call to.
    • Authentication method: Select the authentication method from the following options:
      • Username / Password
      • Service Desk Web Token
      • OAuth 2.0
      • Bearer Token
      • None
    • Credentials:
      • The dropdown list only shows credentials matching the selected authentication method.
      • If no compatible credentials are defined, an Add credentials link appears. It navigates directly to the Credentials index page in a new browser tab.
      • When you select None for the Authentication method, the credentials dropdown is hidden.

        When you select compatible credentials, Service Desk links the integration with the credentials and populates the headers defined in the credential settings into those settings:

  4. Under HTTP method, use the dropdown to select the appropriate command. Options are Get, Post, Put, Patch, Delete, or Update. Then, specify the number of retries for the API call.

  5. In the Additional Headers section, you can add more headers for individual integration definitions. You can use variables for custom field inputs in headers as {{input name}}, where input name is the custom field name.

  6. Click Create to save.

Step 3: Add process integration to a workflow in a Service Catalog, Change Catalog, or Runbook

As part of a Service catalogyou can seamlessly include process integrations to push out API calls to external endpoints and the internal SolarWinds API. As part of the API call, you can include inputs of the relevant service or change request. The inputs are written in the form of {{input name}} or {{context_id}} within the body, and they are replaced with their values prior to the command being sent.

Use JSON formatted data collected from an API response in a process integration within the workflow

API response data from third-party systems or applications can be used to benefit your business processes. Administrators can store this data in custom or system fields and use it to define advanced conditions and actions in workflows based on the received responses. The data extracted from the responses and stored in the fields can be used as conditions for triggering advanced actions as a part of a workflow, completing the entire cycle of a service process within the service or change request.

The feature can be used to send notifications and updates or update data in a record based on the responses received from third-party applications. Potential use cases include retrieving meeting details from MS Teams, Zoom or Google Calendar, storing it in a service or a change request field, and sending them to meeting stakeholders. Another example is calling an HR system, for example Workday, to retrieve employee information such as hire date or PTO balance and including the returned data in a notification sent to the requester.

See Process integrations and Use data retrieved from third-party applications in process workflows.

List of inputs

See SolarWinds API Documentation for more information on inputs.

Input Form
Requester {{requester_email}}
Site {{site_name}}
Site API ID {{site_id}}
Department {{department_name}}
Department API ID {{department_id}}
Service Request ID, respectively, of the Incident {{context_id}}
Any Service request variable, for example: first name, title {{first name}}, {{title}}
Incident number {{incident_number}}
Service Request Variable for User: Name {{user-var.name}}
Service Request Input for User: Email Address {{user-var.email}}
Service Request Input for User: User ID {{user-var.user.id}}
Service Request Input for User: Group ID {{user-var.id}}

Use cases

Below are several examples of utilizing inputs to improve your service request workflows. Click on any of the links below to go directly to the topic of interest or review all. Some examples contain screenshots. You can search for additional information from the API Documentation site.

Post private or public comments

You can add an automated private and/or public Incident index to a service request after a task or approval is completed. This can be used to update the service agent or requester regarding any comments made.

Create an incident or change for a specific group

You can automatically trigger the creation of an incident or change based on a specific group.

Also see current API information.

Create an incident or change and relate it to the originating service request

You can automatically trigger the creation of an ITSM object (incident, problem, change, or release) and relate the originating service request to the ITSM object.

This is beneficial when you want to create a change (after it is approved by the CAB).

In the process integration, use the {context_id}} variable in order to relate the service request to the ITSM object.

Parse data collected through a third-party application

You can collect data via API calls and use the resulting JSON-formatted data to update records in process workflows. See Use data retrieved from third-party applications in process workflows.

Related topics