You are going down the right path. There are several existing WebServices that you could leverage and there are many more available through the SDK. To use them in workflow you need to either import the applicable component library (so you then have those components available to you) or you may need to generate your own Integration library from the WebService and them import that component library.
I had to do something similar to be able to insert attachments to Helpdesk 6.5 from a Workflow 7 process.
Sorry I don't have a full detailed answer. I am too busy to dive that deep right now.