Adobe Analytics has a broad set of tools that you can use to integrate but no set of predefined integrations. This gives you a lot of flexibility in how you approach integrating with Adobe Analytics but it also adds complexity and you’ll need to do more work at the beginning of the project to understand these tools and decide which will work best for your use case.
The following section describes how to get started creating an Adobe Analytics integration in the Adobe Exchange App Manager. Sections 2–4 describe the connections that are available in App Manager and which ones you might want to select. Sections 5–6 describe how to set up credentials in your Adobe Analytics sandbox account so you can learn how Adobe Analytics works and so you can build and test your integration. Section 7 provides a link to an example of an Adobe Analytics integration that uses some of the tools from the list. Section 8 provides a link to documentation on how to complete your app in App Manager. And finally section 9 is a reference section with links to more helpful documentation on each of the tools available to integrate with Adobe Analytics.
1. Getting started using App Manager
The App Manager is a tool that helps you build your integration and package it into an 'app' to list on the Adobe Exchange. Clients that want to enable your integration will be able to search for your integration app on the Adobe Exchange. When they click on the app, they will be presented with a wizard to set up the necessary connections or instructions on how to enable the integration (for integrations where a wizard wouldn't be feasible).
To get started with your Adobe Analytics integration, log into the the App Manager. Fill out the App Profile information and then go to the Connections screen. This screen allows you to select the APIs that you will be using with your Adobe Analytics integration.
The following sections describe the available connections and link to documentation that can help you understand which ones you'll want to use.
2. Adobe Analytics API (v2.0)
The most recent version of the Adobe Analytics API is version 2.0. While not all of the functionality from 1.4 has been moved over, this is the version of the API that will receive future support and we recommend that partners work with this version where possible. More functionality will be added to the API over time. Currently, the 2.0 APIs support bulk data insertion, reporting and segmentation. See this documentation for details.
The 2.0 Adobe Analytics API uses Adobe I/O authentication and the App Manager (where you manage your integrations with Adobe Experience Cloud) has an integration with Adobe I/O that will be released someday. When you complete your integration app in the App Manager, any customers that sign up for your integration will be presented with a wizard that will walk them through the process of giving you API access to their account in Adobe Analytics. This will make the authentication process much simpler for your clients. See this article for more details.
3. Adobe Analytics Legacy API (v1.4)
Adobe Analytics 1.4 APIs currently support the following APIs:
- Reporting
- Segments
- Calculated Metrics
- Classifications
- Saint
- Data Warehouse
- Data Insertion
- Data Sources
- Data Feeds
- Live Stream
Check out this documentation for details.
Until recently the 1.4 APIs used a legacy authentication process, however they have recently been updated to the Adobe I/O authentication method. That means that when you release you integration via App Manager, your clients will be able to use a simple authentication wizard to grant you API access to their account (see this article for more details).
4. Adobe Experience Platform Launch
Adobe Experience Platform Launch is Adobe's tag management system and is the way that most new clients will deploy Adobe Analytics on their sites. Experience Platform Launch extensions are a great way to get data into Adobe Analytics. Check out the developer documentation to see if building a Experience Platform Launch extension would make sense for your integration. You might find that what you thought was an Adobe Analytics integration is actually better suited to an Experience Platform Launch extension or that a Experience Platform Launch extension will form a part of your integration.
5. Adobe Analytics sandbox account
Once you choose one of those two Adobe Analytics API connections in the App Manager, App Manager will automatically send a sandbox request to our provisioning team (if you don't already have an Adobe Analytics sandbox). You’ll need an Adobe Analytics sandbox to understand how Adobe Analytics works and to build and test your integration. See this help article for instructions on how to set up your user accounts and obtain access to your sandbox once it's been provisioned for you.
6. Obtaining test credentials for Adobe Analytics API version 2.0/1.4
This documentation details how you can use the new version of the Adobe Analytics API and how to obtain credentials through Adobe I/O to test the API to see if it will work for your use case with your clients.
7. Adobe Analytics integration case study
Here’s an example of how to use the Adobe Analytics product features and APIs to create an integration (in this case, an email service provider integration): Case Study Link.
8. Finishing up your app
Once you've figured out how your integration will work and built the necessary infrastructure. You can finish your app by adding the necessary licensing, documentation, instructions, and other media. This article describes how to complete an app in App Manager.
9. Other helpful links
Below are links to more documentation about Adobe Analytics product features that might be useful to a partner trying to integrate with Adobe Analytics. This documentation may be useful to you as you plan on how to build your integration.
Methods for getting data out of Adobe Analytics
- This Adobe Analytics Reporting API Comparison Table can help you to pick the right data export option for your use case.
- Adobe Analytics API v 2.0 documentation
- Adobe Analytics Legacy API (1.4) documentation:
Methods for getting Data into Adobe Analytics:
- This guide lists the various data collection methods available in Adobe Analytics. The ones used most commonly by partners are:
- Data Sources (used for importing batch offline data into Adobe Analytics):
- Classifications (used for uploading metadata to classify variables in Adobe Analytics):
- The Data Insertion API (a server-side alternative to client-side data collection):