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SAP Integration

SAP Integration Services for ERP

IDoc, BAPI, RFC, OData, SOAP, REST and file transfer all still exist in a real SAP estate, and each one is right for something different.

  • 2-4 wkStandard interface on content packs
  • 6-12 wkComplex bespoke interface
  • 100%Interfaces monitored and alerted
  • CleanCore kept free of modifications

Why It Matters

Where you put the integration decides what your next upgrade costs

Integrations belong on BTP, not inside the SAP system

Every custom Z programme, user exit and enhancement that carries an interface has to be retested, and often rewritten, at each upgrade. Put the logic on SAP Integration Suite instead, talk to released APIs and standard IDoc types, and the upgrade stops being a project.

  • Mapping and transformation live in iFlows, not in ABAP exits
  • Released OData and standard IDoc types rather than direct table reads
  • Existing core-embedded interfaces identified and moved out first

An interface without monitoring is a future outage

Most SAP integration failures are not dramatic. A message queue stalls on a Friday, nobody looks, and on Monday finance is missing four hundred invoices.

  • Alerts that name the interface and the failed document
  • Failed payloads retained and reprocessed, not silently dropped
  • Idempotency keys so retries do not double-post

Five stages from interface inventory to a monitored live flow

  1. Inventory

    We list every existing interface, its volume and its owner, and mark the dead ones for retirement.

  2. Design

    Protocol chosen per interface, field mapping agreed, and error handling written down before any build.

  3. Build

    iFlows on Cloud Integration, content packs reused where they fit, APIs published through API Management.

  4. Test

    Volume runs on a sandbox tenant, including the failure cases, duplicates and out of order messages.

  5. Cutover

    Parallel run until counts match, then alerts tuned and the runbook handed to your support team.

What every SAP interface ships with

  • Interface specification

    Protocol, trigger, field mapping, volumes and the rule for which system wins on a conflict.

  • Cloud Integration iFlows

    Built on SAP Integration Suite, reusing SAP integration content packs wherever one genuinely fits.

  • API Management and security

    Published APIs with policies, rate limits, OAuth and certificates held in the BTP keystore.

  • Monitoring and alerting

    Message monitoring, queue and IDoc status checks, and alerts routed to a named owner.

  • Error handling and reprocessing

    Retry with backoff, retained payloads, and a documented path to reprocess a failed document.

  • Runbook and handover

    Register, mapping documents and support procedures, so your team is not dependent on us.

Why teams choose TCB Infotech for SAP integration

  • We retire before we rebuild

    In a PI or PO inventory a large share of interfaces are dead or duplicated. Rebuilding those is money burnt.

  • Right protocol per interface

    IDoc where IDoc is better. We do not wrap everything in REST to look modern.

  • Clean core by default

    Logic on BTP, released APIs only, so your upgrades stay a technical exercise rather than a rebuild.

  • Failure cases are in scope

    Monitoring, retry, idempotency and reprocessing are quoted with the interface, not added after an incident.

  • Honest about the platform

    If your existing middleware can carry the work, we will tell you rather than sell you a BTP tenant.

SAP integration questions

IDoc, OData or REST, how do we choose?

By the document and the volume, not by fashion. IDoc is still the right answer for classic document exchange such as orders, deliveries, invoices and master data, because the structures, acknowledgements and reprocessing tools already exist. OData suits Fiori apps and anything that reads or writes a small set of records interactively. REST and SOAP through the Integration Suite suit third party systems that publish their own contract. RFC and BAPI are for function calls inside a trusted network. We pick per interface and write down why.

Do we have to use SAP Integration Suite?

No. If you already run MuleSoft, Boomi or Azure Integration Services and your team supports it, adding a second platform for five interfaces is a waste of money and we will say so. Integration Suite earns its place when you want the pre-built SAP integration content packs, SAP to SAP scenarios, Event Mesh, and support that does not stop at the SAP boundary. We size both options against your interface count before you commit.

What happens to our existing PI or PO interfaces?

SAP PI and PO are heading for end of maintenance, so they have to move. We inventory every interface first, because in most estates 20 to 40 percent are dead or duplicated and should be retired rather than rebuilt. What remains is rebuilt as Cloud Integration iFlows, mappings and value mappings carried across, and run in parallel until the message counts match. It is scoped per interface, not as one lump sum.

How are failed messages handled and reprocessed?

Every interface gets defined error handling before it goes live. Transient failures retry with backoff. Anything that still fails lands in a queue with the payload kept, raises an alert naming the interface and the document, and can be reprocessed once the cause is fixed. Interfaces are built to be idempotent, so a retry does not post a second invoice or a second goods movement.

Will our integrations survive an S/4HANA upgrade?

They will if they sit outside the core. That is the whole point of clean core: interfaces and extensions live on BTP and talk to released APIs and standard IDoc types, so an upgrade does not touch them. Interfaces wired into modified core code or reading tables directly are the ones that break, and those are the ones we move first.

Real time or scheduled batch, which do we need?

Both, and the choice is per interface. Sales orders, payment confirmations and shipment status belong in real time or on events, because a delay changes what someone does next. Master data loads, bank statements in MT940 or CAMT format, and reconciliation extracts belong on a schedule, because one batch you can rerun is safer and cheaper than thousands of individual calls you have to chase.

Get Your SAP Interfaces Under Control

No commitment. A practical look at your SAP integration landscape.