1. Support | DataCamp
  2. Groups
  3. For Admins
  4. LMS/LMX Integrations

EdCast SFTP Integration

Updated

Overview:

An integration with EdCast allows customers to view and browse DataCamp's entire course catalog within their learning experience platform. Customers will also have the option of receiving course completion updates in EdCast so they can see what courses their learners have completed. For those with single sign-on (SSO) enabled, we can also configure a seamless sign-in experience so that learners can go directly from EdCast to DataCamp in one simple click. 

DataCamp enables this integration by sending 2 files (content catalog and user content completion) to an SFTP server hosted by EdCast. 

Configuring EdCast Integration: 

Requirements:

  • An Enterprise or Enterprise Usage plan is required.
  • The ability to confirm the address, username, and password of the SFTP server where we should place the files

Integration Details: 

We integrate with EdCast via an SFTP delivery method. This means that we will send 2 .csv files containing our content catalog and user content completion details to an SFTP server hosted by EdCast. We will continue to send updated versions of these files on a daily cadence so that any changes are reflected in your learning management system. Once the files have been placed on the server, EdCast will ingest this data and make it available with your EdCast environment. 

DataCamp's integration with EdCast consists of 3 main parts: 

  • Configuring single sign-on (optional, but highly recommended)
  • Syncing DataCamp's Content Catalog with EdCast
  • Sending DataCamp User Content Completion data to EdCast

Configuring Single Sign-On (SSO)

By enabling single sign-on (SSO), learners will be able to pass through EdCast to a specific DataCamp course seamlessly. We generally recommend enabling SSO as it is more secure, increases adoption, and ultimately lends itself to a better user experience. That said, SSO is not a requirement for our EdCast integration if you would like to use employee email as the unique identifier. For more information on configuring SSO, please read our documentation here. If you would like to use employee ID (or similar) as a unique identifier (instead of email which is the default) you will need to configure SSO so that DataCamp receives the employee ID in the SAML response. 

Syncing DataCamp's Content Catalog

When you are ready to go live with your integration, DataCamp will place an initial content catalog file on SFTP server hosted by EdCast. This file will then be ingested and displayed within your EdCast environment. DataCamp will continue to send a content catalog delta file every 24 hours so that new content added to our library will be reflected in your EdCast environment. This file will include a unique course id as well as some additional metadata (e.g. description) for each course. If SSO is enabled, we can send "SSO Enabled Deep Links" for each course in this file which will create a seamless sign-on experience for the learner. DataCamp sends the following fields in this file:

  • id (DataCamp content id, e.g. "course-1001")
  • title (Title of the content item)
  • description (Description of the content item)
  • image_url (link to the content badge)
  • deeplink_url (link to the content on DataCamp)
  • keywords (related keywords including topic and technology)
  • duration (estimated duration, in seconds)
  • archive (whether the content has been archived or not)
  • language (the language the content is offered in)
  • prices_data (left blank)
  • cpe_credits (left blank)
  • cpe_subject (The topic and technology of the content)
  • content_type (The type of content - e.g. "course") 

Note: This file is optional to send and can be disabled if you prefer to add courses to the catalog manually. 

Sending DataCamp User Content Completion Data to EdCast

DataCamp will also send a user content completion file containing a transcript record of which users completed specific content and on what date. An updated version of this file containing a delta of transcript information since the previous sync is also sent every 24 hours to reflect any changes to a user's content completion history. DataCamp sends the following fields in this file:

  • email (email of the user who completed the content)
  • object_id (DataCamp content id, e.g. "course-1001")
  • status (e.g. "Completed")
  • timestamp (timestamp when the course was completed - e.g. "2020-06-02T14:55:00Z") 

Note: This file is optional to send and can be disabled if you prefer. 

Mapping Employee IDs:

By default, DataCamp will send the member's email address as the unique identifier in all LMS integrations. If you would prefer we send an employee ID (or similar) to the learning management system instead, we can support this. First, you will need to configure SSO and ensure that you are sending the employee ID or reference number in the SAML response that DataCamp receives. Once this is configured, DataCamp will begin saving the employee ID to the user's profile. When the files are generated each day we will send the employee ID as the unique identifier instead of the email address. If we are missing an employee ID for a user, we will not send their information to your LMS. 

Note: Customers who already have active users on DataCamp prior to configuring SSO to send the employee ID, will need to backfill existing users' IDs before we can begin sending their records to the learning management system. 

Setup Steps:

To configure your EdCast integration, please reach out to our Customer Success team (success@datacamp.com) or your Customer Success Manager to get started. The following are the steps for configuring the integration with EdCast:

  1. For customers looking to enable single sign-on (SSO), the first step will be to configure your Identity Provider (IdP) and DataCamp SSO settings. For more information about configuring SSO, you can view this page here. If you would like to use employee ID as a unique identifier (instead of email which is the default) you will need to configure SSO so that DataCamp receives the employee ID in the SAML response. 
  2. To enable the EdCast integration, we will need the following details provided by your EdCast implementation consultant. 
    1. Confirm SFTP Address, username, and password so that we can send both the files. 

    2. Filename convention for the content catalog file

    3. Filename convention for the user content completion file 
  3. Once the details provided are confirmed, your Customer Success Manager will activate the integration. An initial upload with our full content catalog and user content completion will be immediately uploaded to the SFTP server. Updated versions of the files will then be scheduled to send every 24 hours. 
  4. Your EdCast implementation consultant will be able to confirm that the files have been received and have been collected to display in your EdCast environment. 

FAQs:

What content types are included in the content catalog?

Currently, the only content sent to EdCast includes courses. Projects, tracks, practice, mobile, and DataCamp Signal™ skill assessment information is not sent at this time.

How often will these files be sent?

DataCamp will send updated versions of both the content catalog and user content completion file every 24 hours at 6 PM UTC. This means there may be up to a 24 hours delay between when a user completes a course and when it is reflected in EdCast. Likewise, a change in DataCamp's course catalog may not be reflected in EdCast until the next day. 

What are SSO Enabled Deep Links?

An SSO Enabled Deep Link is any link to a page on DataCamp which contains a company SSO identifier. When a user clicks on this link, we will automatically redirect them to the IdP to sign in (if they aren't already) with SSO, and then redirect them back to the page they originally intended. If they don't have a DataCamp account yet, then we automatically provision them a new one. 

In the context of a EdCast integration, this means that users can click on an SSO Enabled Deep Link to a specific course and immediately be brought to that course as a logged-in user. This eliminates an extra sign-in step when they get to DataCamp and creates a smooth experience for the end-user. 

The format of any SSO Enabled Deep Link is: https://www.datacamp.com/groups/<GROUP_IDENTIFIER>/sso/saml/login?path=<PATH>.

Notes:

  • Requirements outside the scope of the integration described above are subject to additional professional service fees beyond the cost of the license and additional development time. 
  • Some requirements may require support from your LMS provider, which may require you to engage with their professional services team.