Workato Tutorial

Today, enterprises use multiple applications to perform several tasks, substituting the workforce that minimizes labor requirements and costs. Due to this increase in usage of applications, there is a massive surge in the amount of data that needs to be handled by enterprises. The enterprise can leverage the full data power in multiple applications only by using the automated integration platform. This is where the Workato appears. 

It is a platform that handles all the crucial use cases required for integration automation, such as workflow automation, master data hubs, and API Management. Companies like HP, GitLab, and Logitech, hosting their applications on cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, and GCP, are using Workato to integrate their legacy systems. So, professionals working in the data-driven industry should learn Workato. In this Workato tutorial, you will learn the importance of Workato integration and the creation of recipes in Workato.

Table of Contents

• What is Workato?
• Features of Workato
• Why is Workato Different From Other Integration Tools in the Market?
• Workato Architecture
• What is a Recipe?
• What is a Trigger?
• Steps and Actions
• Key Concepts of Workato
• How to Create a Recipe?
• API Platform
• Workato Event Streams
• Recipe Lifecycle Management
• Workato Dashboard
• Workato Insights
• Workato Trends
• Conclusion

What is Workato?

Workato enables you to automate business workflows throughout the cloud and on-site applications. For instance, automate quote-to-cash business processes, including transferring data between applications like Netsuite, Salesforce, and Apttus.

Workato integrates the enterprise-grade workflow automation platform with the accessibility expected from consumer apps, allowing enterprises and end users to develop workflow automation rapidly.

Features of Workato

1. Enterprise-Level Automation

The Workato platform contains a robust feature set for handling real-time problems, like the integration of data and applications. Both on-site and cloud-based systems are supported. The runtime system is developed for reliability, robustness, security, and high performance.

2. Conversational Integration

Workato offers a chat-oriented bot-building platform to build a persuasive UX centered around workflows and integrations.

3. Citizen Integrators

Workato is the only integration platform that was developed from the ground level for supporting the single design interface for developers/ IT and Citizen Integrators, assuring that IT and citizens have access to similar easy-to-use driven productivity environments, and at the same time, provisioning users the same capability and power available to it.

4. IT Governance

Governance is crucial for any platform that allows you to work with corporate data. The Workato Aegis management tool offers cross-enterprise visibility into the users and utilization, the integration process, and the applications they link. It supports allocating different levels of visibility and responsibility within the platform and allows IT users and business collaboration.

5. Scalable Platform

The Workato platform is scalable and supports the latest applications beyond many built-in ones. A configurable and robust REST data connector enables integration with several systems without writing the code. It also offers the Connector SDK that abstracts and handles various aspects of data and application integration for cases where custom development is necessary.

6. Eliminating Duplicate Records

Workato helps you to eliminate the duplication of records and bad data in integration and enables bi-directional workflow automation between the applications. 

7. Bot Personalization

Workato enables you to personalize our own bot recipes and store them in their associated function name and their icon - for example, HRBot and SupportBot.

8. Audit Log

Workato understands the importance of tracing the crucial information related to the recipe’s performance and security. Consequently, it provides a feature called Audit Log replication that allows us to trace these events in sequential order. Moreover, this feature also provides the logging of the recipe job and separate step details.

Why is Workato Different From Other Integration Tools in the Market?

The shift towards cloud computing has changed enterprise automation and integration requirements and best practices. To enable this shift towards dynamic orchestration customization and task automation, enterprises require an agile platform that can handle the integration and automation and provide more ease of use than RPA.

Integration-Platform-as-a-Service is a part of the wider shift towards cloud computing. In the category of iPaaS, various integration tools provide both integration and automation. However, most iPaaS tools need specialists to implement and have to be executed by IT. To handle these issues, Workato is designed with robust and powerful iPaaS capabilities and an easy-to-use user interface. The Non-specialists can also use Workato to work collaboratively with IT in developing and deploying the automations and integrations. Tech Giants like Salesforce, Gainsight, and Grab started using Workato for automation and integrations and replaced their ETL tools with Workato.

Workato will offer the following advanced automation and integration features:

1. Next-Generation iPaaS

Workato can create visually interactive integrations easily and rapidly. It can sync the data from one transaction to the multiple rows diversified in volumes and real-world at speed, scheduled, and in batch. Workato removes the challenges related to capacity planning and infrastructure provisioning with the cloud platforms.

2. Advanced RPA

Workato provides a combination of API-based and UPI-based automation, assuring the correct tool for all the problems. It significantly enhances the performance by creating the automation which needs approximately 50% less than the operational resources.

3. Smart and Robust Data Pipelines

Workato minimizes the difficulties of APIs, infrastructure maintenance, and capacity planning by importing the data into warehouses such as Snowflake, Redshift, or BigQuery. It also assures dynamic capacity optimization and rapidly adapts to the source schema changes.

4. Enterprise Flow Automation

Workato allows you to automate the complete business processes instead of automating a single task. It also helps you interact with multiple applications throughout the enterprise with a number of business functions.

5. Low code API Management

It will manage the complete life cycle of APIs with the external and internal partners. It supports reusability and decouples systems by building microservices. Workato will create standardized flows and consistent business rules that make workflow utilized as a reusable service.

Workato Architecture

Workato is the cloud-native iPaaS that behaves like an “Automation Platform and Serverless Integration” than a conventional iPaaS platform. This is because of Workato’s platform architecture and the complete support of the cloud native prototype.

The three main components of Workato Architecture are:

1) Management Plane

Developing the management plane as per the microservices architecture is a pushover. Since with virtually any other advanced web applications, there are concerns you would generally bind into microservices like logging, security, auditing, and UI components. As microservices in this context are aligned with the content available in the web.

2) Microservice-based Runtimes

Those who utilize integration platforms will know that the iPaaS runtime executes the UOW (unit of work) like a process or process end-to-end. These UOWs are self-contained integration logic that contains information on receiving the event.

3) Infrastructure (Containers/Kubernetes) 

While Microservices define the solution architecture, your container and container orchestration define the deployment architecture. Kubernetes and Docker are the industry standards when it comes to cloud-native initiatives. However, cloud-native is not about running the containers but utilizing the cloud technologies to their total capacity.

What is a Recipe?

Recipe is the automated workflow developed by the users that can stretch multiple applications, like moving new contacts from Salesforce into Zendesk as the latest organizations. Every recipe contains a trigger, and numerous actions are performed when the trigger event is invoked.

When the recipes begin, they will be executed automatically in the background to trigger the events and perform the recipe actions. When they are terminated, they will stop to look for the events.

But, when the recipe begins again, it will grab all the trigger events that happened as the recipe ended. Stop functions like pause. We can set the recipe visibility to private or public. When set to the public, any Workato member can see this recipe and make a copy for their utilization. 

All the recipes will have a unique ID to identify them, which can be discovered in the URL.

What is a Trigger?

Triggers will determine what event to listen to execute the actions explained in the recipe. Trigger events can be offset in the applications when a certain event occurs when the new line is added to the file or as per a schedule.

As per the available API, Workato will receive the trigger events worldwide or check for the events happening regularly by voting for the application. We can classify the triggers based on their mechanism for checking the occurrence of new events.

Steps and Actions

Recipe steps are implemented every time the trigger event happens. Recipes are needed to have a minimum of one step. The most fundamental step for the recipe is the action, like the action for creating the organization in Zendesk. 

Workato steps can be conditional actions, list actions, and actions that invoke other recipes.

Key Concepts of Workato

1) Datapills and Datatrees

Every step, like triggers, fetches the data into the recipe. For instance, the new employee in the workday trigger will fetch the employee data. This data is included in the recipe through the data tree.

The individual data fields are known as datapills. We can use the datapills in the further steps. 

2) Input Fields and Fields Mapping

Actions and Triggers will have input fields. Input fields are the triggers and actions developed for performing the personalized workflows, and they can take the variables or the constants.

Inserting the variables and constants into the input fields is called field mapping. 

3) Mapping Variables

The “Account Name” variable has been mapped to “Name” input field. This indicates that for every latest Salesforce account that has been created, the account name of the Salesforce account will be utilized as the organization name of the Zendesk enterprise that can be made. For instance, the new salesforce account will consecutively create the Zendesk organization named.

4) Mapping Constants

Meanwhile, the input field “Notes” contains a constant mapped to it. This indicates that all the newly created Zendesk organizations created through the Workato will have ”Synced from Salesforce” in the “Notes‘ field.

5) Connections

For the recipe to interact with the applications through triggers and actions, it should be authenticated for interacting with the applications. This authentication is called as a connection. Connections are not connected to the recipe - multiple recipes can utilize a single connection. 

6) Jobs

The actions in the recipe are implemented whenever there is a trigger event. The complete flow of every trigger event using the recipe is called Job. Jobs can have errors, but they can be successful. When an error occurs, the following actions will be executed. 

7) Jobs Report

The job report will give you a summary of all trigger events executed by the recipe. The complete flow of every trigger event using the recipe is known as a Job. In Job-Report, we can access the information like date, IDs, and time processed. On the Jobs history page, we can see detailed information about a job by clicking a particular job.

8) Job Details

The job details page will provide the step-by-step input or output details of a trigger event since the recipe executes it. This page is helpful for troubleshooting the recipes since users can see the data passed into each step and the resultant output after the execution of every step.

[ Check out Top Workato Interview Questions and Answers ]

How to Create a Recipe in Workato?

A Recipe is defined as the automated workflow that links our applications. Every application includes triggers and multiple actions. When we turn on our recipe, it waits for the triggering event to run the actions. 

The steps below will walk you through creating a recipe that closes the case in Salesforce when the issue with a similar name in Jira is complete.

To connect with Jira, you require an Email, Hostname, and API token.

To connect with the Salesforce account, you require your username and password.

Step 1: Open the New Recipe

• Open the “Assets” and Press” Create Recipe.”
• Type “Recipe One” in the “Name” field.
• Press “Start Building.”

Step 2: Connecting to Jira

1. Search Jira application
2. Choose “Update issue.”

Connection page will open

1. Enter the name for connection in “Connection Name” Field.

As we can reuse the connection between the recipes, type the descriptive name so you can determine the account.

1. Type the URL of your Jira Account.
2. Choose “Yes” for using the API Token to authenticate.
3. Type the email we need to access to log in to Jira.
4. Type the API Token we fetched from Atlassian.
5. Press “Connect.”

Step 3: Configure the Trigger

The recipe will be executed every time the issue is closed. When we begin the recipe, it will check the matching events from the last seven days.

1. In the “When first started” field, we have to type the following formula:
Seven days ago.

2. Press to set the trigger condition

3. In the “Recipe Data‘ Window, search “Status/Name”

4. Drag and Drop the “Name” Datapill into the “Trigger Data” Field.

5. Set the condition to the “Contains.”

6. Set the value to “Closed.”

Step 4: Connecting to the Salesforce

1. Press below “Actions” and “Action in App.”

2. Search the Salesforce app

3. Choose “Search Records”

The Connection Page opens

4. Type the descriptive name for the connection in “Connection Name” Field

5. Press “Connect”

The Salesforce Login Page will Open in the new window

6. Type the username and password and press “Login.”

We can configure the action fields.

Step 5: Configure the Action

The recipe will search the cases in Salesforce with a similar case name to the Jira issue.

1. In the “Search for” Field, choose “Case.”
2. Type a limit of “200” Records. 
3. Drag and Drop the “Summary” Datapill into the “Subject” Field.

Step 6: Configure Conditional Statement

This step tells the recipe to check whether the salesforce case is closed. If the case is open, the recipe will update the status to closed.

1. Press “+” below “Actions” and press “IF” Condition

2. Drag and Drop the “Status” Datapill into the “Data Field.”

3. Choose the “does not equal” condition.

4. Type the “Closed” in “Value” Field.

5. Press “Select an App”

6. Choose the “Salesforce app/Update Record”

7. Choose “Case.”

8. Drag and Drop the “Case ID” Datapill into the “Case ID” Field

9. Choose the “Closed” status.

Step 7: Save and Begin Your Recipe

1. Press “Save” then “Exit.”

2. Press “Start Recipe” The completed recipe must match the recipe.

API Platform

In Workato, we use an API platform for creating API proxies, which securely pass the traffic to the internal APIs. API platform also allows you to create the API recipes, which reveal the recipe functionality as the API endpoints. This also enables you to share the data with your partners or utilize the functionality in other recipes.

We can create the API Collection from the endpoints group; the endpoints group can be proxy-based or recipe-based. API Publishers will control the endpoint's access, set the limits on utilization, and monitor the requests.

Key Concepts of API Platform

• Endpoints: An Endpoint is a callable REST interface containing associated public URLs. 
• API Collection: It is a group of endpoints that can be handled together. These endpoints will be API proxy-based or recipe-based.
• Access Profiles: A Single Client will have multiple access profiles. The access profile will define multiple API collections to which the client will have access and is optionally related to an Access Policy.
• API Recipes: The API Recipe is a kind of recipe that can be utilized for creating the endpoints. Through the API Platform feature, we can reveal these endpoints to external users and utilize them in other recipes.
• API Proxy: The API Proxy acts as a gateway that splits up the client-facing APIs from the internal APIs. We can reveal the internal APIs as the endpoints while utilizing the management features offered by the API Platform.
• API Tokens: It will give access to every API collection in an Access Profile. 
• Concurrency: It is the number of requests processed parallelly at a time.
• Recipe-level Concurrency: This feature enables you to set a particular concurrency limit for individual API recipes. It allows you to prioritize the chosen endpoints or lessen the high-traffic endpoints.

Workato Event Streams

The Workato Event Streams will enable you to implement the integration solutions that need the event-driven and message-oriented architecture that decouples the consumers and publishers. Connectors will implement a message system with the guarantee for persistent and guaranteed delivery. 

It also enables you to chain the recipes progressively since the recipe can publish the message and use other recipes to start their workflows. This connector also allows you to add or change the recipes without affecting the recipes that are publishers. 

Recipe Lifecycle Management

Generally, enterprises plan, test, and deploy the new integrations with the recipe development lifecycle. This can include moving recipes from the development environment to the testing environment and from the testing environment to the deploying environment. 

Recipe Lifecycle Management is one of the primary features that enables teams to collaborate concurrently in a controlled and planned recipe development effort. This tool allows you to import and export the packages, which include recipes and other dependencies.

Workato Dashboard

With Workato's Dashboards, you can easily visualize the real-world data associated with your recipes and connections. This tool not only provides valuable insights, actions, and analytics but also streamlines issue discovery and resolution, saving you time and effort. 

Recipe jobs can be directly related to the business measures. For instance, the number of new users that have joined the CRM regularly or the amount of invoices that were processed in the last month. Moreover, it also allows you to get a picture of your account's recipe issues and handle them more effectively. Every Dashboard will have

1. Jobs Graph: It gives you a picture view of Recipe Health
2. Recipe Details Table: It gives you a detailed description by recipe and sorting
3. Plan Usage: It displays bill usage statistics.
4. App Connection Overview: Changes made to the connections in the last week(7 days).

Workato Insights

Insights is the data manipulation and visualization engine developed into workflow and workato applications’s no-code environment. IT professionals, citizen developers, and business users can link, visualize, and manipulate the data and make data-based decisions.
We can develop custom dashboards based on the automation data. This offers accessibility to value built by automation and bridges the gap between analytics and automation. It displays the data in the real world without needing ELT, ETL, or Business Intelligence. The following are the three main steps of Insights:

1) Choose Primary Data Sources: Link the data from Workflow apps, Recipe job history, Data tables, and Workspace utilization.

2) Transform the Data: Sort, Summarize, and Filter the data sets, join them with other data sources and carry out other transformations using the no-code query builder.

3) Visualize Our Data: Display the data in the form of interactive charts and include them in the dashboards through the WYSIWYG editor.

Workato Trends

In 2024, Gartner points out that Workato has enhanced its developer experience and API Management support. It also stated that Workato upgraded its ETL capabilities at an unprecedented scale and enterprise security to the best of its kind. Workato is at the #1 spot in Gartner’s peer insights with a review rating of 4.9 out of 5. Workato secured a position as a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant in the IPaaS category. Gartner Magic Quadrant is the trusted guide for the technology buyers, offering an extensive view of the competitive landscape in particular markets. As the intelligent automation and iPaaS space continues to evolve, Workato continues to empower enterprises with the tools they require to thrive. 

Conclusion

Workato is a data-driven automation tool that handles difficult business logic and trouble-free data migration between applications. With this Workato tutorial, you will get a solid understanding of Workato's core essentials like Recipes, Triggers, Data Pills, Insights, and API Platforms. If you have any queries, let us know by commenting below.