Atlassian Rovo is a cutting-edge, AI-powered platform designed to enhance workplace productivity by empowering teams to search, learn, and act on information from various tools and systems. With a focus on addressing the challenges of Big Data, Rovo seamlessly integrates with third-party services, making it easier for users to gain insights, automate tasks, and optimize collaboration. By leveraging its core pillars of searching, learning, and acting, organizations can effectively centralize and utilize their dispersed knowledge, while AI transforms the way teams work.
Table of Contents: What awaits you in this article
Enhance Collaboration and Knowledge Discovery with Rovo’s Integration
One of the key features of Rovo is its ability to integrate third-party services such as Google Drive and Microsoft SharePoint through connectors. These connectors allow Rovo to access, index, and retrieve files and documents from external systems, all within the Atlassian suite of tools. Users can seamlessly search for documents or information stored in Drive or SharePoint using natural language queries, without the need to switch between platforms. This integration enhances collaboration among teams and improves knowledge discovery, saving time and enhancing efficiency.
Streamline Your Workflow: Adding the Rovo Connector to Google Workspace
Adding the Rovo connector to Google Workspace is a straightforward process that involves two simple steps. First, go to https://admin.atlassian.com and navigate to Settings, then Rovo, and finally your website to configure the Google connector. Take note of the client ID and OAuth scopes. Second, ensure you are a Google Workspace administrator and add the client ID, along with the OAuth permissions. By following these steps, you can seamlessly integrate Google Drive with Atlassian Rovo and enhance collaboration and knowledge discovery within your organization.
- To configure the Google connector, go to https://admin.atlassian.com, navigate to Settings > Rovo > Your website. Take note of the Client ID and OAuth scopes
- Make sure you are a Google Workspace administrator. Add the client ID, including the OAuth permissions
Rovo is compatible with Google Workspace, not Google Drive
- The Rovo platform is specifically designed to work with Google Workspace, an enterprise-level product, and not with Google Drive alone
- Atlassian Rovo’s integration with Google Workspace is limited to documents, presentations, and spreadsheets
- If you remove the Rovo connector, you also need to remove the previously configured domain-wide delegation in the Google Admin Console. Otherwise, it is always possible to reconnect the Rovo connector without any additional credentials
- Domain-wide delegation in Atlassian Rovo appears to have no time limit
- The indexing process for all files in our Google Workspace took quite some time, especially when compared to Microsoft SharePoint
The Importance of User Experience in the Atlassian Ecosystem
The user experience within the Atlassian ecosystem is of utmost importance to us, and we consistently emphasize this to our customers. However, integrating Rovo with SharePoint is not as straightforward as one might expect. It is important to note that comparing the Azure portal with the Google Workspace admin console is not apples-to-apples, as they target different user personas: Microsoft administrators on one side, and business owners and non-technical users on the other. Despite this, there is room for improvement in this integration, with responsibility lying more with Microsoft than Atlassian.
The Atlassian documentation provides an in-depth description of the process, covering all necessary steps in detail. However, it focuses primarily on the configuration steps for the old Microsoft Entra-Admin experience. In contrast, we will guide you through the integration process using the new Entra-Admin user interface, including the additional steps required for newer SharePoint tenants (after 2019). This ensures that you have the most up-to-date information and can successfully set up the integration with the latest SharePoint versions.
Throughout our experience, we encountered several challenges that we believe are worth highlighting. These challenges ranged from technical issues with the integration process to difficulties in managing permissions within Microsoft Teams. Additionally, we observed that the documentation provided by Atlassian may not fully align with the newer version of the Microsoft Entra-Admin interface, requiring users to navigate through different steps. It is important for users to be aware of these challenges and adapt their approach accordingly.
Microsoft 365 Business subscription required for this integration
To utilize this integration, a Microsoft 365 Business subscription is required. Please note that this integration is not compatible with OneDrive or private Office 365 subscriptions as they do not have SharePoint functionality.
To effectively manage the Microsoft tenant and integrate with SharePoint, you need to have Entra Admin permissions for your Microsoft tenant and be a SharePoint administrator for the SharePoint integration. We consistently held the role of Global Admins and couldn’t test what happens when other roles are assumed.
Ensure Entra-Admin status and access Microsoft Entra-Admin Center
- To access the Microsoft Entra-Admincenter, ensure that you are an Entra administrator
- To begin the process, navigate to the “Identity” section and click on “Applications” and then “App Registrations”
- Register Rovo as a new application
- To proceed, make sure to jot down the application and tenant IDs on the next page
- Go to API permissions, click on “Add permission”, select “Microsoft Graph” and “Application permissions”
- Select the listed permissions and click on “Add Permissions” button
- User access
- Permissions for reading groups
- This permission allows reading all group members’ information
- Access permission
- Microsoft Graph permission
- Permission to read all reports
- Microsoft Graph permission
- Audit Logs Query
- Once you are back on the “API Permissions” view, grant administrator consent for all recently added permissions
- In the next step, navigate to Certificates & Secrets and generate a new client secret. Make sure to save the value
- We make a note of the application ID, tenant ID, and client secret, and then go back to https://admin.atlassian.com â Settings â Rovo â your website â to configure our SharePoint connector
- The configuration process is not yet complete, as additional credentials need to be created using the provided URL. This URL, although well-documented, is not accessible through the official Entra-Admincenter. By using the application ID, users can locate the app and add the specified XML in the “Permission Request XML” field
- SharePoint sites
- Internet technology
- Enhanced productivity
After completing the previous steps, it is necessary to establish trust in the application. This involves granting the necessary permissions and authorizations to ensure a secure and seamless integration between Atlassian Rovo and the chosen platform, such as SharePoint or Google Drive. By trusting the app, users can confidently access and manage their files and documents within the Atlassian suite, enhancing collaboration and knowledge sharing within their organization.
For newer SharePoint tenants, there are additional steps that need to be followed using PowerShell to connect SharePoint to Rovo. These steps are highlighted in the Atlassian Support documentation titled “Connect SharePoint to Rovo.” Once you have followed these instructions, you should be able to see a Microsoft SharePoint result filter on the right side of the Confluence search.
Rovo enhances SharePoint collaboration with document, presentation, and spreadsheet support
- Rovo’s integration with SharePoint is limited to documents, presentations, and spreadsheets
- Integrating Teams into Atlassian Rovo offers the potential to greatly enhance the value of your organization. With comprehensive documentation available, this integration allows Rovo to index all messages in Teams, including private messages and channels. However, it is crucial to thoroughly review permissions within Microsoft Teams, as recommended by Atlassian. Consideration should be given to the benefits this integration can bring, such as improved collaboration and knowledge management within your organization
- The documentation refers to the outdated Microsoft Entra administration. A new version with a more user-friendly interface is now available. The process in the new Entra Admincenter deviates from the documented steps. For example, users now need to access the app registration between steps 3 and 4 in the new Entra Admincenter before managing API permissions
- To set up newer SharePoint instances, it is important to have PowerShell installed and follow additional steps
- It took us some time to identify the issue of search results not being displayed: Ensure that outdated connections to SharePoint, Teams, or Google Drive are removed from your Atlassian profile. Connecting to SharePoint/Drive via Rovo may not be possible in such cases. To access search results, an additional authentication through OAuth is required. The process of managing Atlassian SharePoint connections across different websites, each associated with your Atlassian profile, remains unclear to us
Managing App Registration Credentials: Renewing Client Secrets Made Easy
The client login credentials generated during app registration have a limited lifespan, which is a smart security measure but can be slightly inconvenient. To renew the client secret, you need to follow these steps:
- Access the Entra admin center interface
- Go to app registrations
- Open the application registration for Atlassian Rovo
- Open the Certificates & secrets section
- To enhance security, generate a fresh client secret and save it
To replace the Client-Secret in the Org-Administration, follow these steps:
- Go to https://admin.atlassian.com and select your Cloud organization
- Access the settings menu and select Rovo
- Open the website where you have activated Rovo
- To access the connector, navigate to it and click on the three dots, then select “Manage
- Scroll down and replace the client secret value
Enhance Collaboration and Knowledge Management with Atlassian Rovo and SharePoint
The integration of Atlassian Rovo with Microsoft SharePoint provides organizations with a valuable opportunity to enhance collaboration and knowledge management. While the process may have some complexities, following the detailed steps in the documentation should lead to a successful integration. Additionally, the insights and observations shared in this blog offer valuable guidance for users looking to effectively integrate Atlassian Rovo with SharePoint. Embracing this integration can greatly benefit organizations by centralizing knowledge and transforming the way teams work together.
