Overview: Integrating external services
IBM® BPM can integrate many different external services in your process applications.
The following sections describe some possible external service integrations.
REST services
Web services
For information about discovering and invoking web services from IBM BPM, see Invoking a web service.
IBM Operational Decision Manager business rules
For more information about using Operational Decision Manager business rules and decision services, see Using IBM ODM business rules.
IBM Watson services
Watson provides cognitive services that you can integrate in your process applications by using the IBM BPM REST service integration capabilities. For information about the services that are available, see Watson API Explorer.
Blockchain and Hyperledger Composer services
- For a tutorial that explains how to integrate an external blockchain service in a process application, see the developerWorks article Combine business process management and blockchain.
For a tutorial that explains how to make
your business processes react to blockchain events, see the developerWorks
article Enable business processes to react to
blockchain events.- For information about using Hyperledger Composer, see Build Blockchain applications and business networks your way.
IBM App Connect
You can use IBM App Connect to integrate data, apps and APIs across hybrid cloud environments. This allows connectivity with services such as Salesforce, Marketo, Google sheets, Google Drive, and Dropbox. The integration with IBM App Connect supports both outbound invocations and event-driven inbound invocations from and to your IBM BPM process applications. To learn more about using IBM App Connect, see IBM App Connect.
The following figure illustrates how IBM App Connect can be used to integrate common app services with IBM BPM process apps that are running on prem or on cloud.
- IBM BPM invoking IBM App Connect
- Integrating IBM App
Connect in
your IBM BPM process
application is supported by using external services in your process
applications, in particular by using REST service invocation.
- To prepare an external service integration you go to the Bluemix IBM App Connect dashboard, download the OpenAPI specification for the REST service that you want to use as an external service in IBM BPM. Also, note the IBM App Connect username and password that IBM BPM must use when invoking the service.
- To invoke an API that is provided by your IBM App Connect instance from an IBM BPM process application, use web Process Designer to create a new external service based on the OpenAPI specification that you downloaded from IBM App Connect, and enter the IBM App Connect username and password on the settings tab for the appropriate REST server.
- For a step-by-step tutorial that shows how to call a Salesforce API from IBM BPM, see the developerWorks article Go code-free! Create an API in IBM App Connect and call it from IBM Business Process Manager - Create a contact in Salesforce as part of your business process flow.
- IBM App Connect interacting with IBM BPM
- IBM App
Connect can
interact with IBM BPM by
using event-driven invocation of your IBM BPM process
applications.
- To invoke an IBM BPM API from an IBM App Connect event-driven flow, specify the application event that will trigger the IBM BPM API call, for example, the Google Sheets new spreadsheet event, add an HTTP invoke method, and specify the IBM BPM REST API call, including basic authorization HTTP header to access IBM BPM. For more information about using the IBM BPM API to start a process, see Starting a process by using a REST API call.
- For a general tutorial that shows how to call out from App Connect to any HTTP endpoint, such as the IBM BPM REST API, see the developerWorks article Introducing the App Connect HTTP connector.