Now accepting guest editorial from SAP, Oracle, Workday and ServiceNow practitioners.Pitch a guide
The Sign-Off Table

Lesson 1 of 5

Why migrate

10 min

Listen to this lesson

0:00 / 5:39

SAP Process Orchestration (PO) has carried a large share of SAP customers' integrations for more than a decade. It runs on SAP NetWeaver 7.5, and SAP Learning states that SAP NetWeaver 7.5 is in mainstream maintenance until the end of 2027, with an extended maintenance option until the end of 2030. SAP calls the end of maintenance the main reason to move. The target SAP points to is SAP Integration Suite.

  1. TodayPO in mainstream maintenanceSAP NetWeaver 7.5 supported; new integrations should already be built on Integration Suite.
  2. End of 2027Mainstream maintenance endsThe date SAP Learning gives for SAP NetWeaver 7.5.
  3. 2028 to 2030Extended maintenance optionAvailable until the end of 2030, at additional cost and under its own terms.
  4. After 2030No SAP maintenanceRunning critical integrations here is an unsupported risk.
The maintenance timeline behind PO migration, as stated by SAP Learning. Confirm current dates and terms for your contract in SAP for Me.
The Sign-Off Table · thesignofftable.com/academy/sap-int-301

More than a deadline

SAP's migration course lists reasons beyond the date: a broader set of integration styles (API management, events, B2B trading partner management, an integration advisor), prebuilt content on the SAP Business Accelerator Hub, a cloud-native platform on SAP BTP, and the goal of lower total cost of ownership. Treat these as hypotheses for your own business case rather than conclusions. What matters for Contoso is which of its interfaces become simpler, cheaper or safer on the new platform.

Contoso's starting point

Contoso Motor Co. runs SAP Process Orchestration 7.5 in three systems, XD1, XQ1 and XP1, alongside its ECC landscape. The S/4HANA conversion program deliberately kept the interfaces on PO and only repointed them from EP1 to CMP, to keep go-live risk down. Theo's integration team now owns a second program: move 64 integrated configurations off PO before the end of 2027, run in SAP Cloud ALM like the conversion. New interfaces, including everything for the planned Mexican acquisition, are already built on Integration Suite.

Business systemsS/4HANA CMP, the bank, Lakeside Components, Great Lakes Fleet Services, carriers, a warehouse system
Today: SAP Process Orchestration XP164 integrated configurations, Java and graphical mappings, some custom adapter modules
Target: SAP Integration SuiteCloud Integration tenants for cross-domain traffic; API Management for exposed APIs
Target option: Edge Integration CellFor interfaces whose systems all sit in Contoso's private network
Contoso's integration landscape before and after the PO migration.
The Sign-Off Table · thesignofftable.com/academy/sap-int-301

The target runtime question

Not every interface has to run in the public cloud. SAP describes Edge Integration Cell as an optional hybrid runtime of Integration Suite: design and monitoring stay in the cloud, but integration flows and APIs run in a customer-managed landscape, so messages between on-premise systems never leave it. SAP's migration material positions it for integrations where every system sits inside the private landscape. Cross-domain integrations, such as S/4HANA to a SaaS application or a partner, typically run in the cloud tenant and reach on-premise systems through SAP Cloud Connector.

Choosing the runtime per interface: Edge Integration Cell when every system sits inside the private landscape or the data must stay there, a cloud tenant otherwise.
The Sign-Off Table · thesignofftable.com/academy/sap-int-301

SAP's migration course also recommends a sequence that fits Contoso: build all new integrations on Integration Suite, use it during the S/4HANA transition (where new APIs, events and prebuilt content may remove some old interfaces altogether), and then scale up and finish the move off PO. Many customers run both platforms in parallel for a while; the plan has to make that coexistence safe and short.

Contoso follows SAP's recommended sequence: keep PO through the conversion, build new on Integration Suite, then move the rest off PO in waves.
The Sign-Off Table · thesignofftable.com/academy/sap-int-301

What would you do?

Grace, the PMO lead, is asked by the steering committee whether the PO migration can wait until 2029 because extended maintenance runs to 2030. What is the most responsible answer?

Key points
  • SAP Learning states mainstream maintenance for SAP NetWeaver 7.5 until end of 2027, extended option until end of 2030.
  • Check maintenance dates in SAP's own material and record where you checked.
  • Edge Integration Cell is an option for interfaces that stay inside the private landscape.
  • Build new integrations on Integration Suite now; plan coexistence to be safe and short.

Check your understanding · not graded

Lesson check

  1. 1. According to SAP Learning, until when is SAP NetWeaver 7.5 in mainstream maintenance?

  2. 2. What does SAP's migration course recommend for new integrations while PO is still running?

  3. 3. Which target runtime suits an interface between two systems inside Contoso's private network?

  4. 4. What happens to PO at the end of mainstream maintenance?