Lesson 3 of 5
Integration platforms
10 min
Listen to this lesson
Two systems can talk directly, but most SAP landscapes put an integration platform in the middle. The platform receives a message, transforms it into the format the receiver expects, routes it to the right place, and keeps a log of what happened. In SAP landscapes there are two platforms you need to know: SAP Process Orchestration, the on-premise platform most ECC customers run today, and SAP Integration Suite, SAP's cloud integration platform on SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP).
SAP Process Integration and Process Orchestration
SAP Process Integration (PI) and SAP Process Orchestration (PO), which bundles PI with business process management and business rules, are on-premise middleware. Release 7.5 is the last one, and most installations today run as a Java-only (single-stack) system. Interfaces are designed in an Enterprise Services Repository and configured in an Integration Directory; messages are monitored in the platform's message monitor. Many ECC customers have hundreds of interfaces running on PI/PO.
PI and PO 7.5 follow the maintenance strategy for SAP NetWeaver 7.5: mainstream maintenance ends on December 31, 2027, and optional extended maintenance, at extra cost, runs to December 31, 2030. There is no PO 7.6: SAP positions SAP Integration Suite as the target. The systems don't stop working in 2028, but fixes, legal changes and security patches stop unless you buy extended maintenance. Confirm the dates for your contract in the SAP Product Availability Matrix before you plan around them.
SAP Integration Suite
SAP Integration Suite is a set of capabilities on SAP BTP, licensed and activated as needed. The SAP Learning course on administering the suite lists these capabilities:
| Capability | What it does |
|---|---|
| Cloud Integration | Designs, runs and monitors integration flows that connect cloud and on-premise systems; the direct successor of PI/PO message flows |
| API Management | Creates, publishes, secures and monitors APIs, including throttling and access policies |
| Event Mesh | Brokers events (topics, queues, webhook subscriptions) between SAP and other systems. It succeeds the standalone SAP Event Mesh service; for high-volume, multi-region event networks SAP offers a separate service, SAP Integration Suite, advanced event mesh |
| Integration Advisor | Builds message implementation guidelines (MIGs) and mapping guidelines (MAGs) for B2B standards such as ANSI X12, UN/EDIFACT and SAP IDoc, with machine-learning proposals |
| Trading Partner Management | Manages B2B partner profiles, agreement templates and agreements; activating an agreement writes its settings to the Partner Directory, which generic B2B integration flows read at runtime |
| Open Connectors | Prebuilt connectors to non-SAP cloud applications |
| Integration Assessment | Supports the SAP Integration Solution Advisory Methodology for choosing integration technology |
| Migration Assessment | Extracts PI/PO integrated configurations and rates each scenario Ready to migrate, Adjustment required or Evaluation required. A separate migration tool in Cloud Integration converts supported scenarios into integration flows |
Capabilities of SAP Integration Suite as listed by SAP Learning; availability depends on your license and edition.
Integration Suite is a cloud service, but it can reach on-premise systems through the SAP Cloud Connector, and SAP also offers Edge Integration Cell, an option to run integration content inside the customer's own private landscape while design and monitoring stay in the cloud. Whether Contoso needs it depends on data residency and latency requirements.
Direct connections still exist
Not everything goes through middleware. SAP Fiori apps call OData services in the same system. Some SAP-to-SAP scenarios connect directly. Some partners call SAP S/4HANA APIs directly through API Management. A good interface inventory says, for each interface, whether a platform is involved, because that decides where the logs are.
- Today (ECC)Interfaces on SAP PO 7.5About 60 interfaces at Contoso run through the existing PO system
- Conversion go-liveSame platform, new back endThe conversion keeps PO in place; every interface is retested against SAP S/4HANA
- After hypercareMigration wavesInterfaces move to Cloud Integration in groups, starting with the simplest
- Before PO end of maintenancePO retiredLast interfaces migrated; the PO system is decommissioned
What would you do?
During integration testing, Maria reports that a Great Lakes order never appeared in SAP S/4HANA. The interface runs EDI to PO to an ORDERS IDoc. Where should Theo look first?
- Integration platforms transform, route and log messages between systems.
- SAP Process Orchestration 7.5 is the common on-premise platform; mainstream maintenance ends at the end of 2027 (extended to 2030 at extra cost), and SAP positions SAP Integration Suite as its successor.
- Integration Suite capabilities include Cloud Integration, API Management, Event Mesh, B2B tools (Trading Partner Management, Integration Advisor) and assessment and migration tools.
- Know whether each interface passes through a platform, because that is where the first evidence is.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. Which SAP Integration Suite capability runs message-based integration flows, the closest match to PI/PO scenarios?
2. What does the Migration Assessment capability help with?
3. Why did Contoso keep its PO system through the ERP conversion?