Integrating with SapphireIMS

SapphireIMS Service Desk is an ITIL 2011 certified, enterprise grade, comprehensive IT Service Management Suite. Using this solution, you can log incidents via multiple channels, categorize them, and have them automatically triaged and assigned to appropriate technicians as tickets.

eG Enterprise integrates with SapphireIMS Service Desk, so eG alerts can be automatically routed to Service Desk as and when they are raised by the eG manager. Then, using its Web Service API, Service Desk automatically converts the eG alerts into trouble tickets, and efficiently manages them with the help of its built-in workflow.

To integrate eG Enterprise with SapphireIMS Service Desk, do the following:

  1. Login to the eG administrative interface.

  2. Select the Manager option from the Settings tile.

  3. Figure 9 will then appear. From the manager settings tree in the left panel of Figure 9, select the ITSM/Collaboration Integration node. The third-party ITSM/Collaboration tools that eG Enterprise can integrate with will be listed in the right panel.

    Figure 9 : Viewing the ITSM/Collaboration tool options

  4. Now, click on the SapphireIMSoption in the right panel (see Figure 9). A SapphireIMS section will now appear in the right panel (see Figure 10).

    Figure 10 : Configuring integration with SapphireIMS

  5. To enable integration with SapphireIMS Service Desk, first slide the SapphireIMS slider in Figure 10 to the right.

  6. Then, specify the following in Figure 10:

    • WSDL URL: Specify the Web Services Description Language (WSDL) URL via which the eG manager should connect to service desk's web services API.
    • User and Password: To create tickets in service desk, the eG manager requires the authentication key of a valid service desk user, with ticket creation rights. To obtain this authentication key, specify the credentials of that user here.
    • Schema: Specify the database schema in which the ticket should be created. For Professional setup, schema name is ‘ims’. For MSP setup, schema name should be the customer schema.
    • Project name: Set the project to which the ticket applies. To obtain the project ID, specify the name of the project here.
    • Service name: A service desk ticket has to be compulsorily mapped to a particular service. For example, for all hardware related issues, 'Desktop Management' service must be selected. Specify the service to which you want to map eG alerts.
    • Category:A service desk record should be associated with a category to enable classification of the records. Category helps in assigning appropriate service desk technicians or users to work on the record. By grouping eG alerts into a single category, you can collectively assign them to an expert in troubleshooting eG alerts. Specify the name of the Category to which eG alerts belong. If the default categories cannot be used, you can add an exclusive category for eG alerts in service desk, and specify the name of that category here.

    • Subcategory: Sub-Category is a sub set of the category. For e.g. System Administration category can have sub-categories like 'Hardware','Software' etc. Mention the sub-category for eG alerts here. If the default sub-categories cannot be used, you can add an exclusive sub-category for eG alerts in service desk, and specify the name of that sub-category here.

    • Department: Specify the department of the submitter - i.e., the user who is reporting the incidents. Since in our case, the eG manager will be reporting incidents, you can create a new department in service desk for the sole purpose of the integration, and specify that department here.
    • Work Group: Work group is useful for grouping services, categories, locations and roles. For example, only 'Application Service' related records can be moved to 'Application Group'. Using work groups, you can configure privileges to a group of people to work on a service desk record. In service desk, you can create a dedicated work group for eG alerts, and map it to specific services, categories, sub-categories, and user roles. You can then specify the name of this work group here. This way, you can have a select group of people troubleshooting eG alerts.
    • Incident title: Specify the title format for all trouble tickets auto-generated for eG-reported incidents. The default title format is as follows:

      • $prior - $ctype / $cname  - $pdesc

      The ‘dollared’ ($) text in the format above is a key, the value of which varies at run time, depending upon the information contained in the eG alarms. For example, in the default format above, $prior is a key that represents the alarms priority, and changes according to the priority of the actual alarm that is sent by the eG manager to Slack. You are advised against changing any of the key names.

      The other keys that are part of the default format are discussed in the table below:

      $cname

      Will display the name of the problem component

      $ctype

      Will display the component type to which the problem component belongs

      $pdesc

      Will display a brief problem description

    • Problem description: Against Problem description, specify the format in which the problem description should appear in the trouble ticket that is auto-created for eG alerts, in service desk. The default format is as follows:

      Priority: $prior Component: $cname Component Type: $ctype Layer: $layer Problem Description: $pdesc Start Time: $starttime

      The text preceding the ‘:’ (colon) in the format above indicates what information follows. The ‘dollared’ ($) text that follows the ‘:’ (colon) is a key, the value of which varies at run time, depending upon the eG alarms. For example, in the default format above, Priority is a label that indicates that the information that follows the ‘:’ is the priority of the alarm. The key $prior that succeeds the ‘:’ represents the alarm priority, and changes according to the priority of the actual alarm that is sent by the eG manager to service desk. While you can change the labels, you are advised against changing any of the key names.

      The other keys that are part of the default format are discussed in the table below:

      $cname

      Will display the name of the problem component

      $ctype

      Will display the component type to which the problem component belongs

      $layer

      Will display the layer affected by the problem

      $starttime

      Will display the problem start time

      $pdesc

      Will display a brief problem description
  7. Finally, click the Update button in Figure 10 to save the changes.