Integrating Ticket and Work Item Data from Irth into Your Self-Hosted Reporting Tools Leveraging API or Exports

Accurate reporting and data analysis are essential for making informed business decisions. While Irth offers Microsoft’s embedded Power BI within Utilisphere, some of Power BI’s advanced features and functionalities are restricted. As a result, your organization may prefer to store this data locally in your own databases or actively pull metrics via API into your preferred reporting platforms, such as Power BI, Tableau, Google Looker, or Domo.

This article explores the options for integrating your data into self-hosted reporting tools, ensuring seamless access to key insights. Whether you opt for real-time data retrieval via API or scheduled exports—automated or manual—this guide walks you through the available methods, best practices, and key factors for a successful integration. By leveraging these approaches, you can streamline reporting workflows and maximize the value of your data.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Overview:
• API Integration
• Scheduled Export Integration (Batch Data Transfers)
• Manual Export Integration (Manual Batch Data Transfer)

⚠NOTE: Some of the methods described below require significant involvement from your IT team for setup and configuration*.

Overview:

API Integration

When to Use API Integration:

• Ideal for real-time dashboards and custom reporting tools, including alerts, automated distribution, and custom-calculated measures.
• Allows for automated data pulls into Power BI, Tableau, Looker, Domo, etc.
  1. Your reporting platform needs to support the protocol or architecture style of the desired dataset(s).
• Enables users to combine Irth data and metrics with other system or application metrics in one reporting application.
• Your Irth subscription includes access to the Ticket API, Integration API, or both, depending on your data needs.
  1. Ticket API leverages SOAP protocol
  2. Integration API (for Work Item tasks) uses REST architecture

Steps to Integrate via API:

1. Obtain API Credentials (access token, endpoint URLs) from your Sales Account Executive
2. Review Available API Endpoints for Ticket or Work Item Data
3. The next steps will vary depending on whether the selected reporting platform has native API support. Regardless, your IT team is responsible for handling the configuration and final setup from this stage onward.

Best Practices & Considerations:

• Optimize API Calls:  limit data scope and use pagination if available, this will reduce data loads and potential latency
• Secure API Access:  follow authentication best practices
• Monitor API Usage:  track rate limits & performance against subscription and hardware limitations

Scheduled Export Integration (Batch Data Transfers)

When to Use Scheduled Exports:

• Irth recommended integration method.
• Ideal for offline analysis, scheduled reports, and database storage.
• Allows for use of custom reporting tools, including alerts, automated distribution, and custom-calculated measures.
• You primarily use our ‘Historical’ dataset, which is updated daily and includes records up to 11:59:59p Eastern on the previous day.
• Enables users to combine Irth data and metrics with other system or application metrics in one reporting application.

Steps to Configure Scheduled Exports:

1. Define Export Data Scope (Tickets, Work Items, Fields).
   This will likely require multiple Export reports to be created.
   IRTH Support: Exports
2. Configure Export Frequency and Destination
   IRTH Support: Export Schedules
3. Automate Data Ingestion(if desired, your IT resources can set up Power Automate, scheduled stored procedure, or other ETL processes)Your IT team is responsible for handling the configuration and final setup from this stage onward.
4. Validate & Monitor Exports for Data Accuracy

Best Practices & Considerations

• Generate an initial export of each report for the desired historical timeframe to serve as a baseline for integration.
• Ensure Data Consistency (timestamp fields, delta exports)
• Secure File Transfers (encrypt, use secure connections like SFTP)
• Monitor Export Jobs (set up failure alerts and internal processes to generate and store duplicate backup files when the original export file is consumed through automation, ensuring an audit log and maintaining backup records.)

Manual Export Integration (Manual Batch Data Transfer)

When to Use Manual Exports:

• Your reporting platform allows a local file to be set as a data source.
• Ideal for offline analysis and scheduled reports.
• You primarily work with our ‘Historical’ dataset and rarely require recent records.  With this method, data is only updated when you manually export reports from Utilisphere.
• Enables users to combine Irth data and metrics with other system or application metrics in one reporting application.

Steps to Pull Manual Exports:

1. Define Export Data Scope (Tickets, Work Items, Fields).
   This will likely require multiple Export reports to be created.
   IRTH Support: Exports
2. Select your local file as a data source in your reporting application.

Best Practices & Considerations

• Generate an initial export of each report for the desired historical timeframe and store it as local files to establish a core dataset.
• Append new data to that file as desired.
• Ensure Data Consistency (timestamp fields, delta exports)