How to use IBM App Connect with SAP SuccessFactors

SAP SuccessFactors is a cloud-based talent management and human capital management software. Organizations can manage many HR operations by using SAP SuccessFactors, including hiring, employee performance, HR analytics, payroll, and learning initiatives.

Availability:
  • A connector in IBM App Connect Enterprise as a ServiceApp Connect Enterprise as a Service connector
  • A local connector in a Designer instance of IBM App Connect in containers (Continuous Delivery release)Local connector in containers (Continuous Delivery release) 12.0.8.0-r2 or later

Configuring Permissions in SAP SuccessFactors

Important: To connect an SAP SuccessFactors system with a global account in SAP BTP, you need to register the system in the corresponding global account. For more information, see Register an SAP SuccessFactors System in a Global Account in SAP BTP on the SAP Help Portal page.
To use this connector in IBM® App Connect, the service administrator must make permission settings in the SAP SuccessFactors account.
  1. Click your profile icon, then click Admin Center.
  2. In the search field of the Tools tab, search for Manage Permission Roles.
  3. Select the relevant permission role, and on the Permission Role List page, grant the following permissions:
    Note: For permission Manage Integration Tools > OData API To-Do Export, create a new permission role to which you can grant the permission. Then, you can assign the role to the token service user.
    1. Select All Employee search and Login and under Permission Settings, click Permission to specify the following permissions that users in this role must have.
      User or Administrator Permissions Specific Permission   Permitted Action
      User Permissions General User Permission User Login  
      Live Profile Access  
      Company Info Access and User Search  
      Employee Data Default Locale View
      First Name View
      Last Name View
    2. Select Employee Self Service and under Permission Settings, click Permission to specify the following permissions that users in this role must have.
      User or Administrator Permissions Specific Permission   Permitted Action
      User Permissions Employee Central Effective Dated Entities Job Information > Job Information Actions View Current
      Job Information > Time Profile View Current
      Employee Views Time Sheet View
      Miscellaneous Permissions (only if Employee Time is secured in Object Definition) Employee Time

      View, Edit

      Note: For the permission group Everyone (All Employees), specify a restricted period for Employee Time under Employee Self Service > Grant this role to > Edit Granting > Data Access Period Settings.
      Miscellaneous Permissions (only if Employee Time Sheet is secured in Object Definition) Employee Time Sheet

      View, Edit

      Note: For the permission group Everyone (All Employees), specify a restricted period for Employee Time Sheet under Employee Self Service > Grant this role to > Edit Granting > Data Access Period Settings.
      Administrator Permissions Manage Integration Tools OData API Attachment Import  
      OData API Attachment Export  
      Metadata Framework Access to non-secured objects  
      Admin access to MDF OData API
      Manage Data  
      Manage Workflows Manage Workflow Requests  
    3. Select MSS and under Permission Settings, click Permission to specify the following permissions that users in this role must have.
      User or Administrator Permissions Specific Permission   Permitted Action
      User Permissions Miscellaneous Permissions (only if Employee Time is secured in Object Definition) Employee Time
      View, Edit
      Note:

      For the permission group All Managers, specify a restricted period for Employee Time under MSS > Grant this role to > Edit Granting > Data Access Period Settings.
      Miscellaneous Permissions (only if Employee Time Sheet is secured in Object Definition) Employee Time Sheet

      View, Edit

      Note:

      For the permission group All Managers, specify a restricted period for Employee Time Sheet under MSS > Grant this role to > Edit Granting > Data Access Period Settings.
      Administrator Permissions Manage Workflows Manage Workflow Requests  
    4. Select HR Admin for Employees and under Permission Settings, click Permission to specify the following permissions that users in this role must have.
      User or Administrator Permissions Specific Permission   Permitted Action
      User Permissions Miscellaneous Permissions (only if Employee Time is secured in Object Definition) Employee Time
      View, Edit
      Note: For the permission group HR Admin, specify a restricted period for Employee Time under HR Admin for Employees > Grant this role to > Edit Granting > Data Access Period Settings.
      Miscellaneous Permissions (only if Employee Time Sheet is secured in Object Definition) Employee Time Sheet View, Edit
  4. For more information, see Configuring Permissions in SuccessFactors Admin Center on the SAP Help Portal page.

Connecting to SAP SuccessFactors

Complete the connection fields that you see in the App Connect Designer Catalog page or flow editor. If necessary, work with your SAP SuccessFactors administrator to obtain these values.

Tip: For examples of using SAML Offline generator, see Best Practice for SAML Offline generator and local keystore with SAP SuccessFactors on the SAP community page.

To connect App Connect to SAP SuccessFactors, complete the following steps:

  1. To connect to SAP SuccessFactors from the App Connect Designer Catalog page for the first time, click SAP SuccessFactors and then click Connect.
  2. From the Authorization type drop-down list, select the authorization method that you want to use to establish a connection.
    • Provide a username, password, and client credentials (OAUTH 2.0 PASSWORD)
    • Provide credentials for App Connect to use (BASIC)
  3. Complete the connection fields.
    OAUTH 2.0 PASSWORD
    • Server URL: Specify the URL for the API server that makes runtime calls.
    • Company ID: Specify a short string of characters that identifies an SAP SuccessFactors system (like a username for your organization). For example, SFCPART000802.
    • SAML assertion: Specify the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) assertion for requesting an OAuth token. SAML assertions are Base64-encoded. To view the detailed information in XML format, decode the assertion by using a Base64 decode tool.

      For information about generating the SAML assertion value, see Registering Your OAuth2 Client Application on the SAP Help Portal page.

    • Application client ID: Specify the unique client identifier that you obtained after you registered the client application.

      For information about generating the Application client ID value, see Registering Your OAuth2 Client Application on the SAP Help Portal page.

    • Allow self-signed certificates: Set to true or false. Set to true if you want to be able to accept self-signed certificates that are trusted and used only in a nonproduction environment. The default is false.
    • Override server URL: Set this property if you want to connect to an endpoint in a private network by using the private network client. Or set this property if you want to override the server URL. Specify an override value for the host and port in the OpenAPI definition in the format <http or https>://<host_name>:<port>. If you are not using the private network client or do not require an override, leave this field blank to use the hostname and port in the OpenAPI definition.
    • Private network connection: Select the name of a private network connection that App Connect uses to connect to your private network. This list is populated with the names of private network connections that are created from the Private network connections page in the Designer instance. You see this field only if a switch server is configured for this Designer instance. For more information, see Connecting to a private network from App Connect Designer. (In App Connect Designer 12.0.10.0-r1 or earlier instances that include this field, the display name is shown as Agent name.)
    BASIC
    • Server URL: Specify the URL for the API server that makes runtime calls; for example, https://apisalesdemo2.successfactors.eu/odata/v2.

      For more information about the server URL, see List of SAP SuccessFactors API Servers on the SAP Help Portal page.

    • Username: Specify the username to access your SAP SuccessFactors account; for example, sfadmin@SFCPART000123.
    • Password: Specify the password to access your SAP SuccessFactors account.
    • Allow self-signed certificates: Set to true or false. Set to true if you want to be able to accept self-signed certificates that are trusted and used only in a nonproduction environment. The default is false.
    • Override server URL: Set this property if you want to connect to an endpoint in a private network by using the private network client. Or set this property if you want to override the server URL. Specify an override value for the host and port in the OpenAPI definition in the format <http or https>://<host_name>:<port>. If you are not using the private network client or do not require an override, leave this field blank to use the hostname and port in the OpenAPI definition.
    • Private network connection: Select the name of a private network connection that App Connect uses to connect to your private network. This list is populated with the names of private network connections that are created from the Private network connections page in the Designer instance. You see this field only if a switch server is configured for this Designer instance. For more information, see Connecting to a private network from App Connect Designer. (In App Connect Designer 12.0.10.0-r1 or earlier instances that include this field, the display name is shown as Agent name.)
  4. Click Connect.

This action creates an account in App Connect.

Tip:

Before you use the account that is created in App Connect in a flow, rename the account to something meaningful that helps you to identify it. To rename the account on the Catalog page, select the account, open its options menu (⋮), then click Rename Account.

General considerations

Before you use App Connect Designer with SAP SuccessFactors, take note of the following considerations:

  • (General consideration) You can see lists of the trigger events and actions that are available on the Catalog page of the App Connect Designer.

    For some applications, the events and actions in the catalog depend on the environment and whether the connector supports configurable events and dynamic discovery of actions. If the application supports configurable events, you see a Show more configurable events link under the events list. If the application supports dynamic discovery of actions, you see a Show more link under the actions list.

  • (General consideration) If you are using multiple accounts for an application, the set of fields that is displayed when you select an action for that application can vary for different accounts. In the flow editor, some applications always provide a curated set of static fields for an action. Other applications use dynamic discovery to retrieve the set of fields that are configured on the instance that you are connected to. For example, if you have two accounts for two instances of an application, the first account might use settings that are ready for immediate use. However, the second account might be configured with extra custom fields.

Events and actions

SAP SuccessFactors events

These events are for changes in this application that trigger a flow to start completing the actions in the flow.

Note: Events are not available for changes in this application. You can trigger a flow in other ways, such as at a scheduled interval or at specific dates and times.

SAP SuccessFactors actions

Your flow completes these actions on this application.

Object Action Description
Candidates Create candidate Creates a candidate
Retrieve candidate by ID Retrieves candidate information by using the candidate ID
Update candidate Updates the candidate's information
Retrieve candidates Retrieves candidate by using the specified parameter
Job application interviews Create interview Creates an interview
Retrieve interview by ID Retrieves information about a job application interview by using the application interview ID
Update interview Updates the interview information
Delete interview Deletes an interview
Retrieve job application interviews Retrieves job application interviews by using the specified parameter
Job applications Retrieve job applications Retrieves job application by using the specified parameter
Retrieve job application by ID Retrieves job application by using the application ID
Update job application Updates the job application information
Job applications by status Retrieve job applications by status Retrieves job applications based on status
Job requisitions Retrieve job requisitions Retrieves job requisitions by using the specified parameter
Create job requisition Creates a job requisition
Retrieve job requisition by ID Retrieves job requisition by using job requisition ID
Update job requisition Updates the job requisition information
Delete job requisition Deletes a job requisition
Retrieve country information Retrieves the country information
Retrieve employee type information Retrieves the employee type information
Retrieve job function information Retrieves the job function information
Retrieve state information Retrieves the state information
Onboarding candidate information Retrieve onboarding candidate information by ID Retrieves onboarding candidate information by using applicant ID
Update onboarding candidate information Updates the onboarding candidate's information
Retrieve onboarding candidate information Retrieves onboarding candidate information by using the specified parameter

Examples

Dashboard tile for a template that uses SAP SuccessFactors

Use templates to quickly create flows for SAP SuccessFactors

Learn how to use App Connect templates to quickly create flows that complete actions on SAP SuccessFactors. For example, open the Templates gallery, and then search for SAP SuccessFactors.

Learn more

SAP SuccessFactors flow in detailed view

Use IBM App Connect to build flows that integrate with SAP SuccessFactors.

Read the blog in the IBM Community to learn how to create a job requisition in SAP SuccessFactors and send an email to the hiring manager about the job requisition. Click Read the blog to go to the blog.

Read the blog