This documentation supports the 20.08 version of BMC Helix Chatbot. To view the documentation for the previous version, select 20.02 from the Product version menu.

Enabling integration with BMC Helix Cloud Cost

As a BMC Helix Chatbot administrator, you can integrate BMC Helix Chatbot with BMC Helix Cloud Cost, a cost expense management solution. BMC Helix Cloud Cost administrators can use the product to enable optimization of cloud resource costs by eliminating wasted spend and budget overruns. It collects, organizes, and analyzes high volumes of business data to track cost utilization and expenditure. For information about BMC Helix Cloud Cost concepts, see BMC Helix Cloud Cost.

With this integration, you can enable a BMC Helix Cloud Cost administrator to access BMC Helix Chatbot. The administrator can then use natural language conversations to request for a business service or resource pool budget. BMC Helix Chatbot fetches the budget data from BMC Helix Cloud Cost and shows the overall budget, along with the used and remaining budget. The chatbot also provides recommendations to save or reduce the wasted spend and budget overruns. The BMC Helix Cloud Cost administrator can analyze the recommendations and take actions on them through the chat conversation.

Scenario

In a chat, Allen requests to view the budget of a business service. First, Allen selects an organization based on which, the business services are listed. Allen views the details of the IT Skype service and requests for its savings opportunities. The chatbot responds with the cost optimization recommendations. After analyzing the provided recommendations, Allen decides to switch off a virtual machine and save up to $35 per month. 

The following slides show an end-to-end conversation between Allen, a BMC Helix Cloud Cost administrator and the chatbot:

2008_Cloud cost chat slides.pptx

Process for enabling integration between BMC Helix Chatbot and BMC Helix Cloud Cost

The following table lists the tasks that you must perform to integrate BMC Helix Chatbot with BMC Helix Cloud Cost:

Task

Reference

Configure the BMC Helix Cloud Cost settings, for example, URL details, user name, and password for connecting BMC Helix Chatbot with BMC Helix Cloud Cost.

Enable Remedy Single-Sign on (Remedy SSO) for BMC Helix Cloud Cost for user authentication.

Specify the default number of business services and recommendations that should be displayed in a chat.


To configure the BMC Helix Cloud Cost settings

  1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio and navigate to the Administration tab.
  2. Select Configure My Server > Cloud Cost.

  3. Expand the General tab and complete the fields as described in the following table:

    Field

    Action

    Cloud Cost API Endpoint

    Enter the BMC Helix Cloud Cost API URL with which you want to integrate BMC Helix Chatbot.

    Use the following format to enter the URL:

    https://<cloudopshostname>

    Cloud Cost Dashboard URL

    Enter the BMC Helix Cloud Cost dashboard URL in the following format:

    https://<cloudopshostname>/cloudcost

    This URL is used to open BMC Helix Cloud Cost from a chat conversation.


To enable Remedy SSO for BMC Helix Cloud Cost

  1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio and navigate to the Administration tab.
  2. Select Configure My Server > RSSO OAuth.

  3. Expand the Cloud Cost tab and complete the fields as described in the following table:

    Field

    Action

    API Authorization Endpoint

    Enter the OAuth authorization endpoint URL in the following format:

    https://rsso servername:port/rsso

    For example, enter <RSSOServerhostname>/rsso.

    For more information about OAuth 2.0 Support, see Configuring OAuth 2.0.

    Resource server

    Enter the host name of the BMC Helix Cloud Cost API endpoint in the following format For example, enter <cloudopshostname>.

    Client ID

    Enter the details that you have obtained when registering the client.
    For information about how to register a client, see Configuring OAuth 2.0.

    Client Secret


To specify the number of services and recommendations to be displayed in a chat

  1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio.
  2. On the Workspace tab, select BMC Chatbot.
  3. Select BMC ITOps Chatbot.

  4. On the General Settings tab, complete the fields as described in the following table:

    Field

    Action

    Maximum Number of Business Services or Resource Pools to Return to User

    Enter the maximum number of services or resource pools that you want to show to the user in a chat.
    Note: The default value of this field is 10 and the valid range is 5-20.

    Maximum Number of Resources or VMs in Recommendation to Return to User

    Enter the maximum number of resources or virtual machines that you want to show in a recommendation.
    Note: The default value of this field is 5 and the valid range is 5-20.


Limitations of integrating BMC Helix Chatbot with BMC Helix Cloud Cost

When you integrate BMC Helix Chatbot with BMC Helix Cloud Cost, the following functionalities are not available in the out-of-the-box BMC Helix Cloud Cost workspace:

  • Live chat for escalating issues to support agents
  • Transferring chat between chatbots
  • Entering text to select cards that are displayed in a chat while using a communication channel, except for BMC Helix Chatbot web UI.

Related topic

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