SAP Process Orchestration (SAP PO, formerly SAP PI) software helps you improve process efficiencies and respond to changing demands. As the process orchestration layer of SAP’s Business Technology Platform, it supports custom process applications and integration scenarios.
You can integrate your system landscape more smoothly and efficiently using SAP PO without risking existing investments. This comprehensive guide shows you how to configure, work with, and manage SAP process orchestration.
Getting Started
Whether starting fresh with SAP process orchestration or migrating from SAP PI, it’s crucial to comprehend how to utilize this tool to its full potential.
The SAP PI platform uses standard space to exchange information between distributed business applications and 3rd-party systems. It lets you synchronize data between different systems to automate and optimize your processes. It also includes several tools to connect to external data sources.
Using the ES Repository and Registry
The ES Repository and Registry are tools that you can use to help with process orchestration. They provide a central repository for interface objects (such as Data Types, Message Types, and Service Interfaces) and a central registry for application integration services.
The Service Registry lets you publish enterprise services and their related metadata, classified at design time, in a UDDI-based repository. It also provides a classification system and search tools to make finding services published in the Services Registry easier.
The ES Repository and the Registry are essential components of SAP Process Orchestration. You can use them to configure the system landscape directory, create and manage the integration directory, and build integration flows. They also enable you to work with software component versions relevant to shipment.
Using the AEX
The AEX is a tool that helps with process orchestration. It provides a tool infrastructure to model and design business processes – from the overall process flow and the sequence of activities to the interfaces and data types needed to integrate SAP and external systems.
It also allows you to configure integration content, for example, service interfaces and mappings.
Unlike the Advanced Adapter Engine (AAE), an independent tool that can only be used to build and execute an interface, the AEX has a repository where all the interface objects are stored. It is then accessed by the system runtime when it tries to execute an interface.
Using the Integration Directory
Process orchestration enables companies to automate processes, increase efficiency, and reduce costs. It provides a service-oriented architecture and integration capabilities to connect systems.
SAP PI offers a platform to design, model, implement and execute business processes efficiently and flexibly to connect multiple business or technical systems and applications (SAP and non-SAP). It also helps to define and manage user-defined business rules, which non-technical stakeholders can easily change.
The SAP PI architecture consists of the integration repository, which acts as a central processing engine of the PI domain and provides messaging capabilities to the PI components. It also includes the workbench tool used to monitor the PI domain. It supports all PI features like the message, performance, component monitoring, etc.
Building Integration Flows
SAP Process Orchestration (SAP PO) is a robust middleware tool that can connect different systems in an organization and integrate data and processes. In addition, it offers a range of tools that can be used to configure integration flows.
Various adapters allow you to connect different systems through several communication protocols. You can also route messages based on business processes and technical routing rules.
The system also supports the transformation and mapping of data between systems. It is done through a mapping that determines the structure of incoming data and converts it to a format that the target system understands.
In addition, you can use AEX to monitor your integrations and perform configuration tasks. You can also use the new Process Integration Designer perspective within SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio to build end-to-end integrations.
Creating an SAP BPM Process
Process-driven applications require an excellent architecture to balance diverse challenges such as flexibility, maintainability, scalability, and fault tolerance.
SAP offers different solutions to support these requirements. One is SAP Process Integration (PI), which provides a centralized integration platform for integrating external and internal SAP systems.
PI supports system integration, business process management, and business rules management. It also includes several technical components.
Migrating from SAP PI to SAP PO
Many organizations use an on-premise middleware solution called SAP PI to create and manage integration processes. However, many companies are looking for a logical replacement for SAP PI with the move to cloud-first technology.
The solution is the SAP Cloud Platform (CPI). This new product enables users to harmonize on-premise and cloud integrations.
PI is an application integration middleware that connects SAP and non-SAP systems with various adapters. Unlike other tools, PI allows developers to build interfaces with minimal coding.
Messages can be routed through PI based on technical routing rules and business process rules, and messages can be mapped or transformed between sender and receiver systems. PI also provides centralized monitoring through the use of message monitor. This feature allows you to track the state of every interface runtime step at the sender adapter, routing determination, XML validation, message transformation, receiver adapter, etc.