Integrate Irth Ticket and Work Item Data into Your Reporting Tools with Exports or the API

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Things to Know:
• Key Benefits/Use Cases:
• How It Works:
  • Choosing the Right Method
  • Option 1: Scheduled Export
  • Option 2: Scheduled Export + API Supplementation
  • Option 3: Manual Export
• Related Features/Next Steps:
• FAQ/Troubleshooting:

Purpose/Overview

In this article, you’ll learn about the options for integrating Utilisphere data into external reporting tools such as Power BI, Tableau, Google Looker, or Domo. Irth offers embedded Power BI reporting within Utilisphere, but some advanced Power BI features are restricted in the embedded experience. If your organization needs custom calculated measures, automated distribution, or the ability to combine Irth data with other systems (CRM, operations, finance), these options give you greater flexibility. This article is intended for report builders, administrators, and IT teams who are deciding how to get Irth data into their own reporting environment, and it explains what each method involves and how to choose between them.

Things to Know:

• IT involvement: Scheduled Export with automation and the API path require meaningful IT involvement to implement and maintain. Engage your IT resources early and plan accordingly. Even Manual Export should be reviewed with IT.
• Data currency: Scheduled exports reflect records through 11:59 PM ET the prior day.
• API access: API credentials are obtained through your Irth Sales Account Executive. Your IT team determines the call frequency and scope based on your data currency needs.
• API role: The API supplements Scheduled Exports and does not replace them. Your BI tool should query your local database, not the API directly.
• Data volume: High data volumes can introduce latency when using the API. The overall architecture for Scheduled Export + API is the most complex of the three options to build and validate.
• File formats: Manual exports are delivered as a downloadable file (CSV or Excel).

Key Benefits/Use Cases:

• Automated, high-performance reporting (Scheduled Export): Your organization needs recurring reports that run quickly and refresh without manual effort. Scheduled exports load into an on-prem database or maintained dataset, so reports don’t depend on API availability or latency. Reports stay fast, and your team can build calculated fields and custom relationships that aren’t available in embedded Power BI.
• Near-real-time data currency (Scheduled Export + API): Daily exports aren’t current enough for your operations. The API appends or updates records that changed since the last export, keeping the local dataset more current while report performance stays consistent regardless of data volume.
• Quick, one-off, or historical analysis (Manual Export): A team needs to analyze past data, or needs a stopgap while a longer-term integration is planned. Download a file, point your BI tool at it, and start building reports with no pipeline to build or maintain. Export files can also be combined with data from other local sources for cross-system reporting.

How It Works:

Follow the steps for the method that fits your needs. For a quick comparison, see the table in Things to Know.

Choosing the Right Method

NOTE: The Scheduled Export (leveraging automation) and API integration paths require meaningful IT involvement to implement and maintain. Engage your IT resources early and plan accordingly.

Option 1: Scheduled Export

Scheduled exports deliver data from Utilisphere to a destination your team defines on a recurring basis. Your IT team loads that data into an on-prem database or maintained dataset.

1. Define the export data scope. Choose the data to include in the export. See Exports - Define Export Data Scope.
2. Configure the schedule and destination. Set the export frequency and the destination your team will use. See Export Schedules - Configure Export Frequency and Destination.
3. Choose how the files are processed.
   • Without automation: Your team manually retrieves each export file and loads it into a database, updates a dataset, or uses it directly as a BI data source. This requires less upfront setup but more ongoing manual effort.
   • With automation: An automation tool (for example, Power Automate, a SQL stored procedure, or an ETL process) detects new export files and processes them automatically. It appends or updates records in a maintained local dataset or folder structure.
4. Connect your BI tool. Point your BI tool (Power BI, Tableau, Google Looker, or Domo) at the local dataset and set it to refresh against it.

Option 2: Scheduled Export + API Supplementation

This method builds on Scheduled Export, so complete the steps above first. The scheduled exports establish and maintain the historical baseline in your on-prem database.

1. Set up Scheduled Export. Complete Option 1, ideally with automation.
2. Obtain API credentials. Request credentials through your Irth Sales Account Executive.
3. Define call frequency and scope. Your IT team determines how often to call the API and which records to retrieve, based on how current your data needs to be.
4. Append changes between exports. On the defined schedule, call the API to identify and append records that were changed or added since the last export ran.
5. Connect your BI tool to the local database. Your BI tool always queries the local database and never the API directly. This keeps report performance fast and independent of API load or availability.

Option 3: Manual Export

1. Run an export. Export the data you need from Utilisphere at any time. The export is delivered as a downloadable file (CSV or Excel).
2. Set the file as your data source. In your BI reporting tool, use the downloaded file as a data source.
3. Refresh when needed. When you need updated data, run a new export. Either replace the existing file or append to it, depending on how your team maintains the dataset.

Related Features/Next Steps:

• IRTH Support: Exports - Define Export Data Scope 
• IRTH Support: Export Schedules - Configure Export Frequency and Destination 

FAQ/Troubleshooting:

Q: Which method should I choose?
A: Choose Manual Export for occasional or one-off reporting, Scheduled Export for periodic reports with faster performance, and Scheduled Export + API when you need more current data between daily exports. Higher automation means more upfront IT effort but less ongoing manual work. See the comparison table in Things to Know.

Q: Can I use the API instead of Scheduled Exports?
A: No. The API is designed to supplement Scheduled Exports, not replace them. Querying the API every time a report loads can introduce latency and is not the recommended approach.

Q: How current is the data in a scheduled export?
A: Scheduled exports reflect records through 11:59 PM ET the prior day. To get more current data between export cycles, add API supplementation.

Q: Why are my reports slow or delayed?
A: High data volumes can introduce latency when using the API. Make sure your BI tool queries your local database rather than the API directly. If the issue persists, review your API call frequency and scope with your IT team.

Q: Do I need a local database?
A: Not necessarily for Scheduled Export, since the export files can also be used directly as a data source. However, local data delivers faster performance and is required for the Scheduled Export + API approach.

Q: Where do I get API credentials?
A: Contact your Irth Sales Account Executive.

Questions?  Contact us!