Today’s fast-paced, ever-evolving business world demands seamless integration between the various systems and applications companies operate simultaneously…

Enter SAP Cloud Platform Integration (CPI) – a powerful cloud-based middleware solution that bridges the gap between SAP and non-SAP products, ensuring smooth data exchange and streamlined operations. But what makes SAP CPI stand out from other integration platforms?

In this blog post, we will explore the key capabilities and features of SAP CPI, best practices to help your organization harness the power of SAP CPI for better business integration, and where our experienced SAP consultant team can fit in your organization.

Key Takeaways

  • SAP CPI is a cloud-based middleware solution that enables the integration of applications and automated data transformation.
  • It provides prebuilt adapters, adjustable content, and support for synchronous and asynchronous scenarios to enable businesses to integrate their systems.
  • SAP CPI offers cost savings, improved productivity & enhanced collaboration through its features & migration process from PO to Cloud Platform Integration.

What is SAP CPI?

SAP Cloud Platform Integration (CPI) is a cloud-based middleware solution designed to facilitate the integration of cloud and on-premise applications with both SAP and non-SAP products.

SAP Cloud Integration helps connect various systems and applications seamlessly, enabling automated data transformation without human intervention. With its comprehensive features, flexible deployment options, and robust support resources, SAP CPI is the ideal integration package for organizations seeking to future-proof their integration landscape and stay ahead in a rapidly evolving business environment.

Exploring the Cloud Platform Integration Suite

By taking a closer look at SAP Cloud Integration services, companies reveal a comprehensive suite of applications that offers cloud-based middleware, business process integration, and improved connectivity between cloud and on-premise applications.

This suite acts as a unified platform meeting all integration requirements, and it is a fully cloud-based system that enables seamless integration across various platforms, ensuring your business stays agile and up-to-date with the latest technological advancements.

Whether you are already familiar with SAP Process Orchestration (PO) functionality or new to the world of business integration, SAP CPI is a game-changing solution tailored to meet your unique integration needs and facilitate better connection between your on-premise and cloud-based applications.

SAP’s Cloud-Based Middleware

SAP’s cloud-based middleware solution, SAP Cloud Platform Integration (CPI), facilitates the connection of SAP ERP systems with third-party products and other on-premise apps, enabling a seamless integration between different solutions across the SAP landscape.

By providing a convenient way of integrating all systems and applications, SAP CPI streamlines compatibility and reduces the time taken for integration. This means your business can improve cost efficiency, increase productivity, boost collaboration and data sharing, and increase scalability.

Integrating Business Processes

SAP CPI allows for streamlining operations, minimizing manual tasks, and optimizing overall efficiency. The CPI connection type, for instance, provides an HTTPS connection to the Cloud Integration service for secure data transmission, ensuring that your cloud services are effectively and securely utilized.

Integrating business processes through SAP CPI leads to automation of data entry, validation, and transformation, resulting in reduced manual effort and improved data accuracy within your cloud and on-premises apps.

Connecting Cloud and On-Premise Applications

SAP CPI makes it easier for companies to connect cloud and on-premise applications, allowing for effortless data sharing and collaboration across various systems. This is made possible through its primary features, such as prebuilt adapters and customization, integration content and scenarios, message processing, and asynchronous scenarios.

SAP Cloud Platform Integration provides a seamless integration platform catering to specific business needs, whether connecting an on-premise SAP ERP system to a cloud-based CRM or integrating an HR system with a third-party payroll provider.

Key Features of SAP CPI

SAP CPI, a part of the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP), offers a robust and flexible integration platform equipped with ready-to-use adapters, adjustable integration content, and support for both synchronous and asynchronous scenarios. These features ensure that you can easily integrate your systems and applications, regardless of their complexity or unique requirements.

From simple data transfers to intricate business processes, SAP CPI has the tools and capabilities to help your organization achieve its integration goals.

Here’s a closer look at a few of the main features of SAP Cloud Platform integration for users:

Prebuilt Adapters and Customization

SAP CPI provides prebuilt adapters and flexible customization options, allowing easy integration with various systems and applications and better connection across the entire SAP landscape.

These adapters are ready-to-use and pre-constructed blocks of code that facilitate connectivity and integration between different applications or systems, simplifying the management of customer data, analysis of business activities, and optimizing integration processes. The adapter SDK in SAP Cloud Integration can also be utilized to construct custom adapters to fulfill additional connectivity requirements.

Integration Content and Scenarios

SAP CPI offers various integration scenarios and other content catering to different business needs and requirements. Integration content refers to the artifacts, such as integration flows, that enable the reading, updating, deploying, or undeploying of integrations within a system or platform.

This facilitates the efficient exchange of information between different applications or systems by allowing for the seamless connection and contextualization of processes and data.

Message Processing and Asynchronous Scenarios

Message processing and asynchronous scenarios in SAP CPI ensure reliable and efficient data exchange between systems for optimal performance.

SAP Cloud Platform Integration tools support both synchronous and asynchronous scenarios, enabling users to create integrations that can be triggered by events or run on a schedule. This provides a highly flexible and powerful integration platform that manages various data exchange requirements, from simple data transfers to complex business processes.

SAP CPI Deployment: Neo and Cloud Foundry Environments

SAP Cloud Platform Integration can be deployed in both Neo and Cloud Foundry environments, offering flexibility and compatibility with different system requirements. So, whether you are looking for a user-friendly platform with the Neo environment or a more advanced and scalable solution with the Cloud Foundry environment, Cloud Platform Integration tools in SAP have you covered.

Here’s a closer look at each SAP Cloud Platform Integration deployment environment:

Neo Environment

The Neo environment is a popular choice for SAP CPI deployment due to its ease of use and compatibility with various systems. As a widely-used platform, Neo is renowned for its user-friendliness and compatibility with numerous systems. It’s an ideal choice for businesses looking to deploy SAP CPI with minimal effort and disruption to their existing infrastructure.

Cloud Foundry Environment

On the other hand, the Cloud Foundry environment offers a more advanced and scalable option for SAP CPI deployment, catering to larger and more complex integration needs.

Built on an open-source platform as a service (PaaS), Cloud Foundry enables developers to build, deploy, run, and scale applications in various clouds, developer frameworks, and application services. This environment facilitates the development of cloud-native applications using Java technology and provides a secure and reliable platform for running cloud applications.

Leveraging SAP CPI for Business Integration

Leveraging SAP CPI for business integration presents numerous benefits for your organization, including cost savings, enhanced productivity, and improved collaboration and data sharing across various systems and applications.

With its prebuilt adapters and customization capabilities, integration content and scenarios, and message processing and asynchronous scenarios, Cloud Platform Integration in SAP offers a powerful tool to help your organization achieve its integration goals and unlock its full potential.

Cost Savings and Efficiency

Utilizing SAP CPI for business integration can provide considerable cost savings by eliminating manual processes, optimizing operational efficiency, and harmonizing systems between departments. This allows organizations to easily integrate their existing SAP and non-SAP systems with new ones, reducing the need for custom development and overall integration costs.

By automating manual processes such as data entry, data validation, and data transformation, SAP Cloud Platform Integration can help decrease the time and resources required to complete tasks.

Enhanced Productivity

Enhanced productivity is achieved through seamless integration and automation of business processes using SAP Cloud Integration tools. By streamlining operations and reducing manual effort, SAP CPI can help improve data accuracy and increase efficiency, resulting in enhanced productivity for your organization. This means that your business can achieve more with less effort, time, and resources in the business-to-business (B2B) market, giving you a competitive edge over others in the industry.

Improved Collaboration and Data Sharing

Connecting cloud and on-premise applications through SAP CPI makes improved collaboration and data sharing possible. And, by facilitating seamless data exchange between different teams and departments, SAP CPI can help improve collaboration and data sharing across your organization. This not only enhances workflows and communication but also promotes a more efficient and cohesive working environment.

Migrating to SAP CPI: From SAP PO to Cloud Platform Integration

If your organization is considering migrating from SAP Process Orchestration (PO) to SAP CPI, understanding the process, accessing available support resources and consulting services, and addressing potential challenges and solutions is crucial to your success.

Migration Process

Migrating from SAP PO to SAP CPI requires careful planning and execution to ensure a smooth transition. Following a structured approach and leveraging available resources can lead your organization to a successful migration to SAP CPI, unlocking the benefits of the cutting-edge integration platform.

The migration process involves the following steps:

  1. Assessing the current system
  2. Planning the migration
  3. Executing the migration
  4. Ensuring minimal disruption to your existing infrastructure

Support Resources and Consultancy Services

Support resources and consultancy services are available to assist businesses in their migration journey from SAP PO to SAP CPI. SAP offers its own support services, third-party consultants, and online resources for SAP CPI migration. Leveraging these resources and seeking expert guidance can empower your organization to confidently navigate the migration process, ensuring a successful transition to the new platform.

But, if in-built consultancy services don’t provide the kind of support you need, our expert SAP consultant team has you covered!

Potential Challenges and Solutions

Potential challenges during the migration process can be addressed through proper planning, resource allocation, and expert guidance. Some common challenges include data migration, system integration, and security. Identifying potential issues early on and developing effective solutions can help your organization mitigate risks and promote a smooth migration to the CPI SAP solution.

Get Started with SAP Cloud Platform Integration with help from Surety Systems!

Interested in learning how SAP Cloud Platform Integration (CPI) can facilitate better connections between your existing solutions and other cloud applications? Contact our SAP consultants to get started today!

See How We Can Help

How Can We Help?

Whether you need help leveraging SAP Cloud Integration tools to connect data between your on-premise and cloud-based applications, additional support facilitating application-to-application connection, or just an extra hand navigating connections with other SAP solutions, Surety Systems is here to help.

Our senior-level, US-based SAP consultant team has the right skills, experience, and technical know-how to handle all your most important project needs. From implementation to integration, upgrade, enhancement, and post-implementation support, our SAP consultants have you covered!

Getting Started with Our Team

Interested in learning how SAP Cloud Platform Integration can facilitate better connections between existing SAP solutions and other cloud applications or where our SAP consulting services can fit in your organization?

Contact us today to get started with our team!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main role of SAP CPI?

SAP CPI is SAP’s cloud-based middleware that enables real-time data exchange between systems, such as SAP ERP and third-party products. It connects users’ on-premises or cloud-based systems running SAP or other software and relies on open standards.

CPI is a powerful tool that can be used to automate processes, integrate applications, and manage data flows. It is designed to be easy to use and can be used to build integrations between different systems quickly.

What is SAP CPI and BTP?

SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) is a business-centric and open technology platform that provides a set of services and tools, including the CPI tool, to enable integration between different systems, applications, and data sources. CPI works as a middleware solution with a sense of replication integrated with its core.

What is the difference between SAP PI and SAP CPI?

SAP CPI is cloud-based and offers pre-built content, whereas SAP PI is on-premise and offers more advanced features and flexibility. The CPI infrastructure is designed to be easy to use and requires minimal setup, while SAP PI is more complex and requires more technical knowledge.

Is SAP CPI the same as the Integration Suite?

SAP CPI and SAP Integration Suite are the same – the former is an evolution of the latter. SAP has developed and improved its cloud integration solution over time, resulting in the updated name change.

What environments can SAP CPI be deployed in?

SAP CPI can be deployed in both Neo and Cloud Foundry environments, providing flexibility and compatibility for various system requirements.