SAP HANA for Enterprise Architects – Joining the P...

Former Member · ‎09-22-2015

The Journey Continues - Episode 6 of 10

SAP has acquired a few different “Software as a Service” (SaaS) companies over the last few years. This presents a challenge for architects in how to integrate SAP ERP, Cloud and other external systems in the SAP landscape. The presentation by Sindhu Gangadharan, Vice President and Head of Product Management - HANA Cloud Integration (HCI), as part of our ongoing series for Enterprise Architects, delivered many of the answers I know EAs are after. You may have implemented Success Factors along with other SAP technology and wondered what the roadmap for true integration is. Watch the webcast if you missed it to get all of the details.

As the VP responsible for HCI, Sindhu knows what she is talking about. The product roadmap for Hana Cloud Integration showed how SAP is working towards greater integration and data sharing across their products.

The presenter started with some background on integration, progressed through customer case studies and rounded out the webcast with live demos and web links for more information. Overall, a logical progression through the material, in an easy to follow format, that should get any Enterprise Architect the background they need to have a management level conversation around SAP cloud integration.

To start off, Sindhu went through the compelling reasons for using SAP HANA Cloud Integration (HCI). This included an overview of the SAP ecosystem and where HCI fits into the architecture.

Sindhu presented the benefits realized by several SAP customers including Owens Illinois, one of the world's leading manufacturers of glass containers, as well as partners like Applexus and ITelligence.

Later on in the webcast we saw a live demo of HCI and the connectors that exist right now for integration between SAP and non-SAP products. I always like live demos as it shows the actual product and the interface users can expect. We saw how to pick the connector between SAP and Success Factors and how to pick the data fields in a typical data exchange scenario.

Many of you may recall when SAP first acquired Success Factors, the integration methods were limited and there was a lot of flat file passing between systems. SAP has come a long way since then. In the Success Factors Employee Central context one of the preferred methods of integration was using Dell Boomi for integration between Success Factors Employee Central and SAP ERP. In the presentation we found out that SAP has a roadmap to use HCI as the preferred method of integration going forward.

There is a free trial program to test-drive HCI for 30 days that Sindhu made the audience aware of; so SAP has made it pretty easy to take it for a test drive and come up with your own integration strategy.

The presentation also included great link pages for those looking at Hana Cloud Integration. This includes links to certifications that the service has obtained.

I know that this webcast answered many of my outstanding questions on how SAP integrates ERP/Cloud/Non-SAP systems together with a few hints at what is coming in the near future. Does HCI meet what you are looking for? - Let me know in the comments or directly emailing me.

Webcast attendees commented with the following key takeaways:

(SAP Integration) Can be cloud or on-premise
There are a lot of and easy integration options for HCI available.
The case study was helpful, and also the upcoming message speeds
All the current pre-packaged content was nice to see... esp the future integration with solution manager.
Roadmap for HCI and changes related to SF EC using BOOMI
SAP has a strong strategy for Cloud integration
The cloud is real for integration between SAP products
HCI Rocks!

In the next webcast scheduled for September 22^th, the speaker will be covering how SAP HANA fits into the data center and the different architectural considerations.

Watch the Episode 6 webcast recording for more details on this blog entry.

http://event.on24.com/wcc/r/1019296/7200E9AD4FC710E3D4BD377C4A1DF8C3

Webcast Materials on ASUG.com: https://www.asug.com/discussions/docs/DOC-42211

Complete Webcast Series Details https://www.asug.com/hana-for-ea

All webcasts occur at 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. ET on the days below. Click on the links to see the abstracts and register for each individual webcast.

September 22, 2015: SAP HANA and Data Centre Readiness

September 29, 2015: Why SAP HANA, Why Now and How?

October 6, 2015: Implications of Introducing SAP HANA Into Your Environment

October 13, 2015: Internet of Things and SAP HANA for Business