Explaining APIs and Webhooks

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to articulate the key considerations and use cases of SAP Build Work Zone APIs and Webhooks

APIs and Webhook Implementation

Application Programmable Interfaces (APIs) are primarily used by other SAP or third party solutions to integrate with SAP Build Work Zone, to either query data-based on scope, or create new content. On the other hand, webhook subscriptions are used to register for notifications of certain updates or activities within SAP Build Work Zone.

Note

The aspects covered in this unit are specifically referring to the Digital Workplace Service (DWS) component of the SAP Build Work Zone solution architecture. This impacts all related aspects, such as, required API endpoints, API authentication, and more.

In the context of integrating with SAP and solutions, APIs and webhook (subscriptions) play an important role. First, the following items related to the technical implementation on SAP Build Work Zone need to be well understood:

  • APIs are available as OData or REST services.
  • User authorization and authentication can be done using OAuth1.0a or 2.0 workflow, or SAML assertions from a trusted identity provider.
  • APIs also support single-use tokens for granting immediate, short-term access to single pages.
  • Webhooks are used to register callback end points for supported events. When such an event occurs, it notifies registered subscribers.

A typical integration flow using APIs could look like this:

A typical integration using webhook subscriptions could look like this:

Integration Use Cases Leveraging APIs and Webhooks

After looking at the technical implementation and setup for API or webhook-based integration scenarios, this lesson will highlight some example use cases. As seen from the broad range of topics though, the possibilities are extremely broad.

Manage content with third-party apps
Create content from e-mail, Microsoft Teams communications, and so on.
Migration of legacy content
Leverage APIs to automate content migration from legacy tools during the implementation of SAP Build Work Zone, compared to manual upload.
Gather usage statistics
Feed SAP Build Work Zone activities into an external analytics or dashboarding tool.
Notify gamification service
Inform external gamification engine about activity count and context for near realtime tracking of activities, and award points accordingly.
Synch enterprise knowledge base
Leverage APIs used to replicate new external knowledge content as native Work Zone articles.

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