SAP HCM integration with SuccessFactors BizX – For now and in the future
Hundreds of SAP ERP HCM customers leverage SuccessFactors BizX Talent Management functionality today. Prior to the acquisition, customers were responsible for interfacing the two systems by developing project specific solutions. To meet customer’s HR integration needs and make the solutions more flexible, SAP launched a long-term integration initiative for customers who want to take advantage of a hybrid solution. This initiative includes delivering file based integration in the short term followed by message based and process based integration scenarios to be delivered via SAP NetWeaver Process Integration OnPremise (PI) starting Q4 2012. SAP NetWeaver Cloud Integration (PI OnDemand) based integration content is expected to be available beginning in Q1 2013.
SAP released file based integration in May 2012 via an add-on for ERP 6.0 based systems as integration pack 1, followed by an upgraded delta tracking functionality in July 2012 as integration pack 2. In late Q4 2012, SAP plans to deliver web-service based integration from SAP OnPremise to SuccessFactors BizX for Organizational structure and employee master data along with process integration content. The process integration content will feed basic salary data from SAP HCM to BizX Compensation Management as well as feed compensation allocations (merit increase, basic bonus payment, equity grants) to SAP HCM (Basic Pay, Additional Payments, LTI Granting). This is followed by BizX Recruiting integration in Q1 2013. Roadmap for process integration of variable pay scenaro and others is expected to be announced later this year. These process integration scenarios are planned to be delivered using SAP PI on-premise as well as SAP Cloud Integration. It should be noted that SAP PI OnPremise is already being used by thousands of SAP customers for HR content integration.
SAP also released single sign-on (SSO) integration between NetWeaver Portal and BizX. This enables SAP’s employee self-service (ESS) and manager self-service (MSS) users to access BizX Talent Management content from within the ESS or MSS portal without having to logon again. In Q2 2013, a further update to this functionality will allow users to natively access BizX services integrated within the SAP Portal user interface and secured via SAP Portal roles.
How secure is the current SAP HCM and SuccessFactors BizX integration?
Data security has always been a top priority for customers as well as SAP and SuccessFactors. The execution of outbound interface program in SAP HCM is secured by infotype level security via authorization roles and only authorized users will be able to execute it. Users will be checked against program execution and specific infotype objects. This program generates a CSV file to a secure file location on intranet. The user could then encrypt the file using PGP and upload to SuccessFactors system using Secure File Transfer Protocol (sFTP). SuccessFactors system decrypts the file and processes it for import. The Single sign-on access to BizX from within SAP NetWeaver Portal is secured by SAP Identity Management solution based on industry standard SAML 2.0 and X.509 protocol.
SAP Cloud Integration will be used for integrating SAP HCM with other Cloud based solutions like Travel OnDemand, Customer OnDemand, Financials OnDemand, Sourcing OnDemand, etc. SAP plans to provide prepackaged integration content which can be readily leveraged by customers or can be acapted by customers or SAP partners on behalf of customers. It is also possible for customers to build their own integration scenarios which could leverage SuccessFactors APIs. SAP is also planning to release Cloud Integration with a powerful composition environment which would allow deploying standard or customized content through an intuitive interface. I am amazed at the amount of progress we made in the last several months and there is much more coming to integrate the best of SAP On Premise and SuccessFactors Cloud solutions.
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Prasanna, thank you so much for this great and detailed blog! lots of information, directly from the development hubs. I think the emphasis on the security (fig.2) is particularly well made. Flexibility is only relevant if it can be secure, and in this case, it is.
Thanks for the article Prasanna and there has been a bit of confusion over the past week that hopefully you can clarify.
1. Will customers be able to use Boomi to integrate SAP HCM Core and SuccessFactors and get the standard Compensation/Recruiting integration once it is delivered.
2. Is there any additional licensing/usage charges for an existing SAP PI OnPremise customer to be able to use the integration functionality talked about above.
3. If you are not an existing SAP PI OnPremise customer will the ONLY integration been SAP and SuccessFactors be the file based option released earlier this year.
The integration between SAP HCM and SuccessFactors is extremely important for SAP customers and want to make sure everyone is clear on exactly what technology options they have as well as any potential costs as they plan their budgets for 2013.
Thanks in advance.
Jarret, these are quite relevant questions - please see my answers below:
1. Will customers be able to use Boomi to integrate SAP HCM Core and SuccessFactors and get the standard Compensation/Recruiting integration once it is delivered.
Answer: Boomi is not the picture for process integration scenarios for Compensation & Recruiting.
2. Is there any additional licensing/usage charges for an existing SAP PI OnPremise customer to be able to use the integration functionality talked about above.
Answer: There is no additional licensing or usage charge involved for existing SAP PI OnPremise customers to use SAP HCM - SuccessFactors BizX integration content.
3. If you are not an existing SAP PI OnPremise customer will the ONLY integration been SAP and SuccessFactors be the file based option released earlier this year.
Answer: You are correct, but customers without SAP PI OnPremise could license SAP Cloud Integration (PI OnDemand) starting February next year for HR integrations.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for the clarity Prasanna and while I think that existing SAP PI customer will have no impact for the others there will either be additional licensing/cost or they will have to use a simplistic one way integration which I dont think is ideal.
Do you have any rough sense what % of SAP HCM customers are using SAP PI OnPrem?
Jarret, sorry, we are unable to share numbers on this forum, but we do have a significant number of SAP HCM customers who use PI OnPremise.
Hello. So if I understand your blog correctly - if we were to use the compensation module of successfactors - Boomi is not the middleware to use (not supported). We would need to have PI installed. Is this correct?
That is correct. Once SAP HANA Cloud Integration is released in Q3 or Q4 2013 then you can use that.
Thank you for your response. So Boomi is more for the CSV file sending/receiving (flat file)?
No, Boomi is also an integration middleware but the content provided by SAP is not compatible on that platform. CSV file transfer does not require middleware.
Hi Prasanna,
Thanks for the blog.
Just to clarify whats been said above, any process based integration between SAP anf SF is going to require additional liscencing, right?
thanks
Raj
Raj, process based integration between SAP HCM and SF requires either PI OnPremise or PI OnDemand and both require additional licensing. PI OnDemand based content will be available beginning in Feb 2013 (est.). Hope this answers your question.
Thanks for the article Prasanna it is very enlighten. I have some concerns on my own
On Premise or Cloud) need to quote certain amount of Services and licensing to
set up integration, correct?
Employee Central (EC) and some Configuration Tables and Catalogs still on a non-sync
Integration. Obviously, you can set up PI to push data in a shorten time frame,
but still this is non-sync, correct?
between both parties, cannot know in advance what is the expected data model to
be released so they can start aligning their designs towards Q12013 interface?
integrations (Compensation, Recruitment)?
or Objective Results, etc,? (As a lot of companies use that kind of data for
Bonus Payments on Payroll).
Any clarification or idea will be appreciated. Thanks
Amilcar
Amilcar, please see Chiara's response below.
To add to Chiara's response, for item 1, yes, there are licenses (PI OD or PI OP) that need to be procured for process based integrations if customer hasn't already licensed them. There is some effort needed for deploying SAP delivered prepackaged integrations, but it's going to be minimal.
For item 2, you are right, config data needs to be manually adjusted based on business rules and mappings.
Thanks for the blog, Prasanna. I found the section/diagram on process integration very useful, and easy to follow.
Thanks for your feedback Anil!
Hello Amilcar,
Nice to read you, and great questions!
Let me take a first stab at a reply.
I hope it clarify! keep the questions coming!
Hi Prasanna,
Thanks for the much needed clarification. I'm glad that SAP are working on integrations, although the additional licensing will put some customers off - although I would surprised if you didn't share these thoughts too.
I am not too concerned with customers spending time on minor integration work, since I have to perform this when I integrate TREX or SAP Org/Talent Visualization by Nakisa solutions at a customer. However, this is usually a matter of a few days rather than a few weeks/months.
Thanks for taking the time to educate the community - we appreciate the efforts that you make to keep us informed.
Best regards,
Luke
Luke, thanks for your comments. Customers with PI OnPremise won't need any additional licensing and a significant number of HCM customers already have PI OnPremise. SAP Cloud Integration (PI OnDemand) is a good option for those that don't. The incremental value provided by packaged integrations should offset the additional licensing cost, if any.
HI Prasanna,
Thanks for your comments, although your comment about licensing is already known to me and, since only 3 or 4 of my 35+ SAP HCM customes have PI licenses, this doesn't make much sense. That said, 30 is a small sample across the global SAP HCM footprint 🙂 .
Until the licensing cost of SAP PI On-Demand and the integration effort is known, many will be skeptical about integration core and on-demand HCM. Should these two factors be menial in cost then the adoption of cloud will be significantly higher than it would be otherwise - I think this goes without showing.
However, customers don't like to pay multiple licenses for what they consider as one purchase and those without PI may find it hard to justify the "double dipping".
Best regards,
Luke
Luke, appreciate your concerns. Secure integration at a process level between OnPremise and Cloud would require PI OP or PI OD, which are already separate products. Once licensing info for PI OnDemand is announced, things should be clearer. But at the end of the day, it won't make sense for customers unless additional licenses and implementation cost pass the test for business value! As Lars says, Customer must win! 🙂
Business value is always key 🙂
Prasanna - Thanks for the information, it is well-presented and valuable. Regarding the requirement for PI, it makes sense to me and I see the value PI can bring to the enterprise as a whole. Passing the test for business value is a good concern, and so I'm looking forward to seeing how all the 'moving parts' (i.e. the additional license requirements) are positioned to ensure that.
Do you have anything to share on how customizable this integration is? I know many clients who have added custom fields to core infotypes, as well as creating custom infotypes for certain scenarios.
Prasanna,
This is very informative; thank you. Do the third party on-premise solutions include JD Edwards?
Here is my take on the SAP and SuccessFactors integration as it currently sits.
The Real Truth about SAP and SuccessFactors Integration
Prasanna,
Thanks for the useful information. We are also looking at some integration options from a documents perspective. Do you know what mechanisms are available to get documents from SF? (We want to archive the documents within our corporate ECM platform)
Thanks
Hi Prasanna,
Do you mean those such as employment contracts? Where are they stored now?
Best regards,
Luke