The transmission of data is an essential component in the IT industry, so as not to run the risk of creating data silos.

The transmission of data is an essential component in the IT industry in order to avoid the danger of creating data silos and to make data usable in a value-adding manner across the board. This is not just a matter of transferring messages from A to B, but also of linking the most diverse technologies with each other via interfaces. To meet this challenge, there are a large number of products on the IT market. One of the best known products is SAP Process Orchestration (PO) with its component SAP Process Integration (PI), which is based on Application Server (AS) ABAP and AS Java. The fact that SAP PI has already successfully shaped the SAP environment for several years now, can be seen from the first release date for SAP PI 7.0 in summer of 2006. The current end of software maintenance for SAP PO is announced for December 31, 2027 (with a possible extension to December 31, 2030). Successor and replacement of the SAP PI/PO will be the "SAP Integration Suite". A quote from Charles Robert Darwin is very appropriate to this very topic:

It is not the strongest species that survives, nor the most intelligent, it is the one most able to adapt to change.

The future of SAP integration is in the cloud. That's why SAP unveiled the SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) in the summer of 2020. The SAP BTP combines data management, analytics, artificial intelligence, application development, automation and integration in a unified environment. As can be seen in Figure 1, SAP BTP consists of a variety of services.

Behind these services there are a lot of capabilities, which offer very sophisticated and complex functions. The service "Application Development and Integration" we find on the one hand the “future” with “SAP Integration Suite” and on the other hand the “past” with “SAP Process Orchestration”. SAP training course "CLD900" deals exclusively with the topic “SAP Integration Suite”. In this training you learn the interaction between SAP BTP and SAP Integration Suite. Furthermore, the concept of SAP Integration Suite with associated functionalities, such as SAP API Management, SAP Open Connectors, SAP Integration Advisory Methodology and Cloud Integration. The technology is discussed in detail, as well as its development possibilities. This is a good starting point to familiarize yourself with this topic.

When migrating as well as developing new integrations with SAP Integration Suite, creating of a working concept is the most important part. In order to understand the idea and concept between SAP BTP as well as SAP Integration Suite, we need to look at Figure 2.

This shows that SAP BTP offers over 80 services, all of which have several capabilities. When migrating and/or developing new integrations, it is essential to know the use case of the integration. The use case can be used to determine which services and associated capabilities can be used. In order to successfully map a use case, there are a number of questions that must be clarified in advance. For example, the following questions can be considered:

• Which technologies are currently being used?
• Which systems are available or affected?
• What type of messages will be transmitted?
• Which authentication tools are to be used?
• Should the incoming or outgoing messages be encrypted or decrypted?
• ...

This results in the sub accounts (previously called tenants), which can be managed in a global account. In order to administratively map the use case, so-called “entitlements” were introduced, which can be maintained by a “"global account administrator”. These in turn can be used by the users with the corresponding “Role Collections”". Since SAP Integration Suite is a pure cloud solution, all developments as well as changes happen on a web-based interface in the cloud. This service delivery brings both advantages and disadvantages.

The development work of an integration is carried out in the SAP Integration Suite, which consists of various capabilities, see Figure 3, the most important of which are cloud integration, API management, the Open Connector and the Integration Advisor Methodology. All of the mentioned “capabilities” bring different functionalities, which consist of different technologies. With the Cloud Integration, for example, hybrid and cloud application integrations can be developed, which can cover A2A and B2B/B2G scenarios and support non-SAP. With help of the Open Connector, more than 250 ready-to-use connectors to non-SAP applications are immediately available. API Management serves as a common platform for defining and publishing APIs. Related APIs are bundled and offered as a product. Last but not least, the Integration Advisor Methodology deals with machine learning. Here, it supports the creation and maintenance of customized integration interfaces and mappings.

As can be seen from the blog post, a wide variety of technologies are being used to meet every customer’s need. It is therefore all the more important to address the current problems and develop solutions. It should be noted that there is currently no uniform transport management tool available. For each technology, be it cloud integration, the cloud connector or API management, different transport paths must be used. At this point, only Cloud Integration includes a transport management tool. Another issue deals with the current licensing model. Here it is important to understand that the licenses are derived from the services used. It can happen that the wrong licenses lead to high costs. Special attention should be paid to the requirements, as the selection is diverse and can quickly lead to confusion. The following is relevant for SAP Integration Suite:

• How many messages do I want to send via cloud integration?
• How many sub-accounts (tenants) are needed?
• Is transport management needed for DevOps?
• Do I need integrated "alert notifications"?
• Do I want to be able to choose between "Pay-As-You-Go for SAP BTP pricing", "Cloud Platform Enterprise Agreement (CPEA)" and "Subscription-based pricing"?

With the strategic migration of the SAP infrastructure into the cloud, it will also be necessary to align the integration world in this direction.

With SAP Integration Suite, SAP offers an innovative tool for all customers. The added value of this technology is:

• The functionalities of the individual "capabilities" are very diverse.
• The SAP standard and prefabricated connectors make things much easier for customers.
• Over 420 prefabricated cloud integrations are freely available
• The SAP documentation is very helpful and informative.
• Each technology (capability) used can be monitored

Ultimately, SAP BTP and the associated SAP Integration Suite are just like any other new technology. Future integration consulting and development will continue to require subject matter experts who have in-depth knowledge of both cloud integration, API management, connecting on-premises systems, or connecting third-party applications. As can be seen from this article, the development of the concept is an essential component and basis for effective data handling and data integration. In conclusion, with the introduction of SAP BTP, support for the development of integrations is very much encouraged. The interaction between SAP Integration Suite and SAP BTP is very complex. Due to the variety of services provided with the associated "capabilities", all use cases can be mapped.