In this article, you can learn about the Big Think+ / SAP SuccessFactors Learning integration, what it supports, and how to get started.
Integration Overview
Big Think+ is an SAP SuccessFactors Open Content Network (OCN) provider. Our integration uses SuccessFactors' standard OCN APIs to deliver the Big Think+ catalog into your SuccessFactors Learning tenant and to send learner progress and completion data back into SuccessFactors reporting.
With the integration in place, your organization can:
- Make the Big Think+ content your organization subscribes to available inside SuccessFactors Learning
- Let learners launch Big Think+ content directly from SuccessFactors
- Report learner completions and learning time back to SuccessFactors, so leadership development activity is tracked alongside the rest of your learning programs
Note: We strongly recommend setting up Single Sign On (SSO) before the integration is enabled. SSO lets learners move from SuccessFactors to Big Think+ without a separate login, and it ensures your catalog is sent with the correct launch links. See our Single Sign On (SSO) / SAML 2.0 article.
Supported Use Case
Learners discover Big Think+ content by browsing or searching in SuccessFactors Learning, then launch it with one click. Once on Big Think+, they have the full platform experience, including navigation to other content. Completion data flows securely back to SuccessFactors for learning program measurement, including activity from learners who start on Big Think+ directly rather than from SuccessFactors.
What content is sent?
Big Think+ sends the content in your organization's subscription:
- Expert Classes
- Courses
- Individual lessons
- Published Curations (see Curations in SuccessFactors below)
SuccessFactors does not have separate content types for collections like Expert Classes or Curations, so every Big Think+ item appears in SuccessFactors as a course. Each item is identified with the BTPLUS provider ID.
What data is sent?
Content data
- Title and description (localized for each language available)
- Duration
- Expert / instructor name
- Thumbnail image
- Launch URL and mobile launch URL
- Status (Active / Inactive)
Big Think+ skill tags are not currently included in the SuccessFactors catalog.
Learner data
- SuccessFactors user ID
- Completion status
- Completion timestamp
- Learning time (total hours)
How often does content update?
There are two steps between a change in Big Think+ and that change appearing in SuccessFactors:
- Big Think+ sends catalog updates nightly. New content and changes to existing content are sent once a day, in the early morning (US time).
- SuccessFactors imports updates on the schedule your administrator sets for the Open Content Network Content Synchronization process (see the checklist below). We recommend running it once daily, overnight.
With both set to run daily, new or updated content typically appears in SuccessFactors within one to two days. Learner completions are sent in near real time and do not wait for the nightly sync.
Curations in SuccessFactors
Curations your organization creates in Big Think+ can be delivered to SuccessFactors alongside the rest of your catalog. There is no feature flag or extra setup required. Curation support is already enabled for every SuccessFactors integration.
Which curations are sent?
Only published curations are sent to SuccessFactors. Curations that are drafts, private to an individual, or only assigned to specific people are not included. To make a curation available in SuccessFactors, publish it in Big Think+.
How do curations appear?
Each published curation appears in SuccessFactors as a single course. When a learner launches it, they are taken to the curation in Big Think+, where they see all of its content in order.
How long until a new curation shows up in SuccessFactors?
Usually by the next day. Two things have to happen:
- Big Think+ sends it. A newly published curation is included in the next nightly Big Think+ catalog update.
- SuccessFactors imports it. The curation appears in your library the next time your OCN Content Synchronization process runs. How often that runs is set by your SuccessFactors administrator; we recommend once daily, overnight.
For example, if you publish a curation on Monday, Big Think+ sends it Monday night, and it appears in SuccessFactors after your next scheduled sync, typically Tuesday. If your sync happens to run before our nightly update, it will appear after the following sync, so allow up to two days. Scheduling your sync more often than daily will not make new curations appear faster, because Big Think+ sends catalog updates once per night.
What happens if I edit a curation after it's published?
- Changes to the content inside a curation (adding, removing, or reordering lessons) are visible to learners right away. There is no need to wait for a sync, because the SuccessFactors item links to the live curation in Big Think+.
- Changes to the curation's title or description are sent with the next nightly update and appear after your next OCN sync.
What happens if I unpublish or delete a curation?
Unpublishing or deleting a curation in Big Think+ does not currently remove it from SuccessFactors. If you want a curation removed, your SuccessFactors administrator can deactivate the item in your tenant, or you can contact partnerservices@bigthink.com and we'll help.
How are curation completions reported?
When a learner finishes a curation, Big Think+ reports the curation as completed in SuccessFactors.
Integration Checklist
Before you begin
- Active Big Think+ subscription
- Active SAP SuccessFactors Learning subscription, with system administration access
- An integration user in SuccessFactors with the permissions listed below
- SSO between your identity provider and Big Think+ (recommended)
1. Set up SSO (recommended)
Connect Big Think+ to your organization's identity provider. Your Big Think+ contact will exchange SAML metadata with your team.
2. Configure an integration user
- In SuccessFactors, go to Manage Permission Roles.
- Create a user, or edit an existing one, and grant the following permissions.
User Permissions
- General User Permission
- User Search
- Perform Match Operations on the Results Directory Search
- Learning
- Learning Access Permission
Administrator Permissions
- Manage Integration Tools
- Access to Event Notification Subscription
- Access to Event Notification Audit Log
- Manage OAuth2 Client Applications
- Allow Admin to Access OData API through Basic Authentication
- Access to OData API Audit Log
- Manage OData API Basic Authentication
- Access to API Center
- Access to API Option Profile
- OData API Competency Rating Import
- OData API Competency Rating Export
- Access to OData API Metadata Refresh and Export
- Access to OData API Data Dictionary
- OData API To-Do Export
- OData API Attachment Import
- Manage User
- Manage Users
- Manage Support Access
3. Add Big Think+ as an Open Content Network provider
- Go to Learning Administration > References > Geography > Labels.
- Click Add New.
- In Label Type, enter
Label. - In Label ID, enter
BTPLUS. This must match exactly, because Big Think+ uses it to identify our content and completions. - Add a description, select All Locales, and click Apply Changes.
4. Generate a client secret
- Go to Learning Administration > System Administration > Security > Administrator Management.
- Select the administrator from the Administrators page.
- Click Generate a new Client Secret and copy it.
5. Share your credentials with Big Think+
Send your client ID, client secret, and SuccessFactors Learning tenant URL to your Big Think+ contact by secure email to partnerservices@bigthink.com. We'll use these to complete the connection on our side.
6. Schedule catalog synchronization
- Confirm or update your Open Content Network System Property file.
- Go to Learning Administration > System Administration > Automatic Processes > Open Content Network Content Synchronization.
- Set the schedule for how often the process should run. We recommend once daily, overnight. This automatically loads updates to content you've already imported.
- Click Apply Changes.
7. Enable automatic import of OCN items
- Go to Learning Administration > System Configuration > Configuration > System Configuration.
- Locate and edit the Open Content Network configuration.
- Set
defaultValues.autoImportOCNCourseEnabled=true. - Save your changes.
8. Add Big Think+ to a library (optional)
If you have an existing leadership development library, you can add Big Think+ items to it:
- Go to Learning Activities > Libraries.
- Search for your library and click Edit.
- Go to Items, search for Big Think+ items, and click Add Item.
- Select each library that should include the items.
Once the connection is complete, Big Think+ will send your initial catalog that evening, and it will appear in SuccessFactors after your next OCN Content Synchronization.
Testing the Integration
We recommend confirming these four checks after setup:
- Catalog sync: Run the OCN Content Synchronization. Big Think+ items appear in SuccessFactors.
- Learner launch: Search SuccessFactors Learning for an expert (for example, "Simon Sinek"), open a Big Think+ item, and launch it. You're taken to Big Think+ and the content begins playing.
- Completion: Watch a lesson in Big Think+ to at least 90% of the progress bar. The item shows as complete in SuccessFactors reporting, with learning time.
- Progress: Start a lesson from SuccessFactors and exit partway through. The item shows as In Progress in SuccessFactors.
Support
Big Think+ is your first point of contact for integration support. Email partnerservices@bigthink.com and we'll triage the issue, check our side, and walk through your tenant settings with you. If the issue is on the SuccessFactors side, we may ask you to open an incident with SAP Product Support.
Helpful SAP resources: