Connecting to Rsam
Concept Information
In Rsam, you can create saved searches that allow you to store results and retrieve them when you need them. You can import those saved searches into Analytics. Once you bring this data into Analytics, you can prepare it, analyze it, and move it into Results to create and share storyboards and visualizations about your data.
Before you import
Note the following requirements and considerations before you bring data into Analytics.
First, integrate Rsam
An Rsam administrator must complete the Rsam integration process before anyone can use the Rsam connector. For more information, see Rsam integration with Diligent HighBond and ACL Robotics.
Rsam version requirement
Your company needs to be on Rsam Cloud version 9.2.2210 or later. If you are on an earlier version of Rsam, or an on-premise edition, Analytics cannot access data from Rsam.
Permissions
Whether you authenticate with a user name and password or an API key, the saved searches available to you in Analytics are the same as the saved searches available to you in Rsam. Your access is based on your permissions and roles in Rsam. If you do not have access to the data you need to import, contact your company's Rsam administrator, as only he or she can adjust what you can access.
Set up your saved searches in Rsam
Before proceeding, ensure the saved searches you want to bring into Analytics are set up correctly. For help with these tasks, see Rsam's end-user help and admin help.
- Create or ensure you have access to the saved searches you need. Saved searches being brought into Analytics or HighBond should be created for that purpose alone. If you want to use an existing saved search, save a copy of it and use that copy. This ensures that another user cannot modify your search and unintentionally break any scripts you create to automate the data transfer between platforms.
- Ensure the "HighBond Platform" option is checked for each search you want to bring into Analytics.
- Remove groupings in your saved search so your import is "flat". If you want to group your records together, do so when creating visualizations and storyboards after you bring the data into Analytics and/or HighBond.
- You do not need to perfect your Rsam data before importing. Analytics gives you the ability to filter, clean, combine, and standardize the data you import. However, it is generally good practice to work with the best data available to you and minimize transformations. You may want to take some time and ensure your saved searches in Rsam yield all the data you want and omit data that is irrelevant to your analysis. Doing this can make the data preparation process easier.
How Analytics determines column names
Objects and records in Rsam have a display name and an admin name. Typically, Rsam users see the display name throughout that platform, and the admin name is a hidden field only used by Rsam admins to maintain the Rsam environment.
By default, Analytics takes Rsam's display names as its field names since this is what most people are used to seeing. However, Analytics has strict field name requirements. Spaces and special characters are converted to underscores in Analytics, meaning the column names in Analytics probably will not be an exact match to the column names in the Rsam saved search. Generally, this will not cause issues, but it is possible to change what you see in Analytics.
- If you want to use different physical field names, you can change the SQL query Analytics makes to Rsam and specify your own field names. However, you are still subject to Analytics field name requirements, and you will need to keep track of this query if you import updated data in the future.
- If you want to keep the default field names, but change the column headers that actually appear in Analytics, you can change the column view names to something more meaningful to you without affecting Analytics' actual field name.
Create an Rsam connection
- From the Analytics main menu, select Import > Database and application.
- From the New Connections tab, in the ACL Connectors section, select Rsam.
Tip
You can filter the list of available connectors by entering a search string in the Filter connections box. Connectors are listed alphabetically.
- In the Data Connection Settings panel, enter the connection settings and at the bottom of the panel, click Save and Connect.
You can accept the default Connection Name, or enter a new one.
The connection for Rsam is saved to the Existing Connections tab. In the future, you can reconnect to Rsam from the saved connection.
Once the connection is established, the Data Access window opens to the Staging Area and you can begin importing data. For help importing data from Rsam, see Working with the Data Access window.
Connection settings
Basic settings
| Setting | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Host | The Rsam instance you are connecting to. | https://training02.rsam.com/ |
| API App Name | Your Rsam API app name. By default, this is "rsam_api", but it is possible to change this in Rsam. | rsam_api |
| Authentication Method |
Whether you are connecting to Rsam with a user name and password, or an API key. |
Password |
| User | If you are authenticating to Rsam with a username and password, enter your username here. | jgibbons |
| Password | If you are authenticating to Rsam with a username and password, enter your password here. | UsaPhone897Batteries!Tokyo |
| API Key | If you are authenticating to Rsam with an API key, enter it here. Your API key is specific to you, but if you do not already have one, your Rsam administrator must generate it for you in Rsam. | 99141fae-4c41-4abd-ade2-469f7d0151a4 |
Advanced settings
| Setting | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Convert Datetime to GMT | Converts datetime fields to GMT time zone during import. If false, the datetime value is converted to the operating system time zone of the machine running Analytics. | True |
What comes next?
Once your Rsam data is in Analytics, you have many options to prepare and then analyze that data.
- Prepare Use the tools in Analytics to clean and standardize your data, combine it with data from other sources, and prepare it for analysis. Think about the ways your data can tell a more comprehensive story.
- Can you learn more about your company's IT risk posture?
- Are there vendors in your ERP system that are not in your Rsam vendor management program?
- Are there employees in your HR database that are not in Rsam's policy management campaigns?
- Collecting and preparing all your data can help you answer questions like these. For more information, see Preparing data for analysis.
- Analyze Use Analytics commands and functions to analyze your data. For more information, see Analyzing data.
- Export You can export your data to other formats, including to HighBond's Results app. For more information, see Exporting data and Exporting exceptions to HighBond Results.
- Automate You can write scripts and use HighBond's Robots app to automate repetitive tasks like importing, aggregating, and exporting data to Results. As your Rsam (and other) data changes over time, your storyboards in HighBond can reflect this automatically.
- Visualize Once you bring your data into Results, use Results to build meaningful visualizations. You can turn these into and storyboards that you can easily share with others in your company.
