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Provider/Consumer Collaboration and Feedback
Overview
OIC Integrations that are published to your OIC Portal are now products that need to be managed. There is a two-way collaboration and feedback channel between consumers working in the portal and the provider/owner working in the catalog. This connection builds trust and helps encourage adoption of your promoted Integrations.
Key Features
Portal UI
Feedback tab on Integrations in the Catalog
Getting Started
The following collaboration and feedback actions are supported:
Consumers can follow specific Integrations in the portal - this will mean they are notified when updates are announced and/or the Integration they’re following moves from configured to active in OIC.
Consumers can also comment on the Integration to help other consumers evaluate the artifact.
Consumers can contact the provider directly from the Portal UI to ask questions or request changes…
…And Providers can reply and notify followers of any changes to the Integration directly from where they’re working in the catalog
Consumers can complete a form to request access to the Integration in the Portal and the provider/owner can respond from the catalog
Please note that new requests and questions as well as responses can be sent to the appropriate user(s) via email as well as in-app notifications. Please see Email Notifications for further detail on this.
Prerequisites
Both the catalog and portal must be populated with your assets from OIC. Please see Importing into the Catalog and Publishing from the Catalog for more details.
Providers/owners need to register themselves as being the point of contact to respond to requests, feedback, and questions for their relevant Integration(s). This is discussed in this documentation.
Access
For consumers in the Consumer Portal, the main collaboration and feedback areas are on the details page and provider contact tabs for any Integration.
For providers in the Catalog, this is done on the Feedback tab of the relevant Integration.
Provider Collaboration
Making yourself the point of contact for an Integration
In the catalog, you can make yourself the point of contact for consumer requests and questions by navigating to the relevant Integration and clicking the bell icon in the Questions and Requests area of the Feedback tab. Once you have done this, if any consumers submit questions or requests in the portal, you will receive an alert on the main bell icon in the top right of the navigation header in the catalog.
How to Use: Functionality in the Catalog
In the catalog, the provider/owner can use the feedback tab on the Integration to:
View comments made by consumers in the Portal in the comments tab
Respond to questions and requests in the questions and requests tab (these will be populated over to the Portal)
Completed API access request forms will also appear here and be responded to in the same way
Provide updates to all consumers that are following the Integration in the notifications tab
Consumer Collaboration
How to Use: Functionality in the Portal
The bell icon can be used to follow a particular Integration. Following an artifact means you will be notified of any provider updates. You can also follow artifacts that are marked as “configured” to be notified when they become active.
The main details summary page on the Integration is where you can add requests or comments regarding the artifact, to be seen by other consumers in the Portal.
Providers can also see comments directly in the Catalog (see previous documentation section).
The Contact Provider tab on the details page of the Integration is where you can ask a question or submit a request e.g. a change request. This is sent to the provider/owner in the catalog.
When the provider has answered your request you will be notified in the bell in the top right corner of the Consumer Portal showing you there is a response.
There is a similar notification loop for requesting access to the Integration. On the Get API Access tab is a request form. Once this has been completed by the consumer in the Portal, you will be notified in the Portal when the request has been responded to.
Additional Resources
Conclusion
Collaboration and feedback functionality between your OIC Catalog and Portal helps providers and consumers communicate effectively from where they’re working with your Integrations, helping to build trust and drive adoption and reuse.