Udemy Business LMS Integration: SuccessFactors

This article outlines the SAP SuccessFactors Learning Management System and the benefits of the learning management system (LMS) and learning experience platform (LXP) native integration. It also provides instructions for integrating the Udemy Business Web application and SuccessFactors environment.

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Reviewing user course completion
• Integration benefits and capabilities
• Integration process
• SuccessFactors OCN configuration
  • Provider label
  • Enabling OCN provider
  • Provider logo
  • OCN Admin role
  • OCN Admin user
  • OAuth credentials
• Open Content Network Synchronization
• Importing content > Open Content Network (required)
• Enable Udemy LMS/LXP integration
  • Prerequisites:
• Enabling catalog and course completion synchronization
• Managing SuccessFactors locales
• Enable Udemy Business single sign-on
  • Identifying your BizX UserID
  • Enabling single sign-on for your Udemy Business environment
• Test the integration
• Questions or support

Overview

To extend the value of the Udemy Business collection, we are partnering with the SAP SuccessFactors Learning Management System. We offer native support to integrate with SuccessFactors to bring ease to the discoverability and tracking of Udemy Business courses. The learning management system (LMS) and learning experience platform (LXP) native integration for SuccessFactors enables Learners to search and discover Udemy Business content directly from their SuccessFactors Learning Management System. 

Please note: LMS/LXP integration is only available with the Enterprise Plan.

Reviewing user course completion

The integration also enables admins to easily view reporting data from their SuccessFactors LMS on Udemy Business completion activity. Udemy Business Course deep-link URLs and single sign-on (via SAML 2.0) provide a seamless launch of Udemy Business courses directly from SuccessFactors. Course completions are automatically synchronized between Udemy Business and the learner's SuccessFactors transcript on a daily basis.

Integration benefits and capabilities

• Allow learners to search and discover Udemy Business content directly from their SuccessFactors LMS environment.
• Automatically synchronize learner course completions with their SuccessFactors transcript.
• Enable admins to easily enable the integration between their Udemy Business environment and SuccessFactors LMS;
• Catalog Synchronization
• Learner Course Completions Synchronization
• Single sign-on via SuccessFactors embedded SSO or via dedicated Identity and Access Management System (e.g., Azure, Okta, AD FS).

Integration process

The integration between the Udemy Business Web application and SuccessFactors environment requires both systems to be configured. For your SuccessFactors environment, you must enable the integration via the SuccessFactors Open Content Network (OCN). The overall process is as follows: 

• Step 1: Configure SuccessFactors OCN for Udemy Business. This will include the following:

1. Configure OCN Provider Label for Udemy Business
2. Enable OCN Provider for Udemy Business
3. Configure Provider Logo for Udemy Business
4. Create OCN Admin role
5. Create OCN Admin user
6. Create OCN OAuth credentials

• Step 2: Enable Udemy Business LMS/LXP Integration. Enable the LMS/LXP Integration for SuccessFactors from your Udemy Business admin portal. You will need the SuccessFactors API parameters in Step 1. Udemy Business requires the following parameters to enable the integration.

1. Client ID
2. Client Secret
3. OAuth User ID
4. SuccessFactors Environment Base Endpoint URL 

Udemy Business will validate these parameters when you save.

• Step 3: Configure SSO (optional). 

1. Configure your organization’s Identity Provider (IdP) for Udemy Business
2. Configure SSO for your organization’s SSO connection for Udemy Business

SuccessFactors OCN configuration

Provider label

For every OCN Provider, it is recommended to attach a label to the ProviderID. The ProviderID is a fixed text identifier for content providers, whereas the label is more human-readable.

Successfactors reference on creating OCN provider labels: https://help.sap.com/viewer/9d4c9e0d04304afdbe8f1b4480d71403/2005/en-US/4ae2f73d864d4282a909bdf5143e2b58.html

The “label.u.UdemyForBusiness” is created in SuccessFactors under References > Manage Labels > Labels

Enabling OCN provider

The ProviderID is fixed text that is set in the System Administration > Configuration > System Configuration > Open Content Network settings. The label is as follows:

Note 1: The “providers[UDEMY].baseLaunchUrl=https://<udemy portal>.udemy.com” should be your organization’s specific Udemy (UB) domain. 

Note 2: Setting providers[UDEMY].enabled=true enables the provider.

Note 3: If Udemy Business is your first OCN integration, you will need to configure three additional parameters. To find the possible values for these parameters, follow the paths below:

• defaultValues.itemType[default]: References > Learning > Item Types > Do a blank search > choose the necessary item type and add it to the value parameter in the OCN property file.
• defaultValues.itemCompletionStatus[default]: References > Learning > Item Completions > Do a blank search > choose the necessary item completion and add it to the value parameter in the OCN property file.
• defaultValues.domainID[default]: System Admin > Security > Domains > Do a blank search > choose the default domain where the item would be created and add it to the parameter in the OCN property file.

These values vary per SuccessFactors deployment. Udemy Business can’t provide guidance regarding which values to use. If you have questions, direct them to SAP SuccessFactors support.

Provider logo

A thumbnail image can be applied to each course as a watermark.  This can be configured in SuccessFactors via System Administration > Configuration > System Configuration > Open Content Network > Logos.

OCN Admin role

This step creates a role to allow OData API calls. It can be configured in System Administration > Security > Role Management.  The required permissions (or workflows in older versions) are:

• Add History Record (or Add Learning Events in older version)
• If the customer opts in for OData API synchronization instead of IdP custom attribute, Udemy Business needs permission to query users via Search Successfactors OData API service.

OCN Admin user

An Admin user is required to make API calls; the user must be associated with the previously created OCN Admin role.  The user can be created in System Configuration > Security > Administrators. 

OAuth credentials

This step creates the SuccessFactors OAuth Client ID and Client Secret. It can be issued in SuccessFactors via System Configuration > Configuration > OAuth Token Server.

Please note: Issuing a new secret invalidates all previous ones. If existing OCN providers are enabled, you can use the same token or re-issue a new token to all providers.

Open Content Network Synchronization

There is an automatic process (System Administration > Automatic Processes > Open Content Network Content Synchronization) in SuccessFactors that can be configured to update the OCN content.  This will sync course metadata and clean up inactive courses.  Inactive courses can still receive completion records if they remain in the OCN with the Import Status: “Imported”.

Importing content > Open Content Network (required)

If all is configured correctly, you can import Udemy Business content (transform into Learning Items) in SuccessFactors via Learning Administration > Content > Open Content Network section. This step is critical to complete the full integration and cannot be skipped.

Please note:

• This step must be completed in order to launch Udemy Business courses from SuccessFactors and track Udemy Business course completions in SuccessFactors.
• This process does not recur automatically. New courses in Udemy Business must be periodically imported into SuccessFactors to keep the catalog up-to-date with what is in Udemy Business.
• You can determine the manual import frequency based on your business and learning integration needs. 
  • Most learning organizations with the SuccessFactors integration repeat this process on a weekly basis.

Enable Udemy LMS/LXP integration

This section outlines how to enable Udemy Business Integration with SuccessFactors. You will first need to enable the SuccessFactors OData APIs and obtain the base URL,  API Client ID, and Client Secret for your SuccessFactors environment  (i.e., Stage, Pilot, and/or Production). Then, proceed to configure your Udemy Business environment for Catalog and User Process Synchronization as outlined below.

You will need the following OCN OAuth Credentials and OCN Admin User information:

1. Client ID

2. Client Secret

3. OAuth User ID: OCNAdmin

4. SuccessFactors Environment Base Endpoint URL 

Prerequisites:

1. Enable the OData APIs in your SuccessFactors environment following the instructions in the ‘OAuth credentials” section of this documentation above.

2. Obtain the SuccessFactors environment API parameters: (a) base URL; (b) API Client ID; and (c) Client Secret.

Enabling catalog and course completion synchronization

1. Log in as an admin to your Udemy Business Web App.

2. Navigate to Manage | Settings (top right menu).

3. From the Left panel, select LMS/LXP Integrations.

4. From the Start set-up button, select SuccessFactors.

5. Enter the Base URL Endpoint, Client ID, and Client Secret you retrieved from SuccessFactors.

6. For User ID, enter OCNAdmin

7.  Click Save set-up. Udemy Business will display a confirmation if the SuccessFactors APIs were successfully enabled and the SuccessFactors Integration status screen will then display. Learner course completion is now synchronized between Udemy and Success Factors.

8. Allow 24 hours for the Udemy Business Course Catalog list to appear in your SuccessFactors environment. 

9. Once the Udemy Business Catalog is listed in your SuccessFactors environment, you will need to import the courses into your SuccessFactors course catalog.

Once you import the courses, your SuccessFactors designated users can search, discover the Udemy Business catalog and launch the course experience in your dedicated Udemy environment.

Please note:

• Step 9 does not recur automatically. New courses in Udemy Business must be periodically imported into SuccessFactors to keep the catalog up-to-date with what is in Udemy Business.
• You can determine the manual import frequency based on your business and learning integration needs.
  • Most learning organizations with the SuccessFactors integration repeat this process on a weekly basis.

Managing SuccessFactors locales

In SuccessFactors LMS, course titles and descriptions only appear in the locale to which they are populated. If your Udemy Business subscription includes access to multiple languages and locales, you may notice some Udemy Business content appears in search results without a title and description. This means the locale you are searching in doesn’t match the locale of the Udemy Business content. The title and description are only returned for courses for the user's designated SuccessFactors locale.
For example, if your SuccessFactors locale is set for English, you will be able to see course titles and descriptions for all English courses.

• SAP support article:  https://apps.support.sap.com/sap/support/knowledge/en/2391802
• SAP support article:  https://apps.support.sap.com/sap/support/knowledge/en/2753501

To request title and description locale defaults, please submit a case to SuccessFactors support team.

You will need to enable the locales in SuccessFactors to see the title and descriptions for Udemy Business courses offered in these languages:

• Arabic
• English
• French
• German
• Indonesian
• Italian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Mandarin
• Polish
• Portuguese
• Russian
• Spanish
• Turkish

Enable Udemy Business single sign-on

This section outlines how to enable single sign-on for your Udemy Business environment (the Service Provider, or SP). Udemy Business supports SP-initiated SAML 2.0 via your corporate Identity Provider (IdP).

Your IdP must be configured to send the SuccessFactors unique user identifier (also known as BizX UserID) to Udemy Business and SuccessFactors. If user IDs aren’t the same between the two systems, learner activity tracking will not work. If you are unsure how to identify your BizX UserID, please contact your dedicated SuccessFactors Technical Consultant.

Identifying your BizX UserID

If you opt to connect your organization’s identity management solution to Udemy Business, you must configure it to send the SuccessFactors unique user identifier (also known as BizX ID) to Udemy Business so Udemy Business can communicate course completions back to SuccessFactors. This section describes how to identify your BizX ID.

1. In the SuccessFactors navigation menu, select Admin Center.

2. Scroll down to the tools panel and type “Employee Export” and select the top result.

3. Select Export User File.

4. Open the CSV file.

5. The “USERID” value is the user’s BizX ID for SuccessFactors.  This value must be sent to Udemy Business from your Identity System via SAML 2.0 SSO (mapped to Udemy Business as lmsUserID in the claim attributes). It is best to share examples of this “USERID” value with your SSO administrator to ensure the correct BizX ID (i.e., lmsUserID) values are available in Udemy Business in order to synchronize Udemy Business learning data with SuccessFactors.

Enabling single sign-on for your Udemy Business environment

To enable Udemy Business SSO with your Identity Provider System (e.g., Okta, Azure, AD FS, OneLogin), please review our instructions on how to set up your SSO connection.

In your Identity Provider System, you must add the BizX User ID as an additional claim attribute for the SAML assertion. In the claim attribute mapping, the BizX user id must be mapped to lmsUserID. Remember, if this is not properly mapped the learning activity tracking will not work.

If your organization does not have an Identity Provider system, you can use SAP SuccessFactors SSO as the IdP.  You should only pursue this option if you don’t have an IdP system, or if recommended by Udemy Solutions Engineer. If SuccessFactors is selected as your proxy IdP for Udemy, first configure SSO from your SuccessFactors  environment using the attached Udemy metadata.

What you need before configuring Udemy SSO:

• The SuccessFactors environment metadata file. This file contains the SSO configuration settings for your SuccessFactors system; e.g., Entity ID, SSO Endpoint and Certificate. 
• Administrator access to your Udemy Business Web application. Only administrators can configure SSO in Udemy.

Test the integration

Once you’ve configured your Udemy and SuccessFactors APIs and SSO you will want to test the integration between Udemy Business and the LMS (Learn how).

Questions or support

If you encounter any issues or need help with Udemy Business SSO or LMS/LXP Configuration, please contact our support team. For issues related to SuccessFactors, please contact the designated SuccessFactors support team.